Green Acres
Aerial photo featured in the opening sequence
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Jay Sommers
Starring	Eddie Albert Eva Gabor Pat Buttram Tom Lester Frank Cady Alvy Moore
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	170
Production
Executive producer(s)	Paul Henning
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 15, 1965 – April 27, 1971

Green Acres is an American television series that was produced by Filmways, Inc. and originally broadcast on CBS from September 15, 1965 to April 27, 1971. Famous aerial photo shown in the intro of the TV series Green Acres Captured from TV Land with a PixelView PlayTV MPEG-2 on 6 Oct 2004 by Hyperneural. ... A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... Eddie Albert, born Edward Albert Heimberger, (April 22, 1906 â€“ May 26, 2005) was a popular Oscar and Emmy Award-nominated American stage, film, character actor, gardener and humanitarian activist, perhaps best known for playing Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat films, or for his role in the 1960s television comedy... Eva Gabor (in Hungarian Gábor Éva) (February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-born American actress, best known as the wife of Eddie Alberts character, Lisa Douglas, on Green Acres. ... Emmett Maxwell Pat Buttram (born June 19, 1915 in Addison, Alabama, died January 8, 1994 in Los Angeles, California of kidney failure was an American actor, famous for playing the sidekick of Gene Autry. ... Thomas Tom Lester (b. ... Frank Cady Frank Cady (born September 8, 1915 in Susanville, California), is an American actor best known for his role as storekeeper Sam Drucker in the Green Acres and Petticoat Junction television series, which both ran at the same time in the 1960s. ... Alvy Moore (December 5, 1921–May 4, 1997), born Jack Alvin Moore in Vincennes, Indiana, was an American light comic actor best known for his role as scatterbrained county agricultural agent Hank Kimball on the television series Green Acres. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Paul Henning (September 16, 1911 – March 25, 2005) was an American producer and writer, most famous for the successful sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, but was crucial in the development of several rural comedies for CBS. Henning was born on a farm and grew up in Independence, Missouri. ... CBS Broadcasting, Inc. ... is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... Green Acres may refer to: Green Acres, a television series which aired 1965-1971 Green Acres, Washington, a census-designated place in Spokane County, Washington Green Acres Cemetery, in Scottsdale, Arizona Green Acres Mall, in Valley Stream, New York Greenacres, Florida, a city in Palm Beach County, Florida Category: ... Filmways, Inc. ... CBS Broadcasting, Inc. ... is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ...

Background

After the tremendous success of The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction, CBS offered producer Paul Henning another half-hour on the schedule with no pilot required. Lacking the time to commit to another project himself, he encouraged colleague Jay Sommers to create the series. Sommers used his 1950 radio series, Granby's Green Acres, as the basis for the new television series. The 13-episode radio series had starred Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet (who also appeared in the TV version) as a big-city family who move to the country. The Beverly Hillbillies was an American television program about a hillbilly family living in Southern California. ... Petticoat Junction was an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ... CBS Broadcasting, Inc. ... Paul Henning (September 16, 1911 – March 25, 2005) was an American producer and writer, most famous for the successful sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, but was crucial in the development of several rural comedies for CBS. Henning was born on a farm and grew up in Independence, Missouri. ... A television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. ... Gale Gordon (February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor. ... Bea Benaderet (IPA: ) (April 4, 1906—October 13, 1968) was an American actress, born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, California. ...

The television series Green Acres was about Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert), an accomplished and erudite New York attorney who was acting on his lifelong dream to be a farmer, and Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor), his glamorously bejeweled Hungarian wife, dragged unwillingly from the privileged city life she adored to a bucolic life on a ramshackle farm. Oliver Wendell Douglas was the major character in the 1960s CBS situation comedy Green Acres. ... Eddie Albert, born Edward Albert Heimberger, (April 22, 1906 â€“ May 26, 2005) was a popular Oscar and Emmy Award-nominated American stage, film, character actor, gardener and humanitarian activist, perhaps best known for playing Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat films, or for his role in the 1960s television comedy... “NY” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Farmer (disambiguation). ... Lisa Douglas was the leading female character in the 1960s CBS situation comedy Green Acres. ... Eva Gabor (in Hungarian Gábor Éva) (February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-born American actress, best known as the wife of Eddie Alberts character, Lisa Douglas, on Green Acres. ... Farms, East of Gorgan, Iran. ...

Ostensibly a reverse Beverly Hillbillies, after the first few episodes the series shifted from a run-of-the-mill rural comedy and developed an absurdist world of its own. Though there were still many episodes that were standard 1960s sitcom fare, the show became notable for its surreal aspects that frequently included satire. They also had an appeal to children due to the slapstick, silliness and schtick, though adults were able to appreciate it on a different level. Absurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe will ultimately fail (and, hence, are absurd) because no such meaning exists, at least in relation to humanity. ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence. ... A schtick (or shtick) is an expression which refers to a comic theme or gimmick. ...

It was set in the same fictional universe as Henning's other rural television comedy Petticoat Junction, featuring such picturesque towns as Hooterville, Pixley, Crabwell Corners and Stankwell Falls. The shows even shared characters on occasion. On at least one episode, The Beverly Hillbillies is actually mentioned as a show enjoyed in Hooterville. Sign in a rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Qichun, a rural town in Hubei province, China An artists rendering of an aerial view of the Maryland countryside: Jane Frank (Jane Schenthal Frank, 1918-1986), Aerial Series: Ploughed Fields, Maryland, 1974, acrylic and mixed materials on apertured double canvas, 52... Petticoat Junction was an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ... Hooterville was a fictional rural town that was the setting of the American television sitcoms Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. ... Pixley was the name of a small town located not about 50 miles from Hooterville in the fictional world of the American 1960s sitcoms Green Acres and Petticoat Junction. ...

Much of the humor of the series derived from the pragmatic yet short-fused Oliver attempting to make sense of the largely insane world around him. There seemed to be a dual perspective of reality. One was that of the Hootervillians, which inexplicably included Lisa and Oliver's own family, the other was Oliver's. Oliver's affluent mother (Eleanor Audley) lampoons him and mollifies Lisa. But there were times when it appeared that Oliver wasn't entirely sane either, such as renting a rooster and climbing up and down a telephone pole to make or receive phone calls. ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ...

The dishonest and oily salesman Mr. Haney (Pat Buttram), who sold Oliver the Green Acres farm, continues to con his easy "mark" in most episodes. Haney, along with the glib, twenty-something farmhand Eb Dawson (Tom Lester), scatterbrained county agent Hank Kimball, and grocer Sam Drucker (Frank Cady) (who played the same role on Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies), make up the main supporting cast. Eb habitually addressed the Douglas' as "Dad" and "Mom", much to Oliver's irritation, Salesman is a 1969 cinema verité documentary film which follows four salesmen of expensive Bibles door-to-door in a low-income neighborhood which cannot afford expensive Bibles. ... Mr. ... Emmett Maxwell Pat Buttram (born June 19, 1915 in Addison, Alabama, died January 8, 1994 in Los Angeles, California of kidney failure was an American actor, famous for playing the sidekick of Gene Autry. ... Thomas Tom Lester (b. ... An extension agent is a government or university employee who travels to rural areas to assist the people in learning the newest methods in agriculture and home economics. ... Hank Kimball was the fictitious county agent of the 1965-71 American television comedy Green Acres. ... Sam Drucker (potrayed by actor Frank Cady) was the operator of the general store in Hooterville in the fictional world of the 1960s American sitcoms Petticoat Junction and Green Acres, created by Paul Henning. ... Frank Cady Frank Cady (born September 8, 1915 in Susanville, California), is an American actor best known for his role as storekeeper Sam Drucker in the Green Acres and Petticoat Junction television series, which both ran at the same time in the 1960s. ...

Sometimes "Petticoat Junction" characters, such as Joe Carson, Newt Kiley and Floyd Smoot, are seen in "cross-over" episodes and vice versa. "Petticoat Junction" regular Betty-Jo Bradley appears in one episode in a short-lived romance with Eb Dawson. Bobbi-Jo appears in the same episode. Popular western film actor Smiley Burnette guested several times in the role of railway engineer Charley Pratt during the 1965 and 1966 seasons but Burnette's ill health ended the role.([1] Petticoat Junction was an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ... Justus D. Barnes, from The Great Train Robbery The Western is one of the classic American literary and film genres. ... Smiley Burnette (March 18, 1911 – February 16, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter who could play as many as 100 different musical instruments as well as a highly successful comedic actor in western-style films. ...

While general store owner Sam Drucker is a reliable Dutch uncle in Petticoat Junction his character is bent a bit here (keeping plastic pickles in a barrel to appease city-folk). Drucker also serves as a Newspaper printer/editor; volunteer fireman; constable; Justice of the Peace and a Postmaster. As editor of the "Hooterville World Guardian", his headlines were often decades-old. He was a bit slow as Postmaster- once delivering a lost 1917 "draft" notice to Fred Ziffel after 51 years-breaking his "old" record of delivering a "lost" 1942 WPA letter to Mr Haney for stealing a shovel-after 26 years! As Justice of the Peace, he once let his license lapse, unwittingly sending two supporting characters to a premature honeymoon (Ralph Monroe and Hank Kimball). Dutch uncle is a term for a person who issues frank and severe comments and criticism to educate, encourage, or admonish someone, often with benevolent intent, as an elder relative or uncle would. ... Petticoat Junction was an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ... A justice of the peace (JP) is a puisne judicial officer appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. ...

In a slap to government bureaucrats and civil service employees, Alvy Moore plays spacey agricultural agent Hank Kimball, who never really seems to know which end is up. Kimball would draw people into inane conversations, then lose his train-of-thought. Hank Kimball was the fictitious county agent of the 1965-71 American television comedy Green Acres. ...

The Douglas' childless elderly neighbors, Fred and Doris Ziffel, "adopted" a pig named Arnold Ziffel as their "son". Arnold understands English, lives indoors, and is pampered by everyone. Like all 1960s children, Arnold is an avid TV watcher and a big Western fan. Only Oliver seems cognizant that Arnold is just livestock, although he frequently slips and begins treating him as a boy. Arnold makes regular appearances throughout the series, often visiting the Douglas farm to watch their TV. Arnold Ziffel was a fictional character featured in Green Acres, an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ...

A pair of recurring characters were two quarrelsome carpenters known as the Monroe Brothers, Alf and Ralph. Despite her name and her status as one of the brothers, Ralph was in fact a woman, played by Mary Grace Canfield. Alf was played by Sid Melton of Make Room for Daddy. In general, only Oliver seems to notice or care about this bizarre contradiction. Nothing the Monroe brothers ever did was either finished (such as the Douglas's bedroom) or ever turned out right. Mary Grace Canfield (born September 3, 1926, in Rochester, New York) is an American actress who often played the role of a romance-starved wallflower. ... Sid Melton, (Born Sidney Meltzer on May 23, 1920, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor probably best known for his roles as incompetent carpenter Alf Monroe in the sitcom Green Acres and as Uncle Charlie Halper in Make Room for Daddy and its spin-offs. ... The Danny Thomas Show (also known as Make Room for Daddy for the first three seasons) was a comedy television series starring Danny Thomas, Jean Hagen, Rusty Hamer, Sherry Jackson and Louise Beavers. ...

Lisa's utter domestic ignorance provides fertile ground for recurring gags -- her 'coffee' oozes from the pot in a thick, tar-like sludge; her infamous "hotscakes" are so tough and inedible that Oliver once repaired his truck's head-gasket using her recipe, then in another episode, used the batter for mortar while building a fireplace; her sandwich combos include such epicurean delights as liverwurst and jelly; instead of washing dishes, Lisa tosses them away (out the kitchen window) as though they were disposable paper plates. In the episode Alf And Ralph Break Up, Lisa admits that she has no cooking abilities and says her only talent is her Zsa Zsa Gabor imitation.

Common gags used throughout the series include:

• One or more characters seeing the opening credits.
• Patriotic music playing while Oliver makes some long-winded speech, and everybody trying to figure out where it is coming from.
• Oliver always in a 3-piece suit, even while working, and Lisa in expensive dresses.
• The expensive furniture and fancy Lincoln Continental 4-door convertible they continued to use, despite the house never being fixed up.
• Lisa's mangling of English words due to her Hungarian accent.
• Never having a working phone in the house, but having to climb a pole outside to use one.

Although still reasonably popular, the show was canceled in 1971 as part of the "rural purge" when CBS decided to shift its schedule to more urban, contemporary-themed shows, which drew the younger audiences desired by advertisers. (Nearly the entire Green Acres cast was middle-aged or older.) The Beverly Hillbillies and other shows with rural settings, including Hee Haw and Mayberry R.F.D., were also dropped at the same time. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Advertiser redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Mayberry R.F.D. (R.F.D. is a postal abbreviation for Rural Free Delivery) was a spin-off, or perhaps, more accurately, a direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title. ...

An urban legend says that the pig who played Arnold was cooked and eaten by the cast after the show ended. In reality, several different pigs were used during the show's run, none of which was ever eaten by the cast. Trainer Frank Inn used a smaller, female pig in later seasons, giving Arnold some obvious mammary ducts. The pig actors were dissimilar in more ways than one (as with the two actresses who played Doris)—for example, one Arnold had tufts of grey hair behind his ears, giving him an aged look. Yet another Arnold has spots that others lack. This may have been an intentional goof by producers for comedic effect. (Other sources point out that Arnold was actually played by a PIGLET, and because piglets grow quickly on the way to becoming adult pigs, many different piglets had to be used in the role of Arnold during the show's production run.) An urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ... Grey or gray (see spelling differences) is a color between white and black. ... For the film, see Hair (film). ... The word comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humor with an intent to provoke laughter in general). ...

Arnold, it is revealed in the 1990 reunion TV movie Return to Green Acres, survived his "parents", and subsequently bunks with his "cousin", the Ziffel's comely niece. The film was made and set two decades after the series (as Haney's latest product is a Russian miracle fertilizer called "Gorby Grow")...but in reality a pig life span averages 12–15 years, similar to a dog. In the reunion movie, Oliver and Lisa had moved back to New York but are miserable there and are implored by the Hootervillians to return and save the town from a scheme to destroy it which has been cooked up between Haney and a wealthy, dishonest developer (Henry Gibson). A television movie (also TV movie, TV-movie, made-for-TV movie, etc. ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: ; Pronunciation: mih-kha-ILL ser-GHE-ye-vich gor-bah-CHOFF) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... For other uses, see Pig (disambiguation). ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domestic subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. ... Henry Gibson (born September 21, 1935 in Germantown, Pennsylvania) is an American actor who was famous as a cast member of Rowan and Martins Laugh-In. ...

A book containing detailed information on the creation and history of the show has been written, titled The Hooterville Handbook: A Viewer's Guide To Green Acres (ISBN 0-312-08811-6). Seasons 1–3 of the show have now been released for Region 0 (suitable for all DVD players) via MGM Home Entertainment (whose sister company, MGM Television, now owns the rights to the show via its acquisition of Orion Television, successor-in-interest to Filmways). This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Cast

• Oliver Wendell Douglas: Eddie Albert
• Lisa Douglas: Eva Gabor
• Mr. [Eustace] Haney: Pat Buttram
• Eb Dawson: Tom Lester
• Fred Ziffel: Hank Patterson
• Doris Ziffel: Barbara Pepper (1965–69, left the series due to ill health)
• Doris Ziffel: Fran Ryan (1969–71)
• Hank Kimball: Alvy Moore
• Sam Drucker: Frank Cady (also a cast member on Petticoat Junction and guest-starred on Beverly Hillbillies)
• Mother Eunice Douglas: Eleanor Audley (1965–69)
• Alf Monroe: Sid Melton (1965–69)
• Ralph Monroe: Mary Grace Canfield
• Newt Kiley: Kay E. Kuter (1965–70)
• Ben Miller: Tom Fadden (1965)
• Roy Trendell: Robert Foulk (1966–68)

In addition, there were crossovers from Petticoat Junction cast members, most frequently: Eddie Albert, born Edward Albert Heimberger, (April 22, 1906 â€“ May 26, 2005) was a popular Oscar and Emmy Award-nominated American stage, film, character actor, gardener and humanitarian activist, perhaps best known for playing Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat films, or for his role in the 1960s television comedy... Eva Gabor (in Hungarian Gábor Éva) (February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-born American actress, best known as the wife of Eddie Alberts character, Lisa Douglas, on Green Acres. ... Emmett Maxwell Pat Buttram (born June 19, 1915 in Addison, Alabama, died January 8, 1994 in Los Angeles, California of kidney failure was an American actor, famous for playing the sidekick of Gene Autry. ... Thomas Tom Lester (b. ... Hank Patterson, originally Elmer Calvin Patterson, was born on October 9, 1888, in Springville, Alabama. ... Barbara Pepper (May 31, 1915-July 18, 1969) was an American actress. ... Fran Ryan (November 29, 1916 – January 15, 2000) is an American character actress who had starred in television and in films. ... Alvy Moore (December 5, 1921–May 4, 1997), born Jack Alvin Moore in Vincennes, Indiana, was an American light comic actor best known for his role as scatterbrained county agricultural agent Hank Kimball on the television series Green Acres. ... Frank Cady Frank Cady (born September 8, 1915 in Susanville, California), is an American actor best known for his role as storekeeper Sam Drucker in the Green Acres and Petticoat Junction television series, which both ran at the same time in the 1960s. ... Petticoat Junction was an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ... The Beverly Hillbillies is a TV sitcom about a hillbilly who strikes oil while rabbit hunting, becomes a millionaire and moves with his family to Beverly Hills, California. ... Eleanor Audley Eleanor Audley (born November 19, 1905, in New York City, New York, died November 25, 1991 in North Hollywood, California) was an actress and familiar voice in radio, film, television, and animation. ... Sid Melton, (Born Sidney Meltzer on May 23, 1920, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor probably best known for his roles as incompetent carpenter Alf Monroe in the sitcom Green Acres and as Uncle Charlie Halper in Make Room for Daddy and its spin-offs. ... Mary Grace Canfield (born September 3, 1926, in Rochester, New York) is an American actress who often played the role of a romance-starved wallflower. ... Kay E. Kuter (born Kay Edwin Emmert Kuter on April 25, 1925; died on November 12, 2003) was an American character actor who starred on television and in film. ...

• Kate Bradley: Bea Benaderet (1965–66)
• Uncle Joe Carson: Edgar Buchanan (1965–69)
• Charley Pratt: Smiley Burnette (1965–67)
• Floyd Smoot: Rufe Davis (1965–67)

Bea Benaderet (IPA: ) (April 4, 1906—October 13, 1968) was an American actress, born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, California. ... Edgar Buchanan (born March 20, 1903; died April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both movies and television, but is probably most familiar as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction and Green Acres television sitcoms of the 1960s. ... Smiley Burnette (March 18, 1911 – February 16, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter who could play as many as 100 different musical instruments as well as a highly successful comedic actor in western-style films. ...

Surreal Humor

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The series was notable for its often surreal humor, and it was one of the first American TV series which transgressed the traditional diegetic or fourth wall 'borders' of TV presentation for deliberately humorous effect -- characters addressed the audience directly and were somehow able to perceive and react to post-production elements such as the music soundtrack and the superimposed program credits. Image File history File links Circle-question. ... According to Gerald Prince in A Dictionary of Narratology, diegesis is (1) The (fictional) world in which the situations and events narrated occur; (2) Telling, recounting, as opposed to showing, enacting. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Some of the more noteworthy surreal aspects of the show's humour included:

• In one episode Arnold Ziffel wins a competition and goes to Hollywood in an (unsuccessful) attempt to break into movies, although how he has been able to enter the competition is never explained. In another episode Arnold is "drafted" into the Army. Oliver actually manages to convince the army not to draft Arnold pig-yet at the end the running joke of begins all over again when "Ralph" Monroe (who was actually female, despite the male name) is "Drafted"!

• Ralph Monroe once sawed through Sam Drucker's phone line and then spliced it together backwards so that Drucker had to talk into the ear receiver and listen at the mouthpiece--or usually ended in disaster--In one episode "Ralph" marries Hank Kimball-only to find that at the end of the episode-that the marriage is invalid and will have to be performed again!

• The episode titled "A Square is Not Round" featured both a chicken that lays square eggs, which Oliver is desperate to locate, and a toaster that only works when you say "five" to it. In the end it is revealed that it has all been a dream of Oliver's, which he rushes back to bed to see how it finishes. At the very end, Lisa is muttering to herself, "Hmph, square eggs, talking to toasters..." and approaches the refrigerator and says clearly, "Mabel!" and the fridge opens by itself. In other episodes, Lisa is also evidently able to coax the chickens into laying on demand, simply by talking to them.

• One running joke was that Oliver had a pronounced tendency to mangle words, especially when his wife, Lisa, mangled them first, as she frequently did, since English was not her native language. Oddly, the other residents of Hooterville would often inexplicably share Lisa's mangled vocabulary. Another aspect of this gag was that Lisa would often seem to mangle words or phrases, but Oliver would then discover that Lisa's supposedly 'wrong' version is correct - e.g. the title of a fictional TV series Lisa watches in one episode, entitled "Run For Your Wife". She also refers to the gearshift on an automatic-transmission car as a "Pernerndle" (a joke derived from the P-R-N-D-L lettering on the gear-lever) and a popular board game as "Monotony" (which turns out to the actual name of the game as sold in Hooterville). Games such as "Scribble" and "Cabbage" are also available. In one episode, Oliver complains, "Why did I have to marry someone who hears everything with an accent?"

• The series parodies the age-old truism that country folk all know each other's business-the local telephone operator, Sarah, routinely monitors every conversation and in several episodes, the content of conversations and arguments between Oliver and Lisa in their home mysteriously and instantly become common knowledge all over the valley.

• Oliver is the only person who does not realize that he is a terrible farmer, his farmland is worthless, his Hoyt-Clagwell tractor is an antique relic, and his farmhouse a dilapidated shack -- although he appears to get wise to these facts as the series goes on; in the episode "Haney's New Image," he refers to the farm as a "dump;" and on at least one occasion he takes Haney to court to get a refund on the junky tractor.

• The Pilot episode shows Oliver as such a fanatic farmer wannabe that during World War II, while strafing a battlefield in a P-38, he keeps talking on about the vegetables on the ground (When he finally drops his payload on a tomato field, he sadly announces "Ketchup all over everything."). When he is shot down over Hungary, he first meets Lisa who helps him escape. A later episode shows Oliver as a Air Force Reserve Officer when the Hooterville townspeople try to get him to fly a World War I-era plane to Chicago.

• Oliver has always dreamed of becoming a farmer, but he lives in complete denial of the fact that he is virtually incapable of growing anything. Lisa, who always longs to go back to New York, actually adjusts quite well and seems quite at home in Hooterville. Despite Lisa's blatantly urban, sophisticated socialite manner, the local people like her, yet find Oliver weird and make constant references to his supposed "drinking problem".

• Lisa claimed in one episode to be from New Jersey but went to boarding school in Hungary, thereby explaining both her accent and her lack of ability to speak Hungarian. In another episode, she claims her mother sent her to "Hungarian accent school". However, in some episodes, she is seen to converse with other Hungarians in fluent Hungarian. She also has a wide variety of stories involving how her father became the King of Hungary.

• Another running joke is Oliver's use of sarcasm and Lisa taking his comments literally. This is usually followed by Oliver shaking his head or a puzzled look on his face. He occasionally tried to explain what he meant to his wife but usually gave up.

• It is not uncommon for Oliver to be awoken for inconsequential reasons either by someone knocking on the front door, calling on the telephone which he has to climb a pole to answer, or coming through the bedroom closet door which always slides from the frame and slaps down on the concrete slab bedroom floor. To magnify his aggravation this almost always occurs between 5:00am - 5:30am, much to the surprise of the uninvited guest that he is still in bed at that hour.

• In-jokes about how Hooterville is so remote:
  • In one episode Hooterville can only be found on a map if a fly isn't standing on it.
  • That the only way a high ranking Air Force Officer can get to Hooterville is by parachute. (Technically, this is a continuity error, since Hooterville has an airport (as well as Pixley International Airport). Once, Lisa and Douglas tried to go by Hooterville airplane to Washington D.C, but they ended up in Paris. There is also a railroad crossing at Sam Drucker's store and Petticoat Junction, and there are county roads for the Douglas car and Mr. Haney's truck.)

• In the first season, it is mentioned that Hank Kimball's mother, Sarah, owns the phone company, but in the third season, Sarah is the mother of Roy Trendell, and Trendell owns the company, and winds up giving it to Oliver.

• The comic-book style sound effects are faintly visible to the characters. For example, in the episode "Double Drick" (season 1), when the generator sparks and sputters, the word "Drick!" appears on the screen, like in the fight scenes in Batman. Lisa then asks Oliver what the word "Drick" means.

• While a running joke is that in nearly every episode Oliver Douglas somehow loses a battle of wits to the eccentric Hooterville townsfolk, this is not necessarily so. In one episode when Haney, Hank, Mr. Ziffel, and Lisa think they have discovered an artificial milk making machine, Oliver has to tell them tongue-in-cheek that not only would the chemicals be so expensive that the milk has to be sold at sky-high prices, but that anyone who drinks it over a period of time goes bald! In another episode, everyone in the valley suspects Oliver of being a C.I.A. agent. He goes along with what they think they know, telling them all that they should forget what they know for national security reasons.

• In many ways, Green Acres follows the form of many Old-time radio programs, with a basic premise, a fairly "normal" protagonist, and visits by several guests with a similar schtick each episode. Lisa, Mr. Haney, Eb, and Hank Kimball often seem to be doing variations on the same jokes each week. This may be because Paul Henning, Jay Sommers, and Dick Chevillat, among others, were all active creators in the days of American Comedy Radio. Paul Henning, for one, was the producer for George Burns and Gracie Allen on radio. The parallels between Lisa Douglas and Gracie are not hard to fathom.

The running gag is a popular hallmark of comedy television shows and movies. ... Hank Kimball was the fictitious county agent of the 1965-71 American television comedy Green Acres. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was one of the most important American fighters of the Second World War. ... A bottle of Heinz Organic Ketchup Ketchup (or less commonly catsup) also known as Red Sauce or Tomato Sauce is a condiment, usually made with ripened tomatoes. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Official language(s) English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  Ranked 47th  - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²)  - Width 70 miles (110 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 14. ... A boarding school is a usually fee-paying school where some or all pupils not only study, but also live during term time, with their fellow students and possibly teachers. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... It has been suggested that List of visitor attractions in Paris be merged into this article or section. ... Sam Drucker (potrayed by actor Frank Cady) was the operator of the general store in Hooterville in the fictional world of the 1960s American sitcoms Petticoat Junction and Green Acres, created by Paul Henning. ... Petticoat Junction was an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ... Hank Kimball was the fictitious county agent of the 1965-71 American television comedy Green Acres. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing sequential art in the form of a narrative. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The running gag is a popular hallmark of comedy television shows and movies. ... Frank Sinatra is interviewed on Armed Forces Radio Service during World War II. Old-Time Radio (OTR) and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of radio programming lasting from commercial radios introduction in the early 1920s to its replacement in the late 1950s and early 1960s... George Burns[1], born Nathan Birnbaum (January 20, 1896 – March 9, 1996), was an American comedian and actor. ... Gracie Allen (July 26, 1895[1] – August 27, 1964) was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns. ...

Episode List

Main article: List of Green Acres episodes

NOTE: This article is still under construction. ...

DVD Releases

MGM Home Video released the first three seasons of Green Acres on Region 1 DVD. Due to poor sales, it is currently unknown whether the remaining three seasons will ever be released. For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... The following is an excerpt of the article entitled DVD. For the sake of convenience, the terms Region 0, Region 1, Region 2, Region 3, Region 4, Region 5, Region 6, Region 7 and Region 8 redirect to this page. ... Size comparison: A 12 cm Sony DVD+RW and a 19 cm Dixon Ticonderoga pencil. ...

January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 6 is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Reruns

Reruns of Green Acres have aired in the past in syndication and on Nick at Nite. Since April 2004, TV Land has aired episodes. Also from 2006 to 2007, ION Television had been airing episodes on weekday evenings. Nick-at-Nite (sometimes spelled Nick @ Nite, by its current logo) is the evening programming block broadcast over Nickelodeon Sunday–Thursdays from 9 PM–6 AM and Friday–Saturdays from 10 PM–6 AM Eastern and Pacific Standard Time. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... ION Television is a broadcast and cable television network first broadcast on August 31, 1998 under the name PAX TV (early on in its development, it was called PaxNet). ...

Cable networks

TV Land, currently Mon-Fri at 1:00pm and 1:30pm ET, and weekends at 8:00am ET. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... “Eastern Daylight Time” redirects here. ... Week End The weekend is a part of the week lasting one or two days in which most paid workers do not work. ... “Eastern Daylight Time” redirects here. ...

Local stations

WWME in Chicago, currently Mon-Fri at 7:30 am CT. WWME-CA is a class A station in Chicago, Illinois. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ...  CST or UTC-6 The Central Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC during standard time (UTC-6) and five hours during daylight saving time (UTC-5). ...

Canada

Green Acres will air in Canada beginning September 10, 2007 at 11:30am on DejaView DejaView is a Canadian category 2 digital cable specialty channel owned by the CanWest MediaWorks Inc. ...

References

• Cox, Stephen (1993). The Hooterville Handbook : A Viewer's Guide To Green Acres. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-08811-6. 

External links

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• Green Acres at the Internet Movie Database
• Green Acres at TV.com
• Green Acres Home Page
• Green Acres on TV Land
• Green Acres on ION Television
• Return to Green Acres at the Internet Movie Database