The Lookback : Return to Green Acres

The Flashback 

     Personal note:   I love  Green Acres , it's funny a show , weird and something that the networks would do now, make a genuine show that is goofy, a comedy that doesn't need to be complex to be fun.  The Series ran from 1965 to 1971, when CBS killed it because it was a "rural  show" and the wanted city folk shows with city problems.

         As always people with shows they love ,want to have reunions of those casts (as if to recapture the magic) , this is also continues our list of shows that had stuff  after the main show. In this case,  CBS decided to make a TV movie in 1990 , called Return to Green Acres .   So everyone was back, well not the people who played the Ziffels.   Hank Patterson and Barbara Pepper , who played the husband and wife passed on after the series ended.  Ok let's lookback.... (our regretful words isn't it?)

     Well , there's the theme song  and they intro is sepia tone (because nothing says past , like sephia tones) the current  addition lyrics and pictures are in color.   It's 20 years later : Oliver (Wendell) Douglas still owns the farm with his wife ,Lisa.  There's a limo for some reason being seen driving , and later we find out it's the limo of a land developer (played Henry Gibson) and his son.  I guess our Green Acres reunion needs a land developer?   Oooh Arnold , the pig is still alive, now being taken care of by the Ziffels' niece , Daisy.  EB is married and has a lot of kids.
 

  The Brady Bunch remake looks strange /copyright MGM

       Let's get to our plot : It starts with Oliver talking to Mr.Haney about how great the Alfalfa is doing , that he bought from Mr.Haney. Wait, why did he buy anything from Mr.Haney? That seems like regression of Oliver from the series.  This reminds me of other 90's shows being made into films apparently they think they needed a villain (because everything needs a villain, everything!)  So Mr.Haney is helping the land developers and he seems more greedy and evil  ,which is a change in character for him , usually just a weird huckster but still lovable. (Like that one guy you know) After finding out that the Alfalfa is poison oak . Oliver decides he wants to sell Green Acres. (well that's return to Green Acres done , let's go home ,that was short)  The Land developers want the people of Hootersville  to sell their homes because they want to build a city. (Hey guys it's 1990 not 1890. who's building cities anymore?)    It seems the show is trying to get a romance between the land developer's son and  Daisy Ziffel.(Because all movies need villains and romance, it's the law)  Everyone in  Hootersville decides to sell their homes and business , etc.  We now interrupt our movie for Oliver and Lisa in New York...(maybe this was a slight at CBS for canning the show to have more city shows or we read too much into this)  

        

If they can make it here they can make it anywhere/ Copyright MGM 

      Everyone in Hootersville finds out that  that plan is move them out and have an industrial city to be built.   They decide to go to New York City and get Mr.Douglas to help sue and get their homes and town back,  He decides to help them  first they go to Mr.Armstrong (the developer)  and he lies blaming his son and he says that deeds all theirs again.(Everything Fixed, movie over, oh wait there's what? 33 more minutes uhhhhh)


   As you can figure out it's not really fixed , he actually speeds up the bulldozer time  to start his project.  We now interrupt our movie for Arnold the pig gets on a Taxi , Oliver and Daisy  talk the police,who of course think it's a child lost (how is Arnold 5?)  though that was short, and we see Arnold's taxi took him to a Chinese restaurant. (Pigs like Chinese food too)

I would do the same thing if a pig came into my kitchen, he might hurt my apples!/ Copyright MGM

   Oh yeah our plot: everyone is back in Hoooterville (yes I know ,we dropped the S, that's because we were saying the way Lisa says it)  They protest and try to block the bulldozers, and Eb was about to be arrested  but Lisa takes his spot and Oliver is in jail with her.(That's love)   The land developer's son  tells Daisy he's leaving for good  ,oh his name is Brad Armstrong. (Everybody named their kids Brad in the late 70's and early 80's--this is a lie)  He falls in a mud hole and him and Daisy forgives him.(What... I guess the pig on a Taxi plot really took up some time)  Brad Announces he is going to help the town and stop the dozers.  Brad proposes to Daisy (uhh well then, what?)   Lisa comes up wit ha plan to make Mr.Armstrong think the town is on an earthquake fault.  They fake an earthquake and it works...(uhhhh ok). He leaves and I guess they got their land back  , and Lisa says she really loves  Green Acres  and she loves him and they decide to comeback and he buys back Green Acres.  Well that's the movie.


 Well , that could have been better... I mean it was a reunion ,yes , the story was kind of out of the way for a Green Acres thing , they did have some the gags from the show  but that seemed just squeezed in and also the movie seemed rushed at points.   It's not  horrible but it really could have been a more fun thing if it was Green Acres just 20 years later to see how everyone was doing , and maybe a fun story  ,though it could have been worse.  If you are fan of Green Acres ... watch it to see what you think , you might at least be happy to see everyone again.  If you want to be a fan of Green Acres...don't watch this first.
That's our lookback , tune in next time when we see the Reunion of  The Flintstones. (hahhahaha)