tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post7779206083400404226..comments2023-11-03T11:37:13.579-04:00Comments on Something Old, Nothing New: The First Accusations of SurrealismJaime J. Weinmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-48245096962055248132009-03-02T22:01:00.000-05:002009-03-02T22:01:00.000-05:00Matt Groening's said how he's a green Acres fan, a...Matt Groening's said how he's a green Acres fan, and it shows it in the SIMPSONS ride! [At Universal.] As shown in that Pat Buttram [Mr.Haney] sounding "teen who's a qualified teenage ride operator".[The one I go to is the Hollywood one.] Not to mention Andy Devine.."I have a MATH test to do[yodeling}." <BR/><BR/>PS Disney studio put both Buttram AND Devine in their 1973 animated cartoon movie "Robin Hood".Like putting Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly, then at their peak..in the same production..:)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-11922939961599147382009-01-08T10:46:00.000-05:002009-01-08T10:46:00.000-05:00I would actually like to read why you consider the...I would actually like to read why you consider the early Margaret Houlihan sympathetic? I liked her more in the early-mid-seasons, around "Nurses" and through her marriage with Donald but rarely elsewhere.<BR/><BR/>I don't remember the scene with the orange falling out the apple tree, that must've been hilarious.<BR/><BR/>I can see the absurdism of it all more than the surreality though. The neverending repairs to the house. The phone on the top of the pole. The pig-child. Etc etc. You really don't get that kind of non-self-aware comedy today - if someone had a pet that they treated like a child in a sitcom today the pet and the owner (parent?) would be the butt of the joke by those around him. But Arnold Ziffel was treated like a child by everyone except Oliver which made it funnier. And while Oliver griped about the house not being fixed and having to climb the telephone pole to use the phone, nobody else seemed to notice much urgency or necessity in fixing it, which was woven into the fabric of the show. In today's sitcoms it would just be a running gag.<BR/><BR/>I was a fan of GA when I was a kid, but I'm not sure I'd watch it again on DVD. Maybe I'll give it a try and see.Barry Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08691670547045531673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-59014641933066190232009-01-07T11:57:00.000-05:002009-01-07T11:57:00.000-05:00Just one more note about Eddie Albert: when the ti...Just one more note about Eddie Albert: when the time came, he could make a truly chilling villain - never more so than in the original LONGEST YARD (you know, the good one). "His-to-REE. I read you just like a book."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-24684839703715675272009-01-05T02:00:00.000-05:002009-01-05T02:00:00.000-05:00Albert did rock. Take a guy who, for all intense p...Albert did rock. Take a guy who, for all intense purposes, was locked into second-banana land, who in reality was a war hero, who attempted to ruralize the growing urban sprawl by promoting the old-time front yard garden and ended up being the father of Earth Day, who then became super popular for playing an uptight man thrown into the most ridiculous circumstances... He was some kind of guy.<BR/>And isn't it strange how Green Acres' format is almost the reverse of recent sit-com style? While uptight and conventional on the surface, the leads in GA (and BH, too) were by and large leaps more interesting and funny than their so-called second-banana cut-ups like Mr Haney, Hank Kimball, Eb etc. Look at the Newhart show, and it seems IMHO to be the reverse.burlivespipehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18048415779214466831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-66144992301133514662009-01-04T23:15:00.000-05:002009-01-04T23:15:00.000-05:00Paul Henning, the show's executive producer, a...Paul Henning, the show's executive producer, also was a past expert on surrealism, having worked as one of the main writers on "The Burns & Allen Show". A lot of Gracie Allen found its way into Lisa Douglas, and in the TV show's final two seasons, the writers took to having George not only commenting on the action, but watching the action on his upstairs TV and then going downstairs and mentioning what was going on (usually to Harry Von Zell, Larry Keating or Bea Benaderet, much to their shock). <BR/><BR/>Of course, Henning and Burns also were two of the main people behind Filmways, which came up with "Mr. Ed", "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "The Addams Family" along with "Green Acres", so normalcy in their sitcom premises were more the exception than the rule.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-78898045083327905372009-01-04T21:21:00.000-05:002009-01-04T21:21:00.000-05:00Wait, how can you sympathise with Maddie over Davi...Wait, how can you sympathise with Maddie over David? "Oh, I'm maybe pregnant with David's child, so I won't explain anything to him, will run away to my parents, and leave him to take care of my business and wonder about what the hell I'm up to? All the while I'm wondering around, refusing to seek help from anyone at all for no discernable reason."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-70891318609706620102009-01-04T15:50:00.000-05:002009-01-04T15:50:00.000-05:00Jay Sommers was both surreal and wonderfully enter...Jay Sommers was both surreal and wonderfully entertaining. People who actually live in small towns grasp the absurdity of daily life easily, something Hollywood usually misses by a country mile when it tries to replicate rural America. "Green Acres" remains one of the most accurate depictions of how insane rural life can be and a hell of a lot funnier than most any Edward Albee play. Try sitting through "Tiny Alice" sometime. I dare you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com