1.7.: Neighborliness

"Your mother loves you."
"Then, why does she always introduce me as her attorney?"

A slightly odd episode. And, it took a few minutes of thinking to figure out why I find it odd. The first act takes place in the morning. Mother is visiting. Oliver is fixing the front porch rail and making it into the trademark wobbly, uneven rail we'll see for the rest of the show. And, Lisa cooks breakfast, with some help from Mother. The second act is a visit from the still-not-quite-there-yet Mr. Kimball who tells Oliver that he should start plowing immediately or he'll miss the planting season. Oliver tries a Haney plow but it's a bust. Then, Oliver learns that Mr. Drucker can't get him a plow in time. But...Uncle Joe wants a shotgun.

Act Three is a plowing party at the Douglas place with contests and prizes and all that great stuff. All of it arranged by Uncle Joe, who has taken the entry fee and ran. Oliver gets his fields plowed and everyone is happy. And...it all doesn't seem quite right. It all seems slightly different from what we've seen or, honestly, from what we know the show will become. Of course, I can't fault the episode for not being what I love most in the show because the show is still growing. For most of the season, it will be finding its proper niche. But, and this is the clincher for me, I had to go back and re-check who wrote this episode when I was done. It's Jay & Dick. It almost feels like someone else could have written it or, at least, that they were trying something a bit different.

Now, I don't want anyone to think I'm a bit down on this episode because of any of that. This is a fun and charming episode of Green Acres. It's not really that funny and it's a bit slower than the previous ones and the main thrust of the third act occurs because of one of Uncle Joe's schemes...Ah-ha! I wouldn't have thought of this a year ago but now I know what this feels like: an episode of Petticoat Junction. It has the same laziness to it (not a bad laziness) and it is driven ahead by an Uncle Joe scheme. Well, in the future, GA will occasionally wander near satire, like the Beverly Hillbillies, so why can't it try to be more charming and bucolic, like PJ?

Possibly because PJ is the most sitcom-like of all three of these shows. Possibly because GA doesn't feel like GA when it feels like PJ. Possibly because GA requires that touch of madness that elevates it above the shows around it.

That's three "possibly's". I think that's enough.

I wonder if there's a corresponding episode in the land of the Junction? It's about Uncle Joe wanting a new shotgun. He gets everyone to pay him an entry fee for the Douglas's Plowing Party that he just made up. As that's going on, he's doing something wacky with the shotgun, maybe shooting Floyd Smoot in the slats.

I think this feels sort of like a place holder episode. It's certainly fun to watch but it doesn't move the show ahead at all, apart from Oliver's fields getting plowed. And, Mother takes a bit too much of the spotlight here for my tastes. I think she will get hooked up with Uncle Joe again next episode and that's when I like her the most. She's there to tempt Lisa back to NYC. But, as the show goes on, Lisa will become more of a Hooterville resident so Mom will become superfluous. And, frankly, her shtick is getting a bit old. She doesn't like the farm or the house, I get it. Bring on more Mr. Kimball! Where's Alf and Ralph?

I guess I'm pining towards the full cast of characters being in place.

Oh...we do see Mrs. Ziffel for the first time here. And, both her and Fred don't seem quite right. Soon...

Watch the episode. It's charming. It's just missing some of the verve that make Green Acres so special. It's like a lesser track on a Beatles album ("Wait"?). It's definitely the Beatles and there are moments that grab you but you kind of wish they had re-written it or tossed it out and brought in something stronger. However, we have it...so let's enjoy it.

Next episode: Uncle Joe and Mother - An Item?