Green Acres: a maudlin love letter to the American countryside

This trying time has been hard on all of us but one way many of us have coped is through the wonderful wide world of TV. Lots of us have turned to Netflix to help us get through this rough patch in our lives & I’ve certainly been on that bandwagon more times than I care to admit. But since I’m also working on a book that’s a period piece, I decided to get a better idea of what life was like back then.

Since time machines have yet to be invented, however, one of the only ways I could do that is through TV. There were a lot of classics I could have chosen from but, in the end, I opted to go with one that had always been a favorite of my mom’s, green acres. On account of her watching reruns of TV at night, I had seen snippets here and there but never the full series until now. As someone who loves farm country and the lifestyle that comes with it, it seemed like the perfect choice for me and I certainly did not regret my choice in the slightest.

Yes, it’s definitely a series that tends to err on the side of goofiness more often than not but, at its heart, it does carry a really important message that we could all stand to learn (especially those with strong connections to their hometowns). Now there’s a lot I have to say about this series (and I fully intend to in subsequent essays) but for now, I’m just going to stick mostly with the series finale, return to green acres.

As any avid GA fan knows, the series was unfairly and unceremoniously given the axe after its sixth season thanks to the great rural purge but fortunately they were given new life in the form of a reunion film/series finale that aired almost two decades after going off the air. So the film picks up 25 years after the final episode with Ollie apparently still being a less-than-decent farmer to put it mildly, Lisa now trying to dabble in the world of art for some reason and Eb with seven kids and married off to some woman named Flo in lieu of Darlene for some reason.

Anyway, cutting to the chase, the film is filled with some of the screwball comedy that made the original series so endearing & hilarious but it also bears a message everyone needs to hear. One of the subplots entails Eb trying to convince his son to fight for his hometown as developers try to turn it into an asphalt jungle but he couldn’t care less. And I totally get it. I mean he hasn’t been living there nearly as long as his father so it’s easy to see why he would be so disinterested in fighting for it.

But once he finally makes contact with his sentimentality, he is finally able to see the light. So many of his most cherished memories growing up have been right there in Hooterville. It just took some time for him to realize this is a town worth fighting for with decent people living there (except Haney). This makes it all the more gratifying when you see him start fighting back against the greedy corporate shills attempting to tear down the only home he’s ever known & loved.

As someone who still lives in the town he grew up in, that scene more than any other really resonated with me and it’s something important for everyone to realize. The majority of college kids are so anxious to get as far away as physically possible from their hometown after graduation but hardly any of them stop to think about why. I’m not saying everyone should stay behind when they graduate. If going to Hollywood or NYC is really what you aspire to, you have every right to pay exorbitant prices for an apartment to live in but there’s no shame in staying in your hometown either. I don’t know about you but I’m proud to my call hometown my permanent home and you should be too if you love it as much as I do.

But getting back to my focal point, the main plot of the episode sees them going back to NYC after he fails in farming and falls through the cracks (literally). In the end, however, they realized green acres is their home & opted to buy back the farm from the crook. The main crux of this decision stems from the fact that a) NYC is no longer as safe as it once was (paving the way for the necessity of pepper spray) and b) ollie finding out his law firm has become too corrupted and automated.

Now obviously every city is different so I’m sure they’re not all corrupt cesspools of crime but I don’t think anyone is in a position to argue that life does seem simpler out in farm country. It’s not always easy but it definitely seems like the kind of place where people are keen to help you out if you need it in lieu of just blowing past you on the street like you were yesterday’s garbage. And that’s the main point the series seems to be trying to make. Obviously, if you live in the big city and you love it there, there’s nothing wrong with that but there’s no shame in loving the countryside either. To each their own.

The point is every lifestyle has its merits and that’s something you should never lose sight of. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, home is where the heart is and that’s always where you’ll return to at the end of the day. That’s what’s at the core of the series: patriotism, not just for one’s country but for one’s hometown and that’s exactly the kind of pride you should take in your town or city of residence. If you’re not feeling proud of the place you call home, it might be time for you to find a different home, some place where you can be yourself & take immense pride in your city. Because at the end of the day, that’s pretty much all we have.