Would Oliver Douglas be happy anywhere?

[kooky12]

He moved from New York because of the rat race....but how did he react to his new neighbors in the country ? Yelling at Mr. Haney for ripping him off and always trying to rip him off more....ordering Haney away from his property. Yelling at Hank Kimball for being nuts...calling him a lamebrain and a nitwit, from just what I can remember offhand. Yelling at the carpenters Alf and Ralph all the time because they never finish fixing up the house...sometimes firing them ! He even yelled at Drucker for losing the mail, even though this was rare. Besides the neighbors, he was frustrated with Lisa, for being unable to cook, drive, sew, iron, though he did say "the rest of you made up for it. " But he yelled at her, too. Also he yelled at public organizations - the Dept. of Agriculture, the post office, the phone company, the draft board - always with good cause, but resorting to names like "malletheads". His frustration was definately a cornerstone of the show, however in reality, he probably would have had a coronary in the first few weeks....

[hifijohn]

Originally Posted by kooky12

He moved from New York because of the rat race....but how did he react to his new neighbors in the country ? Yelling at Mr. Haney for ripping him off and always trying to rip him off more....ordering Haney away from his property. Yelling at Hank Kimball for being nuts...calling him a lamebrain and a nitwit, from just what I can remember offhand. Yelling at the carpenters Alf and Ralph all the time because they never finish fixing up the house...sometimes firing them ! He even yelled at Drucker for losing the mail, even though this was rare. Besides the neighbors, he was frustrated with Lisa, for being unable to cook, drive, sew, iron, though he did say "the rest of you made up for it. " But he yelled at her, too. Also he yelled at public organizations - the Dept. of Agriculture, the post office, the phone company, the draft board - always with good cause, but resorting to names like "malletheads". His frustration was definately a cornerstone of the show, however in reality, he probably would have had a coronary in the first few weeks....

The show is silly fun but cant be taken seriously, in real life Haney would have been sued every hour on the hour alf and ralph would have gone out of business in one day with the terrible work they did and Oliver would have just hired a cook, but of course, the whole premise of the show is oliver is surrounded by all these idiots.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Lisa, of course, was happy in New York and after a few months was happy in Hooterville. it seems to be a lesson of the show that you make your own happiness.

[Bonniegirl]

Oliver was a grumpy kind of a guy ! A good guy, but grumpy!

I am actually having an " Alf & Ralph" kind of situation
here in my neighborhood! There has been noisy construction going on like forever up the street from me ! Reminds me of Alf & Ralph , like do they know what they are doing? Nothing seems to even get done after a noisy day of them working ? Why is this taking so long ? Sometimes I feel like going out and yelling at them like Oliver would do !

[cd637299]

All speculation, of course, but….

It would seem to me that Oliver would be happier as a politician. He really could rattle off a speech when he wanted to (with fife in the background of course). His speeches motivated people, albeit temporarily.

The two-parter where he and young Brian were going into law seemed to make Oliver a happy camper, until….thanks Lisa!

And it surely wouldn’t help anyone’s disposition, having to climb a pole to answer a phone. (By all means—GA cannot be remade for 2023, with smartphones!)

cd

[Alan Brady's Hair]

(By all means—GA cannot be remade for 2023, with smartphones!)

They could climb the pole to get decent reception.

[PaperClips]

The entire show is ridiculous - but his character is so grumpy. I don't think he'd be a lot of fun to be married too.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by PaperClips

The entire show is ridiculous - but his character is so grumpy. I don't think he'd be a lot of fun to be married too.

If that's all you get from the show, then you're not paying attention.

Saint Teresa of Avila once said, "More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones", that's the dilemma of Oliver. His story is a too often told tale of people not wanting something but wanting what their perception of that thing is. That's why he never fits in, why he is constantly frustrated, he never wanted to be part of the Hooterville farming community, he wanted that community to fit his perception of what a farming community should be.

The show was one of the best written shows on tv, clever, inventive well acted and very influential. Of the three Henning shows it has had by far the most successful post-network run, that's no accident.

[biffbronson]

Well-written, yes. But I wouldn't read too much into a farce, an oftentimes nonsensical exercise in humor. It's not as though all of Oliver's expectations were unrealistic or unreasonable.

Expecting Hank Kimball to be the least bit competent in his work had nothing to do with Oliver's frustration with the Hooterville community; as a county agent, his role for the farmers was beyond that. Neither did Lisa's inability to cook something other than her "hotscakes" reflect on the community Oliver found himself at-odds with.

Things that were constant frustrations for Oliver were oftentimes extreme exaggerations of those all of us run into. The pesky salespeople who come to your door = Haney. The contractors who can't finish a home-improvement job in a reasonable amount of time = Alf & Ralph. Forget about Oliver's "vision," these and others were matters of lunacy that would tax anyone's patience.

[cd637299]

Don Ameche was originally considered for the Oliver role. I wonder how he would have handled everything. Of course, all the characters evolved big-time over the years.

cd

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

Well-written, yes. But I wouldn't read too much into a farce, an oftentimes nonsensical exercise in humor. It's not as though all of Oliver's expectations were unrealistic or unreasonable.

Expecting Hank Kimball to be the least bit competent in his work had nothing to do with Oliver's frustration with the Hooterville community; as a county agent, his role for the farmers was beyond that. Neither did Lisa's inability to cook something other than her "hotscakes" reflect on the community Oliver found himself at-odds with.

Things that were constant frustrations for Oliver were oftentimes extreme exaggerations of those all of us run into. The pesky salespeople who come to your door = Haney. The contractors who can't finish a home-improvement job in a reasonable amount of time = Alf & Ralph. Forget about Oliver's "vision," these and others were matters of lunacy that would tax anyone's patience.

The series has been described as everything from a comedic Twilight Zone, to the greatest series on frustration, to surrealism, and more. Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) sketched a cartoon strip, "Life in Hell" which was inspired by Green Acres, the strip ran for more than a decade. He considers the show the story of Oliver Douglas in Hell. He saw the character of Oliver as a prig, he loved seeing him tortured. As I stated in my post I see it as a story of an individual who doesn't want the actual farm life, he wants his perception of what that life should be.

Let's take a look at at some of your comments:

Who was incompetent, Hank Kimball or Oliver Douglas? Kimball isn't working a farm in a three piece suit, Oliver is. Kimball didn't get ripped off by Haney over and over again Oliver did. He was a Harvard trained attorney who didn't remember the very first thing anyone studying contract law learns, "caveat emptor", let the buyer beware. Where was the due diligence, he purchased land unfit for farming the very thing he wanted to do, a dilapidated farmhouse that his wife hated, when she asked him if he had even seen the farmhouse, his comment, I don't care about the house. He didn't even give his wife that consideration. In his own way Oliver is every bit as incompetent as Kimball.

With respect to the Monroe Brothers their specialty as I recall was building chicken houses, they clearly weren't capable of doing what he asked, he was beating a dead horse! What's the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.


Certainly the show can be enjoyed without giving it any deeper meaning, but to suggest it's not there because you don't see it is very shortsighted.

[biffbronson]

Originally Posted by Duster76

Who was incompetent, Hank Kimball or Oliver Douglas? Kimball isn't working a farm in a three piece suit, Oliver is. Kimball didn't get ripped off by Haney over and over again Oliver did. He was a Harvard trained attorney who didn't remember the very first thing anyone studying contract law learns, "caveat emptor", let the buyer beware. Where was the due diligence, he purchased land unfit for farming the very thing he wanted to do, a dilapidated farmhouse that his wife hated, when she asked him if he had even seen the farmhouse, his comment, I don't care about the house. He didn't even give his wife that consideration. In his own way Oliver is every bit as incompetent as Kimball.

In the later seasons, Kimball was completely looney, a true screwball. There's no comparison with Oliver. Kimball would frustrate anyone by not functioning as a normal person. And wearing a vest is not the same as a "three piece suit," when did you see Oliver wearing a suitcoat on his tractor aside from the opening scenes? You know as well as I do that sitcom actors wanted to look their best, or you wouldn't have Barbara Billingsley wearing pearls and heels to do housework. Attacking Oliver's character on that point is extremely weak. (Not to mention that formal wear for men was much more common in everyday life in 1965-71, dress shirts & neckties were as prevalent as T-shirts are today.)

With regard to the purchases from Haney, including the house & land: Oliver continued to try to make things better, though failing and falling through the roof etc. I'm not the best at making repairs on my 97-year-old house, but I'm not quitting. I've gained experience and I'm content with the hand I was dealt. On GA, everything from fireplace repairs to exterior painting was addressed. The paint is a good example, there's no way Oliver could have known the house would reject all paint when he bought it. Even the painting contractor didn't anticipate that and went ahead and applied the paint, which failed totally -- yet somehow that falls under Oliver's "caveat emptor" failure?

A major theme of the show had to do with Oliver repairing the tractor and trying to grow crops. If his land was "unfit for farming," how did he grow the truckload of ripe apples he took to market? Even given that the land was not ideal, that's why Oliver needed Kimball for soil analysis etc. As far as later purchases, more often than not it was Lisa who fell for Haney's tricks -- "pay him!" -- yet you throw it all on Oliver in a big lump.

Originally Posted by Duster76

With respect to the Monroe Brothers their specialty as I recall was building chicken houses, they clearly weren't capable of doing what he asked, he was beating a dead horse! What's the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

At least he was giving the Hooterville community a chance, giving them employment, whereas before you wrote "he never wanted to be part of the Hooterville farming community, he wanted that community to fit his perception of what a farming community should be." On one hand you say he was unaccepting of the community, while on the other you lambaste Oliver for what amounts to his extreme patience in staying with the Monroes -- his fellow community workers. If other remodeling contractors were available, there was never any indication as such.

Originally Posted by Duster76

Certainly the show can be enjoyed without giving it any deeper meaning, but to suggest it's not there because you don't see it is very shortsighted.

And your own writing off of Oliver as "incompetent" isn't shortsighted? The whole premise of the show is based on Oliver having purchased a farm that proves extremely difficult to deal with. The humor comes from fireplace bricks falling on his head and his zooming off in a souped-up old tractor. No one wants to give up easily on something they've invested their time, money, and energy into. Having a character take that to more extreme measures is not the same as having an "incompetent" (like Kimball) as a character.

In a sense, our perceptions of Oliver and Kimball are shaped by the longevity of the series. Oliver is seen as increasingly stubborn for not quitting after a couple of years and returning to NY, and Kimball gradually descends into lunacy. In the case of Kimball, there's nothing 'deep' about the way he eventually acts, he is simply screwy.

Finally, being Harvard trained does not necessarily translate to being perfect in everyday life. I knew a full professor in math at Notre Dame who was giving out 20-dollar bills in change when people handed him 5's and 10's for purchases. A fellow parishioner shouted "get him out of there," the Church profits were going out the window. Being wired differently than others oftentimes accompanies high achievers in academia.

[TheLittleFaerie]

Originally Posted by kooky12

He moved from New York because of the rat race....but how did he react to his new neighbors in the country ? Yelling at Mr. Haney for ripping him off and always trying to rip him off more....ordering Haney away from his property. Yelling at Hank Kimball for being nuts...calling him a lamebrain and a nitwit, from just what I can remember offhand. Yelling at the carpenters Alf and Ralph all the time because they never finish fixing up the house...sometimes firing them ! He even yelled at Drucker for losing the mail, even though this was rare. Besides the neighbors, he was frustrated with Lisa, for being unable to cook, drive, sew, iron, though he did say "the rest of you made up for it. " But he yelled at her, too. Also he yelled at public organizations - the Dept. of Agriculture, the post office, the phone company, the draft board - always with good cause, but resorting to names like "malletheads". His frustration was definately a cornerstone of the show, however in reality, he probably would have had a coronary in the first few weeks....

Oliver would have been happy in the country if the people were "normal" and not out of the "Twilight Zone" lol... It's not just that they were countrified, they were just so BIZARRE, in fact the whole world became that way.. It was as if Oliver had slipped into an alternate dimension; even when the Douglasses made trips to New York, Oliver couldn't carry on a normal conversation with anyone for the life of him

[TheLittleFaerie]

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

Oliver was a grumpy kind of a guy ! A good guy, but grumpy!

I am actually having an " Alf & Ralph" kind of situation
here in my neighborhood! There has been noisy construction going on like forever up the street from me ! Reminds me of Alf & Ralph , like do they know what they are doing? Nothing seems to even get done after a noisy day of them working ? Why is this taking so long ? Sometimes I feel like going out and yelling at them like Oliver would do !

I could always see Eddie Albert playing as Mr. Wilson in Dennis the Menace, I think he'd be perfect... In a way he sorta reminds me Walter Matthau, the one who played Mr. Wilson in the Dennis the Menace movie

[TheLittleFaerie]

Originally Posted by PaperClips

The entire show is ridiculous - but his character is so grumpy. I don't think he'd be a lot of fun to be married too.

As Eddie Albert once put it, we the audience are supposed to empathize with Oliver. I loved Green Acres as a child, and getting back into it as an adult, I notice everyone is SOOOOO rude to Oliver, I didn't remember it being like that, I remember everyone being bizarro-ville but I didn't remember everyone treating Oliver so hatefully. I mean people will come into the house and be as nice as can be to Lisa and Eb then will say something nasty to Oliver for no reason.