Is any classic sitcom or show zanier? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

vitoscotti · 04-20-2019, 02:31 PM

It's non-stop farce, zaniness, slapstick. Not the regular sitcom template of a family with kids. Not really trying to give the good over evil common message. The stars get the short end of the stick usually at episodes end. Whenever there is a kid it's a wisecracking pain in the neck. It's seems so ahead of it's time for the 60s. I don't know how they ever got the network bigshot execs to bite on it. Monty Python was a 100% zany show that comes to mind. And the 3 Stooges shorts.

PhoenixAcres · 04-20-2019, 05:06 PM

Agreed on all counts. In 70 years of television there's been no show quite like Green Acres. They threw almost every sitcom convention out the window.

It sort of bothers me when posterity remembers it as just another "60s rural sitcom". I'd argue the rural designation isn't even accurate. If anything it should be labeled an absurdist sitcom. They weren't going for homespun country humor like Petticoat Junction. Only the premise had anything to do with rural life. All the humor came from incongruities, surrealism, and subverting expectations every step of the way.

CBS never understood Green Acres. It was on a different level that they didn't get. Unfortunately their narrow-mindedness took the show from us too soon. I think it could have gone another 2, maybe 3 years.

vitoscotti · 04-21-2019, 11:22 AM

I like when people outside of Hooterville visit and experience how goofy it is. Oliver's mother, the Hawaiian trip guy, Oliver's doctor, IRS agents, army draft service for Arnold, woman mistaken for Lisa's mother. I love the expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces.

PhoenixAcres · 04-21-2019, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vitoscotti

I like when people outside of Hooterville visit and experience how goofy it is. Oliver's mother, the Hawaiian trip guy, Oliver's doctor, IRS agents, army draft service for Arnold, woman mistaken for Lisa's mother. I love the expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces.

Haha yeah. Some of my favorite episodes are when Oliver surrenders his straight man role to a visitor.

Another was when Bob Cummings played a journalist visiting the farm for peace and quiet. This was in the fifth season so Oliver (and by extension the viewers) had grown mostly accustomed to the lunacy in Hooterville. They really poured it on for the visitor though. I love the part where Lisa explains the Ziffel family tree.

04-20-2019, 02:31 PM	#1
vitoscotti Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 14, 2017 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,083	Is any classic sitcom or show zanier? It's non-stop farce, zaniness, slapstick. Not the regular sitcom template of a family with kids. Not really trying to give the good over evil common message. The stars get the short end of the stick usually at episodes end. Whenever there is a kid it's a wisecracking pain in the neck. It's seems so ahead of it's time for the 60s. I don't know how they ever got the network bigshot execs to bite on it. Monty Python was a 100% zany show that comes to mind. And the 3 Stooges shorts.

04-20-2019, 05:06 PM	#2
PhoenixAcres Member Moderator Forum Veteran Join Date: Jul 26, 2016 Location: United States Posts: 6,824	Agreed on all counts. In 70 years of television there's been no show quite like Green Acres. They threw almost every sitcom convention out the window. It sort of bothers me when posterity remembers it as just another "60s rural sitcom". I'd argue the rural designation isn't even accurate. If anything it should be labeled an absurdist sitcom. They weren't going for homespun country humor like Petticoat Junction. Only the premise had anything to do with rural life. All the humor came from incongruities, surrealism, and subverting expectations every step of the way. CBS never understood Green Acres. It was on a different level that they didn't get. Unfortunately their narrow-mindedness took the show from us too soon. I think it could have gone another 2, maybe 3 years.

04-21-2019, 11:22 AM	#3
vitoscotti Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 14, 2017 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,083	I like when people outside of Hooterville visit and experience how goofy it is. Oliver's mother, the Hawaiian trip guy, Oliver's doctor, IRS agents, army draft service for Arnold, woman mistaken for Lisa's mother. I love the expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces.