1.26: Double Drick

"Number 7? Does anybody have Number 7?...Number 8?"

I think the kids at the County Seat may have been walking of with some numbers.

Sweet, sweet Double Drick. I believe I've mentioned this before but: When I first started watching GA, I began with a run on CBN (5PM EST, M-F) that was at the second half of Season Six. I loved the wit, the charm, the characters, the love between Oliver & Lisa and the weirdness. When the show started over, it was very different. I watched (and loved) the episodes you've read about here. But, it was this episode that well & truly made me sit up and say "Ahhh! Here's the that weird show I've been watching."

And, DD does it in a GA-standard plotline. After 7 months of struggling without electricity and Haney's degenerator (always in 7's), Oliver goes to Drucker's to find out what the hold up might be... and it turns out Sam forgot to mail the application. So, the episode is about Oliver finally getting electricity (more or less) for the house. That's it. It's not a new bedroom or livestock or land... they just want electricity on their farm in early-1966 America. It's a fantastic episode.

Why? We finally say good-bye to the generator. Just at the point when the 7's might be bordering on repetitive, we wish it farewell. We get to go to the Hooterville Power, Water & Gas Company. (That may not be in the right order.) They do have a Pick A Number system. And, the scene of Oliver sitting in the empty waiting room as the man at the counter says "Number 4...Number 4...Sir, do you have number 4?" "I have 22!" is a scene that never fails to make me laugh.

After seeming a little off in The Deputy, Mr. Kimball comes back large. Lisa acts like Hank, briefly, which is awesome. And then, they have a wonderful rambling conversation... Lisa is now matching Hank and these are two very funny characters running in tandem. To hear them both reference hooking up the"electrical" is smile-causing. Haney gets a great scene. Even after all this, he has one more zing up his sleeve. Oliver loses one more time. But, this time, it's not so bad because of the impending power.

Lawlor the Installer is here. But, we never do get to meet Peter Greeder the Meter Reader. Sight gags, wordplay, witty lines and insanity: this episode is filled with all of it. I will admit that I watched this episode last night and laughed out loud more times than I could count. I adore the show up to this point. This is the episode that makes me love it. And, retroactively, makes me love the previous episodes.

And, I didn't mention my two favorite bits as a child: First, there is a Batman parody and it is awesome. (I'll let this gag surprise you.) Second, the gag about the Northeast Blackout of November 1965 gets a freeze frame and narration. (We haven't had a narrator appear since the first episode.) This show is cool.