Mr. Douglas

Eddie Albert just died. He was either 97 or 99. In any case, he lived a full life. He was a trapeze artist, a Broadway star and a comic sidekick in countless films. But he'll always be remembered as Oliver Wendell Douglas in Green Acres.

Green Acres was one of several country comedies on CBS in the 60s (all purged by Fred Silverman in 1971--that's another story), but this one was different. While shows like Petticoat Junction and Mayberry R.F.D. had fairly cornpone humor, Green Acres trafficked in the surreal.

The basic premise is simple--they sing it every episode. Albert, as Harvard-trained lawyer Oliver Wendell Douglas, is tired of the big city. He and his unwilling wife, Lisa, move out to a farm, though Oliver is ill-suited for the job. After a fairly normal first season, the writers started taking chances. Soon, Lisa, could see the show's credits. County agent Hank Kimball couldn't say two sentences in a row that made sense, while Arnold Ziffel, the pig/son of a local farmer, could communicate with everyone (except Oliver).

A good episode might have Oliver wake up and, over an inedible breakfast, have a conversation where his wife would mention some bizarre theory. Then he'd go out and meet others in town who, almost by magic, would repeat and build on the bizarre theory (which often turned out to be true).

Without Eddie Albert, who is in practically every scene, the show would fall apart. He was the anchor. Albert was our stand-in. While everyone else was acting crazy, frustrating him beyond endurance, he would react as we would--sensibly at first, then with anger. Watch the show and count how many times each episode he's in a single shot saying "Oh for Pete's...!" or "For the love of...!" (he never gets to finish).

At least that's the conventional view. I subscribe to a more radical reading. I believe, at its best, Green Acres is a joke on Oliver. He's not the only sane man in a crazy world. Rather, everyone understands they're in a TV show, except Oliver. They've all read the scripts, seen the fake backdrops (in the awful Return To Green Acres (1990) you could tell right away they didn't get it when they shot outdoors), they even know about the actors over at Petticoat Junction. Only Oliver Wendell Douglas thinks he's in the real world, and thus can't understand why everyone in Hooterville acts so strangely.

I once pitched a movie version of Green Acres. I was never so nervous. I loved the show so much I really wanted that job. Perhaps it's just as well they didn't buy my take since the rumor was Bette Midler was interested in Lisa. Lisa is a good character, but the emphasis must be on Oliver. Bewitched can have equal leads, but not Green Acres--the show is about how Oliver Wendell Douglas reacts. And because he reacted so well, Eddie Albert deserves to be remembered.