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WGBH Boston
Green Acres - The Complete First Season

Green Acres - The Complete First Season

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $23.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hooterville is the place for me
Review: I was just a youngster when this series was on tv but this dvd brings new life to the classic show. You can fall head over heels laughing all over again as you watch Oliver, Lisa and the ever present Mr Haney who always is out to make the buck from the new farmers. One of my favorite episodes is when Arnold the pig meets Sylvia the Basset hound and love blooms.

A must have!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: More of a Response Than a Review This Time....
Review: I submitted a review of the Green Acres DVD set several weeks ago. I love the set--from the series, to the quality of the transfers, and the value for the money spent. This collection is a genuine find and delight for anyone who appreciates classic television.

However, I just came across a recent review of the DVD set from someone who doubts that the series pilot ever aired--and couldn't understand why someone would buy the series based upon that pilot.

As someone who grew up with "Green Acres" and was 11 years old when it premiered in 1965--rest assured, the pilot episode was broadcast twice by CBS during the 65-66 season. Some of us loved that pilot, and still do. Though just a kid when it first aired, I was delighted to see John Daly in that episode--he was very familiar to many of us as the moderator of the long-running series "What's My Line?" at the time.

The pilot may not be "Green Acres" as the show later evolved, but the quirky/offbeat humor that was to be a series staple was evident even in that initial effort--from the opening moments, it's plainly obvious that this program plans to march to the beat of a slightly demented drummer.

Paul Henning, the producer, already had two successful series airing on CBS at the time--"The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Petticoat Junction." Any network executive worth his salary would have been silly to pass up on a chance for yet another hit series from this same individual.

End of history lesson/brief editorial--if you love Green Acres, buy the DVD set--it's well worth the price tag!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Like A Red Wagon Going Up A Steep Hill...
Review: I don't have a lot to say that hasn't already been written about this show. I loved it when I was young and remember many summers watching it and The Addams Family during the early afternoon. It was easy enough to dismiss it as just another funny but mindless comedy that was played to death in rerun. Add the superficially "hick" nature of the show, and you'd think it would have just sunk into TVLand history. But as an adult, I realize that nothing could be further from the truth! Green Acres worked on so many levels that I never recognized. I can watch them as an adult and realize now that it wasn't just about funny farm people, a talking pig and a crabby city slicker out of his element. At the same time, my 6 year old daughter enjoys watching it with me for those exact elements. It can be enjoyed for its zaniness and slapstick, but it works equally well as an absurd, surrealistic twist on reality. I don't mean the latter in an ironic sense- you can look back at some old shows and movies and view them as absurd because they are so dated and simplistic. Not so with Green Acres- they clearly intended for the show to work on these various levels. And they succeeded without being remotely pretentious or contrived. I love the idea where a show exists within the realities of its own universe- The Simpsons, Drew Carey, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm seem to follow this trend. The characters are literally insane and the world they live in defies all reality, but somehow they are able to exist and survive because everyone around them is exactly as they are. Mr. Douglas, the only "sane" person on the show, is the oddball and the one who has the most difficulty coping.
Speaking of Mr. Douglas, I didn't remember how obtuse and dense he was. He may have been "sane", but he sure lacked common sense and had a terribly idealistic and romantic notion of farming that was not shared by his neighbors in Hooterville. Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor are incredibly likable personalities and great comedic actors with just the right timing and dry wit. And what a great supporting cast- Mr. Haney, Mr. Drucker, Eb, Mr. Kimball the County Agent (the most insane one of the whole bunch), Uncle Joe, the Ziffels! The chemistry among the whole cast is perfect. I'd love to see bloopers from the show, because I don't know how they ever kept straight faces.
I also love the fact that these DVDs are available with so many episodes for such a low price. I've got to think that you could sell a huge amount this way- they seem to be scarce on the shelves at local stores, so people must be picking them up. I can look past the lack of extras or perfect picture/sound quality if they sell entire seasons of shows like this for such reasonable prices. I'm really looking forward to later seasons, when the show became even more absurd and into its own reality.
And you gotta love that opening theme song. Just try not to sing along with it. Just try it...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: C'mon! Include chapters and a "play all" option!
Review: No need to comment on the show. I'm talking about the DVDs.

Why no chapter stops and "play all" feature? Why? I'm not asking for hours of extras, just 2 very simple options.

You can't skip through anything because there are no chapter stops. How hard could it be to include chapter stops? The episodes are already divided up for commerical breaks. Everytime you want to watch another episode you have to go back to the main menu (the only menu) and sit through (or fast forward) through the theme song and credits again. That's stupid. You have to go back to the menu because...

There is no "play all" feature. Why? Can someone tell me why? How hard could it be to include that?

Refer to the MASH DVDs to see how it's done. They have both chapter stops and the "play all" feature. I'm enjoying the Green Acres DVDs, but the laziness of MGM really takes away from it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: At Last!!!!
Review: I decided to wait a week on the release of this DVD collection and buy it at our local Best Buy. When I was finally ready to get it. I found out it was sold out there and everywhere I went. I spent all day Saturday looking for it and after 6 stops finally found it at a record store in a nearby town(I guess one of the draw backs of living in Small Town America), and they only had two copies left. I had no idea, and it pleases me to no end to know, that there is such a love and demand for this show. It is, arguably, the best comedy show ever made for television (sorry Seinfeld). Many thanks to whoever is responsible for this late Christmas present. Keep them coming!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Season 1
Review: This was excellent. Where are the rest of them????

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great memories
Review: this dvd was so hard to find it was sold out everywhere. i just had to have it and when i got it i was so excited!! i absolutley love green acres!! the only thing i dont care for is the fact that the dvd doesnt play through all the episodes!! i only watch tv before i go to bed so i like to sleep with the movie on but i have to keep changing the scenes which is really annoying. other than that i would definetly recommend this collection!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: No Frills is A-Okay with me
Review: Fantastic. I've been saying for a long time that I'd like to have
Green Acres on DVD, but I didn't think it would happen for a good while to come. I also figured...it would be released as a "best of" selection instead of full seasons and that it would be expensive. With so many 50.00, 60.00 and even 100.00 plus dollar sets out there that I'd like to get, I figured I'd never be able to work Green Acres into my budget. Yet, here it is at Amazon for twenty dollars. Amazing! The picture quality is just fine, with only minor wear showing in the opening credits. The DVDs also are burned on both sides...which I think is great. The set takes up less room than a single VCR tape. Extras are fun, but it's the shows I really care about, so the lack of bonus features at this price is no problem for me, in fact...I'm all for the no frills approach if it keeps the cost this low and I can have all the shows I like at very decent quality. SOAP was released this way too, and I think it's fantastic. Oh, by the way, the show itself is still great. Gabor and Albert have been very underrated and overlooked when it comes to TV comedy couples. Now, how about Newhart, Bewitched, Petticoat Junction, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and the entire first Season of the Lucy Show? I say, buy this set and show support for the low price, no-frills, entire season format.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Brings back memories.
Review: I remember seeing this show as a child and loving it, and seeing it now in color is even better. My 11-year old son, who has never seen any of this series before, was rolling on the floor laughing as we watched. My only complaint is that this is a very bare-bones collection. There are no extras, not even closed captioning. The only menu is to select the episodes, and you can't even play them continuously. There are 2 double-sided discs, so you do get plenty of shows for the money. The picture quality is poor in some sections. All the scratches and graininess have been preserved, but most of the time it is not too bad. The booklet that comes with the set has only very brief episode summaries, the same ones that appear on-screen at the beginning of each episode. I wish they had cleaned up the video quality, and I think it would have been nice to include biographies of the actors, and some background on the Petticoat Junction characters that make frequent appearances in these first-season shows.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Thank you Jay Sommers
Review: Finally, the most sophisticated, bizarre, cork-screwed show of all time. Yes it starts a little slow, but that's only to show us what a mind-boggling world Oliver moves to. Once the citizens of Hooterville (get it? got it.....good) show up, it's every man for himself. Some of the wittiest dialogue ever written for TV is in this show. And anytime Mr Kimball shows up, logic goes out the door. Buy it...watch it.....laugh yourself silly and share it with today's kids....They'll LOVE it....well not love it....they might.....NO...that was last week.


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