Green Acres is brilliant. It's Oliver Douglas's American dream turned surreal nightmare week after week. It's like Dali meets Bunuel meets American Gothic. The logic is completely twisted. But it is consistent. And Oliver is the only one not in on the joke. The writing is first class. Read some of Mr. Kimball's dialog written down some time. It is beyond belief. I recall several mind blowingly funny episodes. The one where they decide to have their own college bowl game. The Rudabaga (sp?) Bowl. Lisa gets in a hot air balloon, flies across the country tossing out rutabagas and exclaiming: "eat Hootersville rutabagas." The episode where Mr. Haney pulls up with a full-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower in the back of his truck. Oliver asks Eb where Haney gets this stuff. "I think his mom knits 'em" exclaims Ed. But my particular favorite is the one where Arnold gets drafted to go to Vietnam. He has a whole scene with a horse who has just returned from Nam. It is subtitled and the horse waxes harsh and poetic about his time in Vietnam. There are things in this series that go beyond the bounds of anything ever tried in American TV. Green Acres rocks!
Review of Green Acres
