Prime Day Deal - Green Acres: The Complete Series $39.41

[SRW1000]

Yes, I know it's only DVD (I hope we might see a Blu-ray release some day, but I'm not holding my breath).

Looking at the CamelCamelCamel website, it hasn't been priced this low in over a year, maybe two.

Here's a link:  Green Acres: The Complete Series [DVD]

While largely regarded as a silly sitcom version of country mouse vs. city mouse, it's a genuinely underappreciated absurdist classic.  I remember watching it as a little kid, and getting a kick out of the general comedy, but it wasn't until I rediscovered it in college that it became clear that it was much more than its surface level appearance.

The characters are distinct and well-drawn and largely endearing.  Plots are packed full of events, with dialog filled with clever word play.  Parts are reminiscent of Samual Beckett's Waiting for Godot but presented for the masses.  And that's where the fun starts.  Intermixed with stories about farm life are others as diverse as aliens, the moon landing, ghosts, giants, Hollywood, and gangsters.  Hooterville actually exists firmly in a small part of the Twilight Zone, where it has its own rules of logic.  Half the fun is watching the city lawyer struggle with his new reality while his Hungarian wife quickly adapts to the tiny burg's life rules.

While the first season is a little uneven as the actors begin to develop the roles, the second through fifth seasons are routinely solid.  Like most comedies, it starts to drag a bit during the final season as some of the jokes have played themselves out more than once. 

Personal favorite episodes:

• Season 1:  "You Can't Plug in a 2 with a 6" where our main characters start to learn the odd ways of life in Hooterville
• Season 2:  "One of Our Assemblymen is Missing" was one of Oliver's first forays into seeking help from the government for the citizens of Hooterville
• Season 2: "You Ought to Be in Pictures".  A fun mashup between the Agricultural Department and Hollywood that pokes fun at the audience's assumptions about making movies and the fame that accompanies them
• Season 2:  "School Days" has Lisa going high school for home economics.  My wife and I still refer to the PRNDL all the time (you'll get that reference when you watch the episode)
• Season 2:  "The Beverly Hillbillies" has the residents of Hooterville putting on a play based on the famous TV show.  All the more bizarre considering that The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres all exist in the same fictional universe.
• Season 2:    "Music to Milk By" features Eb trying to win a radio contest.  For all of us old folks that think today's music all sounds the same, you'll appreciate the musical cues.
• Season 3:  "Love Comes to Arnold Ziffel".  Think Romeo and Juliette, but with a pig and a dog.
• Season 3:  Oliver and the Phone Company Saga.  Composed of four consecutive episodes, it documents the struggles and assumptions about running a business.  The last episode features June Foray (voice of Rocky from Rocky and Bullwinkle fame).
• Season 3:  "Our Son, the Barber" has Eb enrolling in a correspondence school.
• Season 3:  "A Star Named Arnold is Born, Part 1 and 2" is another fun take on Hollywood.
• Season 4:  "The Candidate" pits Oliver against beloved State District Representative, Ben Hanks.  Spot-one commentary about local state candidates and how they remain so popular.
• Season 4:  "Law Partners" and "A Day in the Life of Oliver Wendell Holmes" is a two-parter featuring Oliver returning to a life of lawyering.  " ERVICE IS  UR MOT " will ever be etched in my memory.
• Season 5:  "The Road" shows how Oliver is undeterred by prior attempts to get the government to help
• Season 5:  "Oliver's Schoolgirl Crush" features Oliver speaking at Hooterville High, where a young student develops a keen interest in him.  In another nod to voice actors, the girl is played by Heather North, better known as the voice of Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.
• Season 5:  "Oliver and the Cornstalk".  Remember the giant I mentioned earlier?  "Ho, ho, ho."
• Season 5:  "The Case of the Hooterville Refund Fraud".  Farmers, taxes, fun.
• Season 5:  "The Beeping Rock" is another episode that does not take place in this reality.
• Season 5:  "The Wealthy Landowner" shows that the current state of online dating isn't really that much different than magazine ads were back in the 70s.
• Season 6:  "The City Kids" is a departure in that it's a little on the sentimental side as some young children from the city are introduced to where their food comes from.
• Season 6:  "The High Cost of Loving" shows Eb taking another crack at correspondence school, but there's been a mix up in courses.
• Season 6:  "Son of Drobny" has Hooterville all excited to host the son of a famous WWII Hungarian war hero who isn't what they expected.
• Season 6:  "King Oliver I" another tax-based episode, but this one is handled completely differently.

I heartily recommend the series for those that enjoy the absurd, mixed with quirky characters and smart dialog, with hilarious recurring callbacks, all presented in a way that can be safely watched by the whole family.

On the other hand, I do not recommend either of the two reunion episodes, as they were mere hollow copies of what made the series great.

The first two seasons are also available for free on YouTube with ads:  https://www.youtube.com/show/SC1T7Id3lk2LOGJ-1b8IEUnQ?season=1&sbp=CgExGhoSGFVDYUhVNTRIWVlTV3c4aEotT3pka1ZuQQ%253D%253D

[David Vaughn]

We've been watching the show on DVD and are about 1/3 of the way through season 2. There are some pretty funny moments and there's a lot more social commentary than I remember as a kid. It's an entertaining show. 

[SRW1000]

We've been watching the show on DVD and are about 1/3 of the way through season 2. There are some pretty funny moments and there's a lot more social commentary than I remember as a kid. It's an entertaining show.

Glad you're enjoying it!  It's been eminently rewatchable for me over the years.  Anytime run across it on a local station, I'll get sucked right back into it.