Green Acres - The Complete First Season
Director: Richard L. Bare, Bruce Bilson (II), Ralph LevyStudio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Color
Picture: Pan & Scan
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Running Time: 819 minutes
DVD Release: January 13th 2004
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DVD 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 DVD is the place for Green Acres to be. Hooterville may have been condemned by critics as a vast wasteland, but as the first season demonstrates, it provides fertile ground for bizarre behavior for a gallery of classic characters who rival the residents of Twin Peaks. "Oliver Buys a 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.
Among the season's other episodes, 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. In "Never Look a Gift Tractor in the Mouth," Hooterville is beginning to look like Peyton Place when Doris Ziffel (Barbara Pepper) becomes convinced that her husband Fred (Hank Patterson) and Lisa are having an affair. "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. --Donald Liebenson
User Reviews
A classic from the golden age of TV... - Rating: 5/5
A spin-off of the CBS program Petticoat Junction (1963), Green Acres surpassed its predecessor in audience popularity - spending four of its six seasons as a Top 20 Nielsen-rated program. Its family-friendly humor puts Green Acres in the same nostalgic category as shows like The Andy Griffith Show, back when TV sitcoms were all about humor and not as serious as they would later become with the introduction of 1970s stalwarts MASH and All In The Family. The brainchild of creator Jay Sommers, writer for shows such as The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet and Petticoat Junction (where Green Acres characters Sam, Doris, Fred, and Arnold make their first appearances), Green Acres' unique brand of comedy lives on through a successful and ongoing syndication run, and its catchy theme song even captured the pop culture for a second time when Old Navy incorporated it into one of their trademark clothing commercials...
Green Acres centers around the life of a wealthy Manhattan attorney, Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert), and his elite socialite wife Lisa (Eva Gabor). When Oliver gets a hankering to live out his childhood dream of operating a farm, conman Eustace Haney (Pat Buttram) offers him the deal of a lifetime. Only the deal of a lifetime turns out to be a 160-acre dump in the fictional town of Hooterville. Nevertheless, Oliver sets out to turn the farm into a rural gem, while Lisa is reluctant to leave her life of privilege in New York. Hired hand Eb Dawson (Tom Lester) helps out the Douglas family, and Sam Drucker (Frank Cady), a carryover from Petticoat Junction, runs the local general store. But the true life of the show emanates from neighbors Fred (Hank Patterson) and Doris Ziffel (Fran Ryan) and their adopted son - a prized pig named Arnold who displays many human-like traits. In time, Lisa learns to love the people of Hooterville, trying her best to bring sophistication to the backwoods region (and while still making use of her Manhattan wardrobe)...
The Green Acres (Season 1) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the series premiere "Oliver Buys a Farm" in which New York attorney Oliver Douglas decides to live out his dream of living on a farm. So, without telling his wife, he quits the law firm of Felton, O'Connell, Clay, Blakely, Harmon, Dillion & Pasteur (whew!) in favor of a rundown tract of land in rural Hooterville. When his wife Lisa sees the farm, she goes ballistic... Other notable episodes from Season 1 include "You Can't Plug in a 2 with a 6" in which Oliver must continually remind Lisa never to use an appliance(s) that will push the generator over a 7 on the power scale, and "Lisa Bakes a Cake" in which Lisa decides to bake a cake and ends up with a twenty pound cake...
Below is a list of episodes included on the Green Acres (Season 1) DVD:
Episode 1 (Oliver Buys a Farm)
Episode 2 (Lisa's First Day on the Farm)
Episode 3 (The Decorator)
Episode 4 (The Best Laid Plans)
Episode 5 (My Husband, the Rooster Renter)
Episode 6 (Furniture, Furniture, Who's Got the Furniture?)
Episode 7 (Neighborliness)
Episode 8 (Lisa the Helpmate)
Episode 9 (You Can't Plug in a 2 with a 6)
Episode 10 (Don't Call Us, We'll Call You)
Episode 11 (Parity Begins at Home)
Episode 12 (Lisa Has a Calf)
Episode 13 (The Wedding Anniversary)
Episode 14 (What Happened in Scranton?)
Episode 15 (How to Enlarge a Bedroom)
Episode 16 (Give Me Land, Lots of Land)
Episode 17 (I Didn't Raise My Husband to a Fireman)
Episode 18 (Lisa Bakes a Cake)
Episode 19 (Sprained Ankle, Country Style)
Episode 20 (The Price of Apples)
Episode 21 (What's in a Name?)
Episode 22 (The Day of Decision)
Episode 23 (A Pig in a Poke)
Episode 24 (The Deputy)
Episode 25 (Double Drick)
Episode 26 (The Ballad of Molly Turgis)
Episode 27 (Never Look a Gift Tractor in the Mouth)
Episode 28 (Send a Boy to College)
Episode 29 (Horse? What Horse?)
Episode 30 (The Rains Came)
Episode 31 (Culture)
Episode 32 (Uncle Ollie)
The DVD Report
Another TV show given a bare bones release..... - Rating: 1/5
Okay I admitt, I did like this show when it was first on, and watched it on reruns ever since. Even now, if it is on TV land, I will watch it. Eddie Albert was well cast in the role. They all were. The problem is, MGM gave it a bare bomes release. MGM can not in good conscience say that Albert and other people who made this production did not want to talk about it. I'm sure they would have, But gee, they were not. And now we have 27 shows on these disks, and they do not look like they were cleaned up for good picture and sound quality either. What a surprise?!
The Place To Be..... - Rating: 5/5
Green Acres is one of my personal favorite shows. The show was so heart-warming and always put you in a smile. This classic that ran from 1965 to 1971 was created by the same people who brought other classic shows to television like THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, PETTICOAT JUNCTION, and MISTER ED. When I first received this DVD set, I was befuddled by the size of it. I thought to myself, how can so many episodes fit in such a small set? When I opened it, I discovered it was concealed on two double-sided discs. I have had my share of troubles with double-sided discs, and was worried that the same would happen here. Surprisingly, there were no troubles with it at all! In fact,they were the best double-sided discs I ever saw. The episodes themselves had some dust and grain, but what can you expect from 40 year old material? I think that MGM did a good job with this set. Not to mention the fantastic price! Green Acres IS the place to BE, and I hope it is for you too!
Consistently Funny - Rating: 5/5
Funny enjoyable show with some very clever writing and terrific consistent character development from the entire cast. Doesn't seem old even after 40 years. Safe to watch with the whole family. RECOMMENDED
"Green Acres Is The Place To Be ....." - Rating: 5/5
".....dah-ling I love you, but give me this DVD!"
**wink**
On January 13, 2004, attorney-turned-farmer Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert), his glamorous wife Lisa (Eva Gabor), and the whole Hooterville population became digitally enhanced and entered the 21st Century when this good-looking 2-Disc DVD set was released by MGM Home Entertainment.
This compact DVD package of "GREEN ACRES: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" serves up all 32 color episodes from the initial season of this very funny rural sitcom. This boxed set is very nearly worth the modest asking price for the first couple of hilarious episodes all by themselves.
"Green Acres" premiered on CBS-TV on Wednesday night, September 15, 1965, at 9:00 PM Eastern Time with Episode #1, "Oliver Buys A Farm", which introduced the American people to Oliver, Lisa, Eb, Mr. Haney, Sam Drucker, and Arnold (the smartest pig in the valley).
Announcer/Newsman John Daly (of "What's My Line?" fame) serves as "narrator" throughout the debut program, which was a very clever piece of casting by the "Green Acres" brain-trust. Daly's low-key, deadpan, and well-scripted narration is one of many highlights from the first episode. Utilizing Daly as a narrator here was a very inventive way of introducing the show's basic premise and cast of characters to the audience for the first time. Mr. Daly's commentary tells us just exactly why Mr. Douglas abandoned his fancy Park Avenue penthouse apartment and his posh New York lifestyle to take up residence on a ramshackle farm near Hooterville. "Oliver Buys A Farm" is one of the best (and funniest) debut episodes of a sitcom I can think of.
Other favorites of mine in this 1st-season compilation include ..... "The Decorator", "You Can't Plug In A 2 With A 6", "Lisa Bakes A Cake", "The Price Of Apples", and "Never Look A Gift Tractor In The Mouth".
The wild and crazy Hooterville brand of ultra-silly humor, as created by show executives Jay Sommers and Paul Henning, is present in full force in every episode of "Green Acres" (and its Hooterville sister sitcom, "Petticoat Junction").
MGM did a smart thing (IMO) with this first-season DVD set of "Acres", releasing the 32 programs on just two discs (both double-sided), thus keeping the MSRP for this DVD product as low as possible. It breaks down to just 65 to 75 cents per episode. Not bad at all, as far as I'm concerned! There are eight episodes per disc side.
And it appears that MGM didn't skimp on the picture quality of these shows either (despite the bargain-basement retail price). These episodes look quite a bit better than I expected. The video looks crisp and clear for the most part, with adequate colors. The opening credits are speckled with quite a bit of dirt and grain, and a few scenes within some of the episodes also suffer from their advanced age, with specks and dirt popping up occasionally. But this isn't overly distracting or annoying, in my opinion.
Plus: these first-season "Acres" episodes are presented here in complete, uncut form (as far as I am able to discern), with running times averaging about 25-and-a-half minutes per show.
No extra supplemental features are offered up within this set. But that's okay by me. For the price paid, I couldn't really expect any extras anyway. I'm very satisfied with this boxed set as is. Sure, it might have been nice if MGM had thrown in a couple of extra features -- like, say, half-a-dozen free Lisa Douglas hotcakes. Oh -- wait a second -- scratch that idea. (LOL!)
Anyway, as I stated, this set does just fine with just the 32 episodes themselves. Being able to watch Oliver Douglas out in his fields, on his tractor, while wearing a three-piece business suit via the full Digital splendor of the DVD format is also a major positive attribute to be applied to this DVD release. :-)
Some interesting CBS-TV trivia regarding "Green Acres" ...... The final first-season episode of "Acres" aired on the exact same night that another classic CBS sitcom, "The Dick Van Dyke Show", was wrapping up its five-year run on the network -- June 1, 1966. "Green Acres", as it turned out, actually surpassed the Van Dyke series by 12 programs (in total number of episodes broadcast before going off the air) -- 170 to 158. "Acres" aired for six total seasons vs. Van Dyke's five.
In terms of ratings, "Green Acres" was a winner right out of the gate -- rising to #11 in the Nielsen TV ratings in just its first year. During the show's second season, it ranked even higher (#6).
MORE DETAILS ABOUT THIS DVD COLLECTION .....................
2-Disc Set. ... Dual-Layered, Dual-Sided Discs. ... 32 color episodes from the 1965-1966 TV season, presented in "Film Date" (Production) Order. ... To differentiate between "Side A" and "Side B" on these discs, you must look for an "A" or a "B" printed on the inner ring of each disc side. These letters appear just to the left of the words "Disc 1" or "Disc 2". (Why the disc-makers couldn't have simply marked each disc "Side A"/"Side B", I have no idea. Many double-sided discs from different companies are like this, however. It's designed as a mini-"torture" test I guess. But, it's not a huge deal, once you know where to look for the teeny-weeny "A" and "B" markings on each side. Without those letters on the discs, it really *would* be aggravating as all get out trying to figure out which side is which.)
Video -- Full Frame TV ratio (1.33:1).
Audio -- Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono.
Subtitles -- None.
Menus -- Main Menus are animated (with pictures & music). "Episode Selections" Sub-Menus are static.
Chapter Stops? -- No.
Play All Option? -- No.
Packaging -- Multi-panel "Digipak" case, with outer cardboard slipcover.
A nice 12-page booklet comes in this DVD package. The colorful booklet, which includes several photos of the cast as well as one "Video Screen Capture" still image from each episode, serves as an Episode Guide. Info includes episode numbers, ep. titles, show descriptions, original CBS Air Dates, and complete production credits for each program.
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Take a break from big-city life, like Oliver Douglas has done, and pick up this terrific two-disc DVD set of "GREEN ACRES: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON". These shows are good for what ails you. (Unless, of course, your ailment stems from having eaten a few of Lisa's hotcakes. For that catastrophe, you'll need to purchase one of the DVD season sets of "ER".) :-)
