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"Green Acres" (1965) More at IMDb Pro »

Green Acres, Vol. 4 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: For six seasons on Green Acres, Eddie Albert played exasperated straight man not only to Eva Gabor, but to a stable full of great character actors, including Pat Buttram as huckster Mr. Haney, Alvy Moore (who went on to produce the cult classic A Boy and His Dog) as attention-deficient county agent Hank Kimball, Hank Patterson as Fred Ziffel, Frank Cady as Sam Drucker, Tom Lester as simpleton Eb the handyman, and Sid Melton and Mary Grace Canfield as carpenters Alf and Ralph Monroe, also known as the Monroe brothers.

Each is seen to good advantage in this collection of four episodes. Things get off to a flying start with "Exodus to Bleedswell," in which Hootervillians are lured away with promises of defense industry jobs. Even Eb is serving notice. "Eb," Oliver asks, "What do you know about structural dynamics?" "Nothing," he replies, "but when they find someone who does, they'll need someone to sweep up after him."

Woo-doggie! Hooterville's theatrical troupe could perform Romeo and Juliet, Death of a Salesman, or Ah, Wilderness!. Instead they opt for The Beverly Hillbillies. Anyone expecting a cameo from one of the genuine Clampetts is in for a disappointment, but watching Lisa and Oliver portray Granny and Jethro is a real hoot.

Perhaps Hank Kimball's finest hours are the two episodes, "Kimball Gets Fired" and "Ralph's Nuptials," in which Hank and Ralph get married (or do they?), but not before he asks Oliver to tell him the facts of life. "You love Ralph, don't you?" Oliver reassures him. "Who's Ralph Dontyou?" a more-distracted-than-usual Hank asks. Trivia to impress your friends: it is revealed that Hank's middle name is Wadsworth. --Donald Liebenson

Green Acres, Vol. 3 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Plant yourself in front of the television for another minimarathon of Green Acres episodes starring the George Burns and Gracie Allen of Hooterville, Oliver Douglas (Eddie Albert) and his wife, Lisa (Eva Gabor).

"Lisa Bakes a Cake," in which Lisa lists Oliver in the phone book as an attorney, is about as flat and heavy as one of Lisa's infamous creations. Fast-forward to "Jealousy, English Style," in which Lisa objects to Oliver's departure for a "farm symposium," or as she calls it, "a stag party with farmers." She tries to make Oliver jealous of visiting Englishman Tony Ashley, whom Oliver has hired as a temporary farm hand (Eb, we are told, is on his honeymoon!).

"Old Mail Day" also delivers some chuckles as Sam Drucker gets around to distributing all the misplaced mail in his general store. One letter to Washington from an outraged Oliver, and Sam is forced to pedal around Hooterville himself delivering the mail (to everyone except Oliver, that is). More letters to Washington only worsen the fiasco, and as the episode ends, Oliver's tar and feathering seems imminent.

In "Oliver Goes Broke," Hooterville rallies around Oliver as Bedford Falls did for George Bailey when a rumor spreads that he has gone bust. V-chip alert: Lisa snuggles up to Oliver in bed and coos, "Why don't you turn off the light, and we'll talk about crops and things like that." Even more provocative is Hank Kimball's offhanded reference to Sam Drucker's blonde wig and dress! --Donald Liebenson

Green Acres, Vol. 2 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Why does farmer Oliver Douglas tend Green Acres clad in a three-piece suit? Why does Arnold the pig sleep in a cradle in the Ziffel's bedroom? And what's the deal with the show's opening credits, which in one episode appear printed on freshly-laid eggs? These and other logical questions will, of course, go unanswered in this volume containing two episodes apiece from this retro-TV classic's 1966 and 1967 seasons.

In "Never Look a Gift Tractor in the Mouth," Hooterville is beginning to look like Peyton Place when Doris Ziffel becomes convinced that her husband Fred and Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor) are having an affair. And all is not well in "Water, Water Everywhere" when Mr. Haney's new well turns Hooterville's citizens into reservoir dogs forced to tap into Pixley's water supply. This video also contains two down-to-earth episodes, "Lisa's Vegetable Garden" and "Lisa's Jam Session."

While these episodes are not exactly a bumper crop, each does have its share of ripe moments that transcend the corny humor. In addition to the "eggs-quisite" credit sequence, "Lisa's Vegetable Garden" features Arnold Ziffel's uncanny Lassie imitations. "Water, Water Everywhere" benefits from the presence of venerable character actor Percy Helton (he was the drunken Santa in the original Miracle on 34th Street and Sweetface in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) as Willie the Well-Witcher. Quite provocative is one buttoned-up matron's admiring sidelong glance at the sight of general-store owner Sam Drucker draped in a towel! And throughout, Eddie Albert, as the perpetually confounded Oliver Douglas, confirms his standing as the master of the slow burn. --Donald Liebenson

Green Acres, Vol. 1 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: The Catalog of Cool describes Green Acres this way:

To be truly cool, one must genuinely understand the uselessness of logic and reason in a world gone mad.... Eddie Albert (ostensibly sane) spent six seasons appealing to the whacked out citizens of Hooterville to behave in a rational and orderly manner. Naturally, he got just what he deserved--the gradual erosion of his own mental stability. Aficionados of this show like to call it surreal. I call it real life.

All one can add to that, to paraphrase the classic title song, is that home video is the place for Green Acres to be. Hooterville may have been condemned by critics as a vast wasteland, but as the four episodes on this video demonstrate, it provides fertile ground for bizarre behavior for a gallery of classic characters who rival the residents of Twin Peaks.

"Oliver Buys the Farm," the series pilot, is a comparatively tame episode that gives little hint of the weirdness to come. Lawyer Oliver Wendell Douglas (Albert), weary of life in New York ("It's a rat race, and the rats are winning!" he declares) buys the Haney place to the horror of his socialite wife Lisa (Eva Gabor), whose ditziness has yet to be established. Look for appearances by Petticoat Junction denizens Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchannan), Sam Drucker (Frank Cady), Hooterville Cannonball engineer Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis), and everyone's favorite wonder pig, Arnold Ziffel.

In "The Day of Decision," all of Hooterville wonders whether "she will" or "she won't" as Lisa chooses between life on the farm or returning to New York. Of course she stays, and in "It's Human to Be Humane," she becomes Hooterville's humane officer, which explains the elephant in the farmhouse. This video also includes "Who's Lisa," in which the amnesiac Lisa can remember everyone except Oliver. She is even transformed into a gourmet cook! --Donald Liebenson