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45-424: Green Acres is an American television absurdist sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to Petticoat Junction , the series was first broadcast on CBS , from September 15, 1965, to April 27, 1971. Although it received solid ratings during its six-year run, Green Acres was cancelled in 1971 as part of

90-404: A cameo as himself. In 1970–1971, during the series' sixth season, Green Acres placed 34th out of 96 shows. Despite the respectable ratings and winning its timeslot, the network cancelled the show in the spring of 1971 after 170 episodes. CBS at the time was under mounting pressure from sponsors to have more urban-themed programs on its schedule. To make room for the newer shows, nearly all of

135-445: A certain amount of incongruity, and that absurd jokes require the additional component of an "absurd image," with an incongruity of the mental image. Vic Mizzy Victor Mizzy (January 9, 1916 – October 17, 2009) was an American composer for television and movies and musician whose best-known works are the themes to the 1960s television sitcoms Green Acres and The Addams Family . Mizzy also wrote top-20 songs from

180-471: A farmer, and Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor), his glamorous Hungarian wife, uprooted unwillingly from an upscale Manhattan penthouse apartment to a dilapidated farm in Hooterville that Oliver purchases from the ever-hustling Mr. Haney, to the disbelief of the residents. The debut episode is a mockumentary about their decision to move to a rural area, anchored by former ABC newscaster John Charles Daly . Daly

225-581: A play in homage to "famous television show" The Beverly Hillbillies . Oliver plays Jethro opposite Lisa as Granny Clampett. Starting in 1968, The Beverly Hillbillies aired episodes with the Clampetts in Hooterville visiting distant cousins the Bradley family. This brought the world of all three shows into the same reality. "The Thanksgiving Story" includes a split-second insert of Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor at

270-752: A principal exponent of this, especially in The Exterminating Angel . It is a prominent feature in the television and cinematic work of the British comedy troupe Monty Python (1969–2015). Other examples include The Falls by Peter Greenaway and Brazil by Terry Gilliam . Surrealist humor has become increasingly popular in both children- and adult-oriented western animation, most notably in shows such as Regular Show , South Park , SpongeBob SquarePants , Aqua Teen Hunger Force , and more recently, Smiling Friends . Contemporary Internet meme culture, such as Weird Twitter and YouTube poop ,

315-498: A result, much of their art was intentionally amusing. One example is Marcel Duchamp 's Fountain (1917), an inverted urinal signed "R. Mutt". This became one of the most famous and influential pieces of art in history, and one of the earliest examples of the found object movement. It is also a joke, relying on the inversion of the item's function as expressed by its title as well as its incongruous presence in an art exhibition. The word surreal first began to be used to describe

360-576: A suite of running jokes and visual gags, and characters often broke the fourth wall , such as looking around to try and figure out where the fife music is coming from when Oliver launches into one of his frequent "American dream" monologues. The show is set in the same television universe as Henning's Petticoat Junction , featuring such towns as Hooterville , Pixley , Crabwell Corners, and Stankwell Falls, as well as sharing characters such as Joe Carson, Fred and Doris Ziffel, Sam Drucker, Newt Kiley, and Floyd Smoot. The main theme, composed by Vic Mizzy ,

405-546: A trip to Hawaii. Most of the episode focuses on hotel owner Bob Carter ( Don Porter ) and his daughter Pam ( Pamela Franklin ), thus the proposed title for the new series was simply Pam . The final episode of season six (and ultimately the Green Acres series) heavily featured Oliver's former secretary in Manhattan, Carol Rush ( Elaine Joyce ), with proposed spinoff titles said to be Carol or The Blonde . The surviving members of

450-532: A type of aesthetic of the early 1920s. Surreal humour is also found frequently in avant-garde theatre such as Waiting for Godot and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead . In the United States, S. J. Perelman (1904–1979) has been identified as the first surrealist humour writer. Surrealist humour appeared on British radio from 1951 to 1960 by the cast of The Goon Show : Spike Milligan , Peter Sellers , and Harry Secombe . The Goons' work influenced

495-399: Is also influenced by surreal humour. Mary K. Rodgers and Diana Pien analysed the subject in an essay titled "Elephants and Marshmallows" (subtitled "A Theoretical Synthesis of Incongruity-Resolution and Arousal Theories of humour"), and wrote that "jokes are nonsensical when they fail to completely resolve incongruities," and cited one of the many permutations of the elephant joke : "Why did

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540-432: Is notable as an unusual example of a TV theme song in which the lyrics are sung by the stars of the show (Albert and Gabor), rather than by anonymous session vocalists. Oliver and Lisa are both depicted as fish out of water. While Oliver instigated the move from Manhattan to Hooterville over Lisa's objections, he is typically uncomprehending of and impatient with his new situation. Lisa, on the other hand, somehow understands

585-620: Is operated by the absent-minded Mr. Kimball, and the Granbys hire an older hand named Eb (voiced by Parley Baer , who guest-starred in several episodes of the television series), who often comments on incompetent management. Benaderet later played Kate Bradley, a main character in Petticoat Junction , which was in the same fictional universe as Green Acres . Following the success of The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction , CBS offered producer Paul Henning another half-hour slot on

630-474: Is seen at times playing checkers, loafing, or mooching fruit at Drucker's Store with Petticoat Junction regulars Newt Kiley (portrayed by Kay E. Kuter ) and train conductor Floyd Smoot (portrayed by Rufe Davis ) while also developing a romantic interest in Eunice Douglas. Betty Jo Bradley appears in one episode as Eb Dawson's date. Her sister Bobbie Jo appears in the same episode. Blonde-haired Billie Jo

675-453: Is the only Bradley sister never to appear in Green Acres . Western film actor Smiley Burnette guest-stars several times as railway engineer Charley Pratt in 1965 and 1966. Burnette and Pat Buttram (Mr. Haney) were both comic sidekicks of singing cowboy Gene Autry in his 1950s Westerns. In the March 1967, episode "The Beverly Hillbillies" (season 2, episode 23), the Hooterville theater puts on

720-478: The " rural purge " by CBS. The sitcom has been in syndication and is available on DVD and VHS releases. A reunion movie aired in 1990. In 1997, the two-part episode "A Star Named Arnold Is Born" was ranked No. 59 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time . Green Acres derives from Granby's Green Acres , a comedy show aired on the CBS radio network from July 3 to August 21, 1950. The eight-episode summer series

765-654: The 1930s to 1940s. Mizzy was born in Brooklyn , New York, to two Jewish immigrants, and attended New York University . As a child, he played accordion and piano, and was largely self-taught as a composer. During World War II , he served in the United States Navy where he wrote some of his hit songs. In the late 1930s, while based in New York City , Mizzy began composing a string of popular songs. These included Doris Day 's 1945 hit " My Dreams Are Getting Better All

810-401: The 1964–1965 comedy drama Kentucky Jones . A soundtrack album was released in 1965 containing all his compositions from The Addams Family entitled Original Music From The Addams Family . The single of the theme reached #25 on Canada's CHUM Charts . Mizzy rewrote and conducted The Addams Family Theme with a slightly different melody for the 1977 television special Halloween with

855-509: The American radio comedy troupe the Firesign Theatre (1966–2012). The Firesigns wrote sophisticated comic radio plays, many of which were recorded on albums . Surrealist humour is predominantly approached in cinema where the suspension of disbelief can be stretched to absurd lengths by logically following the consequences of unlikely, reversed or exaggerated premises. Luis Buñuel is

900-564: The DVD releases of the films Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 . Mizzy had two children with his first wife, Mary Small , who as a 1930s child singer had been known as "The Little Girl With The Big Voice," and who remained popular (especially on radio) through the 1950s. One of her daughters, Patty Keeler, a singer and songwriter, often worked with songwriter Doc Pomus . Mizzy died at his home in Bel Air, California , on October 17, 2009, aged 93. He

945-553: The Four Little Children Who Went Round the World (1871) is filled with contradictory statements and odd images intended to provoke amusement, such as the following: After a time they saw some land at a distance; and when they came to it, they found it was an island made of water quite surrounded by earth. Besides that, it was bordered by evanescent isthmuses with a great Gulf-stream running about all over it, so that it

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990-593: The New Addams Family , which reunited most of the original cast of the 1964–1966 TV series. He also wrote the scores for five Don Knotts films, including The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966), The Reluctant Astronaut (1967), The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968) (released on CD by Percepto in 2007), The Love God? (1969) and How to Frame a Figg (1971), releasing scores on a Compact Disc companion to some of their DVD releases. His other film work includes

1035-695: The Time ". Other Mizzy compositions were "There's a Faraway Look in Your Eye" and " Three Little Sisters ", both co-written with lyricist Irving Taylor . The latter were sung by The Andrews Sisters on Decca Records and in the 1942 Universal film Private Buckaroo , in which the sisters appeared with Harry James ' big band. Dinah Shore also recorded "Three Little Sisters"; "Take It Easy" (also with lyricist Taylor), "Pretty Kitty Blue Eyes", "The Whole World Is Singing My Song", "Choo'n Gum" (recorded by The Andrews Sisters, as well as Teresa Brewer ), "The Jones Boy", which

1080-498: The Ziffels' comely niece. With a nod to the times, Haney's latest product is a Russian miracle fertilizer called " Gorby Grow". The film was distributed by Orion Television Entertainment, the successor to Filmways. Until his death in March 2015, Bare was working on a film version of the TV series, and he teamed with Phillip Goldfine and his Hollywood Media Bridge to produce it. A Broadway version

1125-829: The appearance of an intention to shock and offend. Surreal humour is the effect of the illogical and absurd being used for humorous effect. Under such premises, people can identify precursors and early examples of surreal humour at least since the 19th century, such as in Lewis Carroll 's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass , both of which use the illogical and absurd ( hookah -smoking caterpillars , croquet matches using live flamingos as mallets, etc.) for humorous effect. Many of Edward Lear 's children's stories and poems contain nonsense and are basically surreal in approach. For example, The Story of

1170-462: The cast (except for Eleanor Audley, who had retired from acting 20 years earlier) were reunited for a TV movie titled Return to Green Acres . It aired on CBS on May 18, 1990. Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor also recreated their Green Acres characters for the 1993 CBS special The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies . On November 19, 2007, original series director Richard L. Bare announced that he

1215-545: The dinner table with the casts of all three series. There is a subplot with Eb Dawson falling in love with Elly May Clampett that continues in the following episode, "The Courtship of Homer Noodleman". The Clampetts return to the Shady Rest Hotel in "Christmas in Hooterville" with Eb still fawning over a reluctant Elly May. In addition, the crossovers from Petticoat Junction cast members, most frequently, were: During its six-season run, many familiar actors guest-starred on

1260-444: The elephant sit on the marshmallow?" "Because he didn't want to fall into the cup of hot chocolate." "The joke is incompletely resolved in their opinion," noted Elliott Oring , "because the situation is incompatible with the world as we know it. Certainly, elephants do not sit in cups of hot chocolate." Oring defined humour as not the resolution of incongruity, but "the perception of appropriate incongruity," that all jokes contain

1305-415: The events occurred or unfolded, in ways sometimes favorable to other unexpectedly introduced characters. Surreal humour in theater is usually about the insensitivity, paradox, absurdity, and cruelty of the modern world. Absurd and surrealist cinema often deals with elements of dark humour : disturbing or sinister subjects like death, disease, or warfare are treated with amusement and bitterness, creating

1350-570: The highest standards and expectations are subverted by the unexpected, which the scene emphasizes for the viewer's amusement. Either the " goofball " or " straight " character in the scene can react with dull surprise, disdain, boredom, or detached interest, thus heightening comic tension. Characters' intentions are set up in a series of scenes significantly different from what the audience might ordinarily encounter in daily life. The unique social situations, expressed thoughts, actions, and comic lines are used to spark laughter, emotion, or surprise as to how

1395-528: The rights to release future seasons of the show. It subsequently released Green Acres – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on October 17, 2017. Shout! Factory released season 4 on November 28, 2017. They released season 5 on February 27, 2018, followed by season 6 on July 10, 2018. A DVD & Blu-ray released on Studio Distribution Services its 35th anniversary. In the 1990 reunion TV movie Return to Green Acres , made and set two decades after

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1440-440: The rural-themed shows were cancelled, later known as the " rural purge ," of which Pat Buttram said, "CBS cancelled everything with a tree – including Lassie ." As a result of the sudden cancellation, there was no series finale. The final two episodes of Green Acres were backdoor pilots for two shows that were never picked up by a network. In the penultimate episode of season 6 ("Hawaiian Honeymoon"), Oliver and Lisa take

1485-443: The schedule, without requiring a pilot episode . Faced with running three shows, Henning encouraged Sommers to create a series for the time slot. Sommers later wrote and produced about one-third of the episodes. In pre-production, proposed titles were Country Cousins and The Eddie Albert Show . Green Acres is about Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert), a prominent and wealthy New York City attorney, fulfilling his dream to be

1530-635: The scores for the William Castle films The Night Walker (1964), The Busy Body (1967) and The Spirit Is Willing (1967), as well as other 1960s movies such as A Very Special Favor (1965), The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967), Don't Make Waves (1967), The Perils of Pauline (1967) and Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968) He also composed underscores for

1575-471: The series, Oliver and Lisa have moved back to New York but are miserable there. The Hootervillians implore the couple to return and save the town from a scheme to destroy it, cooked up between Mr. Haney and a wealthy, underhanded developer ( Henry Gibson ). The Monroe brothers still have not finished the Douglases' bedroom, while a 20-something Arnold survived his "parents" and subsequently bunks with his "cousin",

1620-585: The show, along with other lesser-known performers who later achieved stardom, among them John Daly , Elaine Joyce , Gary Dubin , Herbert Anderson , June Foray , Bob Cummings , Sam Edwards , Jerry Van Dyke , J. Pat O'Malley , Johnny Whitaker , Jesse White , Al Lewis , Gordon Jump , Bernie Kopell , Len Lesser , Bob Hastings , Don Keefer , Don Porter , Alan Hale Jr. , Melody Patterson , Rusty Hamer , Regis Toomey , Heather North , Allan Melvin , Parley Baer , Jack Bannon , Reginald Gardiner , Rick Lenz , Al Molinaro , Pat Morita , and Rich Little in

1665-478: The sometimes surreal world of their neighbors, and they in turn are accepting of her own bizarre notions. Shady Rest Hotel owner Kate Bradley (portrayed by Bea Benaderet ) appears in a few early episodes. She tries to help Lisa adapt to country living, most notably giving her the recipe for her hotcakes, which Lisa ends up botching, resulting in Lisa's infamous "hotscakes". Uncle Joe Carson (portrayed by Edgar Buchanan )

1710-422: The television series The Richard Boone Show and Quincy, M.E. , as well as for such television films as The Deadly Hunt (1971), Hurricane (1974), Terror on the 40th Floor (1974), The Million Dollar Rip-Off (1976) and The Munsters' Revenge (1981). Toward the end of his career, Mizzy was commissioned by film producer Sam Raimi to compose music for the outtakes (gag reel) special features for

1755-594: Was a 1953 hit for The Mills Brothers , and "With a Hey and a Hi and a Ho-Ho-Ho". Mizzy broke into television circa 1959, composing music for Shirley Temple 's Storybook and the themes for Moment of Fear , Klondike and Kentucky Jones . During the 1960s, he wrote themes and scores for the hit shows Green Acres and The Addams Family , as well as for other sitcoms , including The Pruitts of Southampton , The Double Life of Henry Phyfe , Captain Nice , The Don Rickles Show , and Temperatures Rising , and

1800-471: Was also in development. In 1984, the USC School of Cinematic Arts gave a retrospective of Green Acres to honor Sommers. Surreal humour Surreal humour grew out of surrealism , a cultural movement developed in the 20th century by French and Belgian artists, who depicted unnerving and illogical scenes while developing techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. The movement itself

1845-427: Was created by Jay Sommers , who also wrote, produced, and directed. The principal characters, a married couple played by Bea Benaderet and Gale Gordon , originated (although under a different surname) on Lucille Ball's My Favorite Husband . The Granby's premise was that a big-city banker fulfills a lifelong dream by moving his family to a rundown farm, despite knowing nothing about farming. The nearby feed store

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1890-489: Was foreshadowed by English writers in the 19th century, most notably Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear . The humour in surreal comedy arises from a subversion of audience expectations, emphasizing the ridiculousness and unlikeliness of a situation, so that amusement is founded on an unpredictability that is separate from a logical analysis of the situation. Surreal humour is concerned with building up expectations and then knocking them down; even seemingly masterful characters with

1935-440: Was perfectly beautiful, and contained only a single tree, 503 feet high. In the early 20th century, several avant-garde movements, including the dadaists , surrealists , and futurists began to argue for an art that was random, jarring and illogical. The goals of these movements were in some sense serious, and they were committed to undermining the solemnity and self-satisfaction of the contemporary artistic establishment . As

1980-430: Was the host of the CBS game show What's My Line , and a few weeks after the show's debut Albert and Gabor returned the favor by appearing on What's My Line as that episode's Mystery Guests, and publicly thanked Daly for helping to launch their series. Although many Green Acres episodes were still standard 1960s sitcom fare, the show developed a regular undercurrent of surrealism and satire. The writers soon developed

2025-513: Was working on a revival of Green Acres . Variety announced on July 22, 2012, that a Broadway-aimed musical was in development, with an initial draft of the book written by Bare. No composer, lyricist, or director was attached. Bare died in 2015. MGM Home Entertainment released the first three seasons of Green Acres on Region 1 DVD. The entire six-season run of the series is available for purchase via Amazon's video-on-demand service. On July 7, 2017, Shout! Factory announced it had acquired

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