This season 5 episode ran on METV last Friday, I'd love to know why Bob Cummings was in this show. Green Acres generally worked with the regular cast and additional veteran supporting actors of that era as needed, the show did not use guest stars. Normally you might think this was some type of back door pilot, but it didn't feel like one. Eddie Albert was seen throughout the episode but Cummings seems to be have been cast as the Oliver character. It's Cummings who has the wacky interactions with Haney, Kimball, Eb and Mr. Ziffel with Oliver being a lesser character. Why bring Cummings in just to do the routines that Albert normally did. Why pay a guest star extra money for that. Paul Henning did produce Love That Bob, I wonder if he was thinking of casting him in on of the pilots he was doing for CBS (Pam or The Ex Secretary) and wanted to give him some exposure. Cummings was doing other guest appearances on TV series during this time but the characters he played were specialized characters developed just that episode. I don't get it.

I would say that by 1970 Cummings was hard up for any work, even if it means being a character actor.

It was five years removed from “My Living Doll,” and it’s possible that the brouhaha from “Doll” put him in “thespia non grata”—but I cannot really say.

Yeah to have someone of his star in that GA role was unusual.

cd

This is one of the best episodes of the series IMO. Its premise involving a fresh new straight man allows a reappraisal of all the world-building up to this point, viewed through the eyes of the aforementioned straight man. One of my favorite moments is when Lisa tries explaining to Mort where Arnold came from. The writers run through all the gags of the series which have been long established, but derive new humor from them that they couldn't do with just Oliver in his standard role.

Bob Cummings fits perfectly into his character as the (slightly) more laid-back, unassuming version of Oliver.