Customer Reviews

Green Acres: The Complete Third Season

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Green Acres" was and still is often dismissed as a corny country comedy. But its inspired lunacy, with hints of everything from old radio comedy to Theatre of the Absurd, has been a major influence on shows like "The Simpsons" and "NewsRadio" (which is where the quote in the title comes from). Creator Jay Sommers wrote every episode with his story consultant Dick Chevillat, and instead of bland sitcom scrapes and sentimentality, they filled their scripts with satire, meta-humor and outright weirdness. No one can forget the various ways the characters noticed the opening credits, or the fact that most characters can hear the fife music playing under Oliver's rants about "The American Farmer," or the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Ziffel think a pig is their son (something that is taken for granted by everyone except Oliver).

The show started out fairly normal in season 1, turned weird and wonderful in season 2, and by season 3 was at its peak, with memorable episodes like "The Rutabaga Story" and the two-parter where Arnold (yes, the pig) gets a chance at Hollywood stardom. Highly recommended, but be warned: this is weird stuff.

This was the third of the six seasons that Green Acres ran on CBS before the purge. Lisa and Oliver keep up the laughs. The cast is still amazing, although I was told that they changed Arnold the Pig. Here's the episode rundown.

63: The Man For the Job 9/6/1967
64: Lisa's Jam Session 9/13/1967
65: Love Comes to Arnold Ziffel 9/20/1967
66: Oliver vs. the Phone Company 9/27/1967
67: Oliver Takes Over the Phone Company 10/4/1967
68: A Kind Word For the President 10/11/1967
69: Don't Count Your Tomatoes Before They're Picked 10/18/1967
70: Eb Elopes 10/25/1967
71: The Thing 11/1/1967
72: Das Lumpen 11/8/1967
73: Won't You Come Home, Arnold Ziffel? 11/15/1967
74: Jealousy, English Style 11/22/1967
75: Haney's New Image 11/29/1967
76: Alf and Ralph Break Up 12/13/1967
77: No Trespassing 12/20/1967
78: Eb Returns 12/27/1967
79: Not Guilty 1/3/1968
80: Home is Where You Run Away From 1/10/1968
81: How to Suceed in Television Without Really Trying 1/24/1968
82: Arnold Ziffel, Boy Hero 1/31/1968
83: Flight to Nowhere 2/7/1968
84: My Mother the Countess 2/14/1968
85: The Spring Festival 2/21/1968
86: Our Son, the Barber 2/28/1968
87: Oliver's Jaded Past 3/6/1968
88: The Hungarian Curse 3/13/1968
89: The Rutabaga Story 3/20/1968
90: Instant Family 3/27/1968
91: A Star Named Arnold is Born (1) 4/3/1968
92: A Star Named Arnold is Born (2) 4/10/1968

Green Acres has to be the funniest comedy ever and it should be no surprise that I have all of the episodes on video. I also have all 3 of these dvd sets. Which makes me wonder why cant MGM get off their idiotic butts and release more of these. Folks, just look at the release dates of these sets. They make us wait well over a year for another set of these to come out. Season 3 came out in December 2005, 13 months ago. I see all of these box sets of series in their entirity which were lame compared to Green Acres. Reality shows get box sets, tv series of today are released almost immediately when the seasons are over and yet, MGM keeps jerking us Green Acres fans around. Has anyone tried writing to them on their website? Has anyone ever gotten an answer from them? I think they give us the standard "due to vast volumes of mail we receive, we cant answer individual letters." Yeah, right. They used to have a phone number which I tried calling but all I got was an answer machine. Now their phone number is a Best Buy telephone number. You would have better luck talking to a wall instead of talking to one of their representatives. They dont know a thing about when season 4 will come out. It is totally ridiculous for the delay and I am not shy about saying so. MGM, put some Green Acres product out. Seems like they sold well and it would be foolish of you guys not to put out the other 3 seasons. Thank you.
Joey Hornick

Thanks for the DVD release of the Third Season of Green Acres, but what about the final three seasons?? It doesn't seem like MGM is in a hurry to finish releasing the show on DVD does it?? By comparison, Paramount will soon release the sixth season of The Andy Griffith Show on DVD. Green Acres remained consistently funny throughout the six seasons it aired on CBS and there were many worthwhile episodes during the last three seasons that are well-deserving of a DVD release. I for one hope it happens very soon!!

"Green Acres" was THE BEST sitcom of the 60s. The writing was way ahead of its time and the casting was right on target. Eva Gabor is the most underrated comedic actress of her time. She was sheer genius. And I can't imagine any one else playing Oliver than Eddie Albert! (Well maybe Bob Newhart ...) Where is Season 4? It's been a year and a half, for God sakes!

Although later in the run, "The Reincarnation of Eb" is my favorite episode. In a series that was loony to begin with, I always get a laugh out of this one. I think half of it was adlibbed! Every so often a DVD comes along that's worth buying...every season of Green Acres falls into that category. For those of us old enough to remember the shock of CBS' cancelling these so-called "rural shows" in one fell swoop, it's a vote of confidence in great entertainment. What a wonderful show Green Acres was...and is!

Green Acres is Weird and wild comedy! Set in an almost surreal world, Oliver Douglas, city lawyer turned American Farmer, interacts with the most ridicilous and weird ensemble cast. From a Pig (Arnold Ziffel) that is smarter than most local residents,to his own Hungarian wife, who mangles the English language into absurdity, the charicters of "HootersVille" are very stongly developed and almos DaDA like in thier presentation. This series gets better with repeated watchings and is absurdist TV like never before or since. I grew up on this series and watching it with my son causes us many 'belly laughs.'
Green Acres is the place to be!, for pure escapism and fun!
Rauk Zenta

The humor of Green Acres still works even 30 years later! My kids and I can sit down,watch these shows and laugh together at all the crazy things that happen. We now have a shorthand for describing people we run into--he's like Mr. Haney, he reminds me of Hank Kimble...

Year #3 of this anarchic series is when it started hitting its groove. Gone was any pretense - if indeed, there ever was any - of any sort of reality.

The writing, directing and especially acting are all tremendous. One forgets just how *good* these actors were, especially when compared to what passes for situation comedy on televison today.

Green Acres was sort of the third leg of a TV trilogy, following Petticoat Junction and Beverly Hillbillies. But the writing and acting in Green Acres reached a new high for sitcom zaniness, mostly driven by the chemistry between the ever- stylish Eva Gabor and her comedic foil, Eddie Albert. With the third season the show hit its pace as a nearly perfect personality-driven sitcom. The third season featured nearly the entire cast: Eb, Mr. Haney, Alf and Ralph, and increasingly starred Arnold, as Nick at Nite ads called him, "the Love Pig." With a show this good, who needs extras? Here are all thirty color episodes on four one-sided discs, packaged in two slimline cases, which fit easily in the outer slipcase. A classy package for a classy show.

Episodes include:
Disc one:
1. The Man for the Job
2. Lisa's Jam Session
3. Love Comes to Arnold Ziffel
4. Oliver VS the Phone Company
5. Oliver Takes Over the Phone Company
6. Don't Count Your Tomatoes Before They're Picked
7. Kind Word for the President
8. Eb Elopes
Disc Two:
9. The Thing
10. Das Lumpin
11. Won't You Come Home Arnold Ziffel?
12. Jealousy, English Style
13. Haney's New Image
14. Alf and Ralph Break Up
15. No Trespassing
16. Eb Returns
Disc Three:
17. Not Guilty
18. Home is Where You Run Away From
19. How to Succeed on TV Without Really Trying
20. Arnold, Boy Hero
21. Flight to Nowhere
22. My Mother, the Countess
23. The Spring Festival
24. My Son, the Barber
Disc Four:
25. Oliver's Jaded Past
26. The Hungarian Curse
27. The Rutabaga Story
28. Instant Family
29. A Star Named Arnold is Born (Part One)
30. A Star Named Arnold is Born (Part Two).