Green Acres (TV Series) Oliver Buys a Farm (1965) User Reviews

Only hints at what's to come

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 13 August 2020]

If you're as old as I am, you've most likely known the words of the Green Acres theme song all of your life. The plot in the pilot episode follows those lyrics pretty well. Oliver wants to farm, while Lisa wants to stay in the city. They go back and forth, but, ultimately, Oliver wins and Lisa reluctantly agrees to go - at least for 6 months.

While I feel that the first episode of Green Acres is good and often quite funny, it only hints at the zanniness to come. Regardless, there's still a lot here to like. First, I really like the documentary style presentation. We see right from the start that Green Acres isn't a show afraid to break the fourth wall - something that happens with regularity.. Second, we get a chance to meet several of the locals who help make the show so funny. While my personal favorite, Hank Kimble, isn't around, we get a chance to see Sam Drucker, Fred Ziffel, Arnold, and a few others. A lot of the locals weren't new to TV audiences back in 1965 having appeared on Petticoat Junction for a couple of years, so there's no time wasted on introductions. Instead, the locals get a chance to meet newcomer Oliver Wendell Douglas. Which leads me to number three, we (along with the locals) get a chance to hear one of Mr Douglas' speeches about the importance of the American farmer. All we're missing is the accompanying fyfe that would come later. Sam and Co's reaction is a hoot.

So overall, Oliver Buys a Farm is a nice episode that goes a long way to laying the necessary groundwork. It might not be as funny as what follows, but still worth a watch if you want to see how Green Acres got its start.

6/10

An Uneven Debut

[Chris-195 · 6/10 · 20 September 2011]

Not bad, but the first episode of Green Acres doesn't give much of an indication of how eccentric the show will eventually be. The episode is narrated by a newscaster as if the audience is viewing a documentary about Oliver Douglas buying a farm in Hooterville and convincing his wife to move with him. Like a handful of other early episodes, too much time is spent in the city and not enough in Hooterville. The citizens of Hooterville still feel more like guest stars from "Petticoat Junction" than actual cast members, and that will continue to be the norm until about halfway through the first season.

Overall, not the best introduction to the series. Like a lot of pilots, it feels a little like it was shot separate from the rest of the series, so at times it almost feels like another show.

Slow Start So What's Our Line Here

[DKosty123 · 6/10 · 8 March 2018]

Former Newsman and Game Show Emcee John Charles Daly introduces this episode with tung very much in cheek. The South African seems serious as he leads all of us into the antic farm land of Hooterville, with New York Lawyer Oliver Wendall Douglas and his wife Lisa packing up from their penthouse apartment and heading for Hooterville.

In a way, Paul Henning reverses the Ma & Pa Kettle series here. He has the city dwellers move into a farm much like the Kettles had, only they drive a late model convertible into town. The city folks do not have the common sense and experience of the Kettles as Oliver's first farm is on the penthouse balcony in New York.

The adventures of the couple are going to get funnier to start, but the dry humor of Daly gets us off to a slow start. Thank goodness Bennett Cerf isn't here hawking Random House Books as Mr. Haney has definitely unloaded a strange farm on the city dwellers.