1.1: Oliver Buys A Farm

"In 1930, there were more than 32 million people living on farms.
In the 35 years that followed, more than 20 million people sold their farms & moved to the city.
To the best of my knowledge, in this same period of time, only one man got rid of his Park Avenue penthouse and bought a farm."

Oliver Wendell Douglas is that man. And, Green Acres is his story. It's the epic sitcom tale of a man with a strong, strong passion that takes precedence over all the obligations he is forced into throughout his life. A man who fulfills his dream, only to find that the dream he was led to expect isn't quite what exists in reality.

The title of the episode sums the episode up perfectly. Oliver has a successful law practice in NYC and lives in a lovely penthouse filled with furniture we will become very familiar with over the next six years. His best friend is his wife Lisa, a "socialite". At this point, there's no mention of Lisa's thick Hungarian accent even though she does let a few strange phrases and words slip through ("Hootersville?").

Oliver takes a business trip to Chicago. On the trip, he sneaks over to the town of Hooterville and buys "The Haney Place". A house, a barn and 160 acres of land that he can live on and farm to his heart's content. Lisa is unhappy with it but, after several tantrums, agrees to stay for six months. The episode ends with their arrival at "The Haney Place" and Lisa's first view of the crummy old house they'll live in from now on.

The episode is presented as a TV documentary hosted by What's My Line? presenter John Daly. The doc seems to be about why a city man would move to a farm in America in 1965. Although everyone, including Daly, thinks Oliver is nuts, I think the evidence to the contrary is just as convincing . In the first half, when the doc is going strong, we see an abbreviated version of Oliver's life. He was born in Saratoga Springs, NY. (I saw Eric Clapton in concert there back in 1994-ish.) He was born on a farm so he believes his roots are there. His dad forces him to be a lawyer. His Mom thinks he's nuts (pretty much about everything). Every aspect of his life tells him that being a rich lawyer is the way to go. If he became a farmer, he'd be letting everyone down. So, he becomes a lawyer and (contrary to what we see in Hooterville) a good one. But, there is something about farming...

Maybe it's a personal thing...But, I always sympathized with Oliver's plight. In The Beverly Hillbillies, Jed buys the biggest mansion on the block because that's what wealthy people do. He never seems comfortable there ; he'd clearly have been happier back home. But, that's what you do when you have that much money. It's not like Jed actually adapts. For god's sake, they don't know what a stove is! The world shapes around him and his kinfolk. And, as much as people may balk against the hillbilly influence in Beverly Hills, no one ever thinks Jed's a nut. GA is a reversal in more ways than one.

"Beverly Hillbillies in reverse" is the oft-quoted description for the show. It sure is, I suppose. We have the reason for Jed's move. But, Oliver's is a complete reversal. He became a lawyer because his dad was a big lawyer who went to Harvard and it was the right thing to do. He lived in the Penthouse because that was what you did. Unlike Jed, who leaves the land he loves behind, Oliver finally goes where he believes he needs to be after a life of doing what others want him to do. Yes, he does love the law but, as Daly says, He had two loves - Lisa and farming. Lawyering is, at least, a third. Oliver is following his dream. Why fault a man for that?

I'm pretty sure that another show must have done the "faux-documentary" thing before but I'm not thinking of it offhand. Daly sits at a desk in front of a rack of TVs that light up with varying images, including Oliver complaining about the city and Lisa saying she loves it. (As in the credits, Oliver crosses over from his side to hers.) It seems to me to be a pretty great way to introduce your show's premise, especially when you don't have to worry about a pilot. GA & Petrticoat Junction did not have pilots due to Paul Henning's success with BH. When you know most definitely that you will have a second and third episode, the first is yours to play with as you will. I like the route Jay Sommers has taken here. I fully believe that the show really takes off, comedy-wise, once Dick Chevillat joins up for the next episode. But, Jay has set down a nice foundation. After this episode, it is the division between what Oliver believes about the farmers as "the backbones of our economy" & the confused looks on the farmers' faces when he says things like that about them that fuels the show.

It isn't until halfway in that Oliver says that the farm is in Hooterville. When I originally watched the show, I knew little of TV history and had never seen Petticoat Junction so that meant nothing to me. When Oliver gets to Drucker's General Store and meets Sam, Uncle Joe, Floyd Smoot, Mr. Ziffel & Arnold for the first time, it isn't presented as our first meeting with them. We know these fellas. Seeing them play checkers and seeing Uncle Joe sass around is something we know and love. Oliver is the one being introduced to us. The rural folks are as confused as the city folks when they hear about Oliver's dream. Oliver makes his first big speech here. There are no fifes accompanying him. Just his passion for what he believes farmers are and how they prop up our society...and the men of Hooterville have no idea what the hell he's talking about.

A portent of things to come. Oliver can shrugs off the city's catcalls but the town of Hooterville will turn out to be truly odd. It is rural only by location.

The scene in Hooterville is quick. I can only imagine folks watching the show on its premiere. Did they know that Hooterville was involved? Paul Henning's name is in the credits but there is nothing indicating the setting. PJ is set on the outskirts of town at the hotel and train station. Did America perk up at hearing Hooterville? The Drucker Store scene is presented in the same way the Fonz would later appear in Laverne & Shirley. "Oliver must be OK because the people from Hooterville welcome him in." This episode premiered on 9/15/65. The night before this, the third season of PJ began. It would have been the first time America saw all of their friends at the Shady Rest in color. And now, they're back on the next night! The promise of more visits with the Bradleys and their friends waits in the wings.

The episode ends with the theme kicking in and the Douglas's car driving up to the old house we saw in the opening credits for the first time. Lisa's dread sinks in until she's crying in the same way she has been throughout, like a petulant child. The look on their faces as Lisa is trying to wish the house way shows it all. As Lisa breaks down, Oliver is staring through the house to the future and all the farming he's going to be doing. He's a man with a passion that is finally being fulfilled. You can see how he became so easily flustered as the series went on. And, from this point on, Oliver's fantasy of farming and farm life will slowly deteriorate although he keeps up the high spirits for some time. However, at this closing moment, he is in the pocket. The dream has come true and he takes it all in.

Things will go wrong in a few minutes.

I can't imagine how I forget the opening credits...Aren't they great? Excellent theme and great images. The credits set up the basics of the story that the faux-doc would climb into deeper. For all the times Oliver would become incredibly confused by life in Hooterville and no matter how much Lisa will become acclimated to it, the credits will remain the same. Oliver's optimism and Lisa's dislike of the farm remain the same at the beginning of every show. Possibly the theme could have changed as the focus of the show shifted but it's too iconic. They were right to leave it. And, by Season Two, it stands in bold contrast to what actually happens in the episodes themselves.

One more thing: Is the show funny? It didn't really occur to me to go over this. I mentioned it above but GA makes me laugh regularly and, when it doesn't, I'm usually very entertained. I guessed that anyone reading this would probably find GA funny like I do but I imagine there might be some who need convincing. And, frankly, I'm not the man to do that. But...is this episode funny?

Yes. Yes, it is. It has plenty of good one-liners and some funny wordplay. But, it is the next episode when things will officially take off into Yuktown, U.S.A. And, it will be later in the season before the perfect GA format will truly take us to That Goofy Place.

Oliver Buys A Farm is a lovely opening episode. It does feel rather different from the show as it would develop but it has enough of the future in it (especially the way the Hooterville residents are twisted just slightly from the way we know them in PJ) to get one excited about what is to come.