1.2: Lisa's First Day On The Farm

"You should see the size of this cellar!"

Abandoning the faux-documentary of the series premiere, this second episode of Green Acres is more straightforward in structure.Lisa gets a tour of the house ("the Haney Place"), hates it and almost goes back to NYC. Kate Bradley convinces her to stay, in true Petticoat Junction-style.

The episode starts out in an odd manner...a pre-credits sequence. In Season Six, they would use them but here it stands out. We see that the Douglas's apartment is being sub-let. A couple (who probably sub-let an apartment in every sitcom of the 60's) love the apartment. But, there are two stipulations: 1) the furniture is not included & 2) they must take care of the farm. The "farm" being the collection of Oliver's plants on the balcony. This teaser ends with a great moment. The new tenants say something like "If he was so crazy about farming, why doesn't he just buy a farm?" Close up of the realtor: "He did." Cut right to the opening credits...Great opening. Restates the premise and glides right back into it.

(On a little side note, I first discovered the inconveniences of syndication cuts back in 1986 with this episode. CBN was showing GA at 5Pm every weekday. So, I was diligently taping it on Beta. WTBS started showing it at 4AM so I would timer record it to try and catch episodes I'd missed. Lisa's First Day On The Farm aired on the two stations very close to one another. The CBN version began with the opening credits and flowed. Imagine my surprise when the WTBS episode has a pre-credits sequence! The hell! Unfortunately, I was in 7th grade and my peers could have truly given a crap when I told them about my findings. (If it wasn't Foreigner or The Beastie Boys, I got kicked in the slats.) Oh well. At least I could tell you folks about it.)

Then, the main body of the episode begins and...

Hello, Eb!

Hello, Mr. Haney!

Two great characters. The character of Pat Buttram's Haney is there from moment one. A man whose entire waking life (and possibly his dreams) is taken up with swindling. In these early episodes, his swindles are the most profitable but the least creative. He's basically taken everything, including sinks and bathtubs, out of the Douglas's new home. So, Oliver has to buy all of it back...and then he'll buy livestock and a very special Hoyt Clagwell tractor. Haney always seems to be there immediately with whatever Mr. Douglas needs...to the point where I'm pretty sure Oliver could have him arrested for trespassing.

I've always liked Mr. Haney. He's not my favorite but his appearances are always a good time. Personally, I've always thought that being so constantly on the make for some dough must get tiring. But, if this is how he makes his living, then I guess it wouldn't be but the way he gets around would wear me out.

Eb was Mr. Haney's hired hand and, by the end of the episode, he is Mr. Douglas's. A tall, thin fellow with a slight sarcastic streak that will have become wonderfully odd by the end of the season. Here he seems rather restrained if you know the Eb of later in the series.

The biggest addition to this episode is Mr. Dick Chevillat. Jay Sommers was described as the "story guy". Dick was the "gag man". And, the quality of the gags pick up here. The 10-minute (apx.) walk through the empty house for the first time is wonderful. Oliver's insistence that "I can fix it." becomes funnier when you realize that everything is in need of fixing. Eb's chatter and Mr. Haney's flim-flammery have a nice kick to them. You can tell that something has been added to the writer's mix. His influence will increase as they comtinue to find the show's footing during this first season. We're still setting the foundations out here.

Then, there's Lisa... She's glamorous and lovely and sophisticated and Oliver must be a little loopy if he really thought that she was going to adore all of this rural, well, squalor. But, and we don't see this here, Lisa is a great adapter. In these early episodes, she is the wife of a wealthy (possibly?) man who spends his time & money indulging her whims. Now, she's indulging his and she doesn't seem to like it. As the show progresses, she will do what Oliver never does...adapt to her new life. She doesn't become the perfect farm wife. She becomes a true resident of Hooterville, which is far more important. (Remembering that it will be a while before we fully see how odd Hooterville is.)

Oliver is showing his first sign of troubles here. He keeps up the optimism throughout the opening but it cracks upon our return to Drucker's General Store. Joe Carson is running a pool based around how long the Douglas's will stay. Oliver seems thrilled when he hears 12. "12 years?" "Days." Then, the first sign of his temper being lost is encountered. And, it will happen again and again. In future episodes, he will deny being a hothead. And, maybe if things were going his way, he would probably be the picture of calm. But, this isn't a collection of Daily Affirmations, it's a sitcom. Oliver will be losing his temper a lot.

In fact, Lisa gets flustered as much as Oliver here. But, once she adapts, that will rarely happen. Life is life and you either move with it or try and stand in its way. I wonder if Oliver ever thought "Hey! All this trouble I have around here is just as stressful, if not more, than the rat race I got away from! I was a good lawyer so I had some control there. Here, in Hooterville, I'm the odd man out! These people aren't the backbones of anyone's economy. They're just nuts." I suspect he may have thought that but then something pleasant floated through his mind and he forgot it...until the next time he remembered it.

I always enjoy the scenes when Oliver & Uncle Joe meet and when Lisa & Kate meet. A Sitcom Summit! Uncle Joe and Kate really are from a whole different world. And, in fact, although Uncle Joe seems very comfortable here, Kate and her daughters always seemed a little wary. Kate and Oliver are always congenial. Kate and Lisa like each other but Lisa just tends to say things or do things that Kate looks at with confusion. It's probably Kate's nature. She's a good woman who likes to help people. But, with rare exceptions, Lisa doesn't really need anything. Oliver provides the basics. If Lisa can't cook, Kate will try to teach her but it really doesn't matter because Oliver will roll with it. (He may make fun of Lisa's farm wife skills but he doesn't do anything to really change them.) So, Kate is up against a rarity: Someone she can help all she wants but, in the end, it won't amount to a thing.

Uncle Joe's meeting with Oliver usually involve very little. He does flim-flam him once or twice but it's usually with something Oliver actually wants (fire chief, for example). It's tough to pull the wool over someone's eyes when 1) the person doesn't mind & 2) the person knows you're doing it. I guess, in the end, the supporting characters from PJ were the only ones who could get shifted into the world of GA. The two shows are very different. In style, in attitude and, well, almost everything. So odd that they're in the same "world". I wonder if, in 1965, people noticed any difference. It's sure obvious now.

Lisa' First Day On The Farm is a wonderful second episode that does exactly what The Beverly Hillbillies & PJ did. It extends the opening set-up across several episodes so we can ease in. It's quite lovely. The sort of thing that happens all the time now but sure didn't back them. It has the added advantage of some great jokes, including some wonderful sight gags with the house. The toilet flushing ("It's a shower!), the "what's behind the wallpaper" reveal and the kitchen door opening are my favorites. But, Oliver's drop into the basement (which we actually only go into once in the fifth season episode Trapped, where they seem to have forgotten about it) is wonderful, too. And, the joke gets a great capper later on. Oliver's optimism after dropping through the floor is darkened by Lisa's doing the same and taking that as the cue to leave.

The episode even has a moment of humanity (apart from Oliver and Lisa's increasingly frustrated responses) right at the end. ("Stop whining. She left me too.") Oliver and their little dog Mingon sit by the fire in their dark, dingy farmhouse. Lisa comes back, after a good talk with Kate. She has decided to stay and it's handled wonderfully. One more gag caps us and we're...out.

Oh, by the way, technically Lisa's first day on the farm is at the end of the first episode. After the opening credits here, we see Eb and Mr. Haney taking the bathtub. We learn that this is the Douglas's third day there. All Lisa can do is sit and stare at the house from the safety of the car. So, my question is, does this affect the pool? How can uncle Joe win with "1" day if it's their third day there?

One more thing: I'm slowly watching PJ. I'm halfway through Season One. Is there an episode in the start of Season Three where Oliver and Lisa are shown staying at the Shady Rest? I guess I'll find out soon.

Next episode: The first attempts to fix the house begin.