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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: Great Job!
Review: I had already written once about this show, but that was before this compilation was released. Now, since I've viewed it, I was compelled to write again.
Have true TV fans - fans of great television viewing - waited a long time for this? I know I have! I think that MGM did a fantastic job on this set! Both color and sound are pristine. I'm VERY pleased.
Wouldn't it be great if these companies would see fit to go to work on other shows now, especially if this set, and perhaps Mr. Ed, Lost in Space, The Honeymooners and so on end up selling well? Could you imagine the possibilities? Both seasons of Car 54, the first 5 seasons of My Three Sons. (what we here in our little corner of the world affectionately refer to as The "Bub" episodes) Lesser known shows deserving release and the possibility of capturing a wider audience. (Anyone remember "The Name of the Game" or "Cimarron Strip"?) Of course a company has to consider whether or not it would be cost effective to grant some shows a release, but still, it's nice to think that it could happen. And, who knows?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally! Green Acres in its entirety...
Review: Well... I've been waiting for this First Season DVD set ever since I ordered the Columbia House video releases of Green Acres (late 1999-2001). Columbia House chose to release the "best" of Green Acres in no particular order, which was disconcerting to a fan. BUT, this new DVD set is released in broadcast order! It's great to see the development of the characters and it's quite satisfying to see that by the 14th episode ("What Happened in Scranton") all the characters have found their niche.

Some of the episodes have a few film scratches, but they are really minor. The sound is brilliant (no scratches there!) and the color VERY vibrant! I remember watching Green Acres re-runs as a kid, and didn't realize that the hay shoveled by Eddie Albert in the beginning credits was a green color.

Another reviewer mentioned the chemistry between Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor and I must also mention it. Interestingly, upon seeing the two actors names, one would think that Albert and Gabor would have nothing in common and be a disaster, but... something "clicks" between them just right. As the episodes move along, one can see that Eddie and Eva clearly TOTALLY ENJOYED each other and played off each other wonderfully. In fact, watch closely at the conclusion of one of the episodes (I kick myself for not remembering which one), where Eddie and Eva are in bed and Eddie goes to turn off the light (and theoretically conclude the episode). Eva leans over and TICKLES Eddie and he knocks the lamp off the table and he and Eva both laugh in an "out of character" way, all while the scene fades out and the end credits role. You can just see that they had FUN while making these episodes.

The surreal comedy starts to "creep in" to these first season episodes, although it wouldn't be fully explored until later seasons. By "surreal" I mean where the characters "poke fun" at their own show or others similar. One episode starts with Eb milking Eleanor the cow while humming the theme song to the show! Then at the conclusion he "sings" in Eva's voice, "Dahling, I love you but give me Park Avenue!" It's in the later seasons that things like the names of the director and producers appear in the opening credits on Eddie's towel (as he exits the shower), or appear in the darkness in Eddie and Eva's bedroom where she asks him who the names are, etc.

So, watch these episodes... enjoy them. And notice that they are really sophisticated "pokes" at society as we know it. Finally... these episodes (well, the ones halfway through the first season and onward) are REALLY FUNNY! Don't be ashamed to LAUGH OUT LOUD!

Let's hope MGM releases all the other five seasons!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I can't praise this enough!!!
Review: This 32 episode DVD set of Green Acres may be the absolute best purchase that I've EVER made!!! HILARIOUS!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Green Acres puts the 'Ph' in Phantastic
Review: Before fully, giving my opinion on this release, let me tell you how much I've wanted it. For the past 3 years I've been searching for this... here at Amazon. That's right, every once in a while I would bring up the 'dvd' section, type in 'Green Acres', and up popped Fried 'Green' Tomatoes and anything that had 'Green' in it or 'Acres'. And then one day to my surprise back in Dec.03 it came up... Green Acres! I am there!

Ok. So now my discs have arrived... can't complain about that price point, the extras are absent but anyone that has any old time shows expected it, however, one of my discs were scratched. The packaging itself may have caused it, but it honestly looks like it's been played before or something. Impossible I guess, but that's how it appears. The actual packaging looks great and like the Outer Limits release they have squeezed a lot of material on each side of the disc, this I do not have a problem with... but should we have to watch that MGM Lion each time? A bit heavy handed... plus no chapter skips, get ready to watch the opening theme 32 times, which is a fun theme don't get me wrong, but to watch 3 or 4 shows in a row makes it tedious.

So, now I'm off to... 'the stores' and... 'the chores'!

Disc One - Side A: 2.5/5
This series starts off in a way I do not remember and I have no clue what they were going for with the narrator as a newscaster. It really isn't funny and it has no real meaning. The city parts are mildly amusing and I keep waiting for them to get to Green Acres. Once they arrived I am greeted with some fairly funny bits and I can see portions of the humor in which I enjoy; Mr. Douglas trying to teach Mrs. Douglas how to say 'Hooterville' and not 'Hoosterville' and Eb the handyman popping up after all that and asking them if they going in to 'Hoosterville'. A lot of that non sensical double talk I love quite a bit, sadly there isn't much here on Side A in that regard and the Mother character is not funny and is in too much of each show. As 'Side A' winds down I am patiently waiting for the Green Acres I remember and I am (so far) unimpressed, however I know television, a vast majority of shows start slowly, so I'm not overly concerned, and yet I wonder...

Disc One - Side B: 3.5/5
Ahh... ok, now we're talking. Right away the first episode of Side B showed me that the show was breaking its shackles. The business with the Wheat Bumps, the nonsense about the appliances really had me laughing and I must say the chemistry between Albert and Gabor is truly heartfelt. Plus you can see it in her smile, Eva is having a lot of fun with this show and that really that counts for a lot. I cannot think of a larger disaster than the chemistry between these two actors 'on paper'. You would think it wouldn't work at all and would be a real mismatch, but then again, maybe that's the beauty of it? And I must mention Eb, he is truly a great swingman for this show, much like the Goober or Gomer characters did for Griffith.
Still, having just viewed the balance of the episodes on this side of the disc, it is better than side A but still not on par with my memories, and I guess that's comman place. Some of the gags wear thin; Mr. Kimballs way of speaking, the door knob, and Mr. Haneys haggling come to mind as being funny, but shouldn't be used constantly.

Disc Two - Side A: 4/5
Well, in the interest of time/space I'm gonna wrap this up. I am about halfway through this side of the disc and really do not want to rush through this nor do I want this review to be 10 pages long, so I'll conclude with the thoughts that this series is really hitting it's stride now and I'm really having a good time. The humor is pretty much unparalleled on television or anywhere else for that matter, and if there is one thing Green Acres has shown me is just how unwatchable current comedies truly are. Television used to be rich fertile land but is now just about as fertile as the old Haney Place.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Outstanding!!!
Review: I always knew this show was clever but never thought anyone else did. Now, it's more popular than ever. You should have seen it the first time around.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally !!!
Review: Personally, I don't care about the fact that 2 sided DVDs are used, that they are not marked very well, that there are no extras on the disks, that some of the scenes are a bit scratchy -- or any other complaint you can make about this set.

What I like, no LOVE, is that I can watch 32 episodes - an entire season - of one of the best TV shows ever, at my leisure. I am trying to pace myself so that I don't get thru the whole set too quickly, but I am having a hard time doing that. I have been waiting for this for years!!!

This is pure TV magic and enjoyment that the entire family can sit down and laugh at.

Come on, bring on the rest of the years. I'm ready for them now!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Buy this DVD set !
Review: I'm not fussed about extras as other reviewers - this is a great set for the price and as long as I have the original, uninterrrupted episodes of my favourite comedies, I'm happy! I very much like the bright compact presentation of the set - makes it easier to store! The booklet is great but some printed background information on the series similar to that included with the Dick Van Dyke Show releases would have been appreciated. I haven't watched every episode as yet but have praise only for the quality of all I've seen so far. Bring on the rest of the series and please, please MGM release the Patty Duke Show on dvd!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: These episodes are brilliant
Review: One can only expect the best from this clever set of episodes loaded with funny and underthecoat jokes most people will not get. Look close. Green Acres is brilliant. You figure it out.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: !C'est la guerre, Monsieur Moliere!
Review: Rated 5 stars for content, the intros are a bit scratched but the transfer of the shows look much better than I remember the last time I caught a rerun. And the original intro theme song plays in all its glory before every episode. Oh, yeah.

This classic series is on the surface a reversal of the Beverly Hillbillies scenario, but at heart it is much more -- an exhilarating expedition into existentialistic absurdity via la theatre de l'absurde. Eat your heart out, Moliere!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Review of both the shows and the DVD
Review: First, I must say I am biased, as I have always considered "Green Acres" to be one of the most underrated sitcoms of all time. The surreal sequences make it unlike any other "rural" show, and it is funny yet today.

But, alas....the transfers on these DVD's leave something to be desired. The primary fault is during the opening sequence....the classic theme song. The opening sequence is spattered with scratches and dirt. It also appears they used the same source for the opening for all of the shows, as the dirt and scratches are amazingly alike on every episode. Given the classic status of this opening sequence, I am surprised they didn't put more effort into making it spotless.

I am not through every episode yet, but the majority of the episodes have average at best transfers....not as dirty as the opening, but not spotless either.

Of course, given that this is the one and only time these episodes will probably ever appear on DVD...snatch them up if you want them. Just be forwarned....it's not perfect.


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