How do these programs about rural life compare?
Which had the more attractive view of rural life?

Green Acres was a bit over the top with some of its characters. Ernest T. Bass probably the closest to that on TAGS. Arnold the Pig?

SWFLguy wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2012 at 7:19am:

Green Acres was a bit over the top with some of its characters. Ernest T. Bass probably the closest to that on TAGS. Arnold the Pig?

In general, how would you compare the two programs?
Which was better?
And why was it better?

As far as I am concerned there is no comparison. TAGS was leaps and bounds better.

Ole_Sam wrote on Feb 3^rd, 2012 at 11:20am:

As far as I am concerned there is no comparison. TAGS was leaps and bounds better.

Why?

Many TAGS episodes were about life's lessons. I don't believe that Green Acres had one that could compete with say Opie the Birdman, Mr. McBeevee or even some of the Barney Fife centered stories.

GA went for the short, cheap laugh...TAGS 'usually' built a storyline and funny things happened as they were living life. We all laughed WITH TAGS, but laughed AT Green Acres.

I love GA, but it was like the previous post said, a bunch of skits in one episode. Not too much redeeming value imo. Love it though. Eddie Albert was one of the best straight men in tv history. And Mr Kimball ranks up there with some of the best characters on the tube.

Andy Paul Lawson wrote on Feb 4^th, 2012 at 9:37am:

best characters on the tube

...unless you compare them with the characters from TAGS!  ;)

Comparing TAGS and Green Acres is like comparing apples and tow trucks.  They exist at opposite ends of the televisual spectrum. 

GA was a surrealistic cacophony of bizarre characters oblivious to their knack of sending "normal guy" Oliver Douglas into frustrated convulsions in response to their laid back country ways of creating unperceived chaos. 

GA played by a completely different set of rules than TAGS did, but deserves recognition for it's brilliance.  Obviously TAGS was the more realistic of the two and presented a much more "attractive" view of rural life.   

Who knows?  Perhaps Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, upon viewing an early episode of TAGS, decided to move to rural America in search of Mayberry.  Instead, he found himself in The Twilight Zone!

(By the way, couldn't you just see Eddie Albert playing the part of Malcolm Tucker in the TAGS episode, "Man In A Hurry"?) 

Squad Car wrote on Feb 4^th, 2012 at 3:28pm:

Comparing TAGS and Green Acres is like comparing apples and tow trucks.  They exist at opposite ends of the televisual spectrum.  GA was a surrealistic cacophony of bizarre characters oblivious to their knack of sending "normal guy" Oliver Douglas into frustrated convulsions in response to their laid back country ways of creating unperceived chaos.  GA played by a completely different set of rules than TAGS did, but deserves recognition for it's brilliance.  Obviously TAGS was the more realistic of the two and presented a much more "attractive" view of rural life.    Who knows?  Perhaps Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, upon viewing an early episode of TAGS, decided to move to rural America in search of Mayberry.  Instead, he found himself in The Twilight Zone! (By the way, couldn't you just see Eddie Albert playing the part of Malcolm Tucker in the TAGS episode, "Man In A Hurry"?)

Some very good points. Green Acres is probably my all time favorite Silly Show. Why try to compare the two shows when they are so different in character. I love and enjoy them both. Too bad Fred Ziffel and Arnold couldn't have appeared on TAGS. Floyd would have found Arnold amazing.

TAGS, for the most part, based on reality.  All scenarios and characters were plausible and believably real.

GA on the other hand was farce and slapstick from the get go.  Oliver Wendel Douglas was the sane one in a world of insanity and comedy.  Most scenarios might have been technically possible but plausibility was a stretch.  Therein lay the comedy.

I love both shows.  I won't compare them because they were on different planes. 

If you want a belly laugh, GA is the way to go.  If you want to feel good about the ending with a chuckle along the way, TAGS was it.

As a matter of fact, this past week, I worked briefly alongside with a very learned fellow, a professor, in fact.  When all around us seemed to be uncontrolled and insane.  He said, "I feel like Oliver Wendell Douglas."  I looked right at him and said, "You too?" We both smiled a knowing smile and said, in cync, "Hootersville."  ;)

BTW, read Eddie Albert's bio.  He lead a very fascinating life.  He is a decorated WWII hero, and spy, among other things.

Somewhere, sometime, someone should make a movie of his life, or at least write a book.

Prior to our entry into WWII, The navy paid Albert to sail his private yacht from California, to Mexican harbors.  He then reported back to the Navy about Japanese ship movements and what was being loaded and off loaded from ships in Mexican harbors.

Pierre wrote on Feb 6^th, 2012 at 11:34am:

BTW, read Eddie Albert's bio.  He lead a very fascinating life.  He is a decorated WWII hero, and spy, among other things. Somewhere, sometime, someone should make a movie of his life, or at least write a book. Prior to our entry into WWII, The navy paid Albert to sail his private yacht from California, to Mexican harbors.  He then reported back to the Navy about Japanese ship movements and what was being loaded and off loaded from ships in Mexican harbors.

Thanks for a fascinating and informative post. I'll have to see if I can find any books about him.

GA was just 'plain silly.'  But TAGS had some ridiculous moments too.  For example - when Andy told Mr. Tucker that Gomer was saving up to be a doctor.  On GA, I liked any scene that Mr. Kimble was in.  But I prefer TAGS.

tiltjlp wrote on Feb 4^th, 2012 at 9:50pm:

Too bad Fred Ziffel and Arnold couldn't have appeared on TAGS.

Hank Patterson, the actor who played Mr. Ziffel, did appear on one episode of TAGS, as the hobo Barney chases off alongside the RR tracks and then stumbles on the suitcase full of money.

Seriously?  I'll have to look that episode up.

Keevy Hazelton wrote on Feb 9^th, 2012 at 8:36am:

Hank Patterson, the actor who played Mr. Ziffel, did appear on one episode of TAGS, as the hobo Barney chases off alongside the RR tracks and then stumbles on the suitcase full of money.

  I didn't know that either. I will have to break out the old dvd and check it out. Thanks.

Ok, just rewatched and sure enough, there he is. I didn't even have a thought it was him even though now it is so obvious. I was just glad he wasn't cooking arnold on that fire. Pffffft.

Hank didn't have the goatee in TAGS, but when you hear him speak, you know it's the same actor.

Hal Smith shows up on on GA too. Once as a Judge and once as a sheriff's deputy.  And yes he looked like a deputy and acted like a deputy... and didn't drink, not on camera anyways.

Foster Brooks, the famous drunken guy, shows up in one episode of GA and he was stone cold ..... stoned  :o

TAGS all the way.

GA, was fun to watch, but really cornball.

juaneets head to feet wrote on Feb 10^th, 2012 at 2:21pm:

TAGS all the way. GA, was fun to watch, but really cornball.

As a kid, I sometimes watched GA but I never really got into as I did TAGS. Part of that was that the characters on GA, with the exceptions of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, were depicted in a flat, one-dimensional manner. The characters in TAGS had more depth and were played in such a way that you could actually care about them. As I pointed out in my thread about the first TAGS episode, "The New Housekeeper," the show knew when to be funny and when not to be. It was poignant and sad when Aunt Bee overheard Opie pray for one person he had forgotten to pray for -- and then heard that that person was Rose and not her.
Also, the rural life as depicted on GA did have a kind of otherworldly, Twilight Zone quality while rural life on TAGS tended to be more believable and more inviting.

Keevy Hazelton wrote on Feb 9^th, 2012 at 8:36am:

Hank Patterson, the actor who played Mr. Ziffel, did appear on one episode of TAGS, as the hobo Barney chases off alongside the RR tracks

By the time Hank Patterson guest-starred on TAGS and PETTICOAT JUNCTION in 1964/1965 he was half blind and deaf.  Regardless, he and Barbara Pepper made a good impression as the Ziffels on PJ, and were hired as regular cast members for GREEN ACRES in 1965.

Early on, Hank would take his dialogue cues from crew members off-camera, because he couldn't hear the other actors.  Toward the end of GA's run, his sight and hearing were so bad that a crew member would squat off-camera and tap his leg with a stick to cue him.  Hank's disability often led to production overtime, but the cast and crew successfully fought the producers (and network) to keep him on the show.  Patterson had a recurring role on GUNSMOKE as the stableman, and that show also accomodated for his disabilities.

A similar situation with Barbara Pepper, whose alcohol-related health problems were sometimes a problem for production.  Unfortunately, her health deteriorated so badly the role was recast after 3 seasons (Barbara died in 1969).

Steve Cox's 1993 book The Hooterville Handbook (recommended!) goes into more details.

Interesting. Kinda like the producers of TAGS did with Howard McNear after his stroke instead of just having him leave the show.

It's nice to hear that cast and crew fought to keep folks on stage who had infirmities, like Howard McNear after his stroke, Patterson and others.  I'd never known this about Hank before.  Thanks for sharing.

Mary Grace was a Green Acres regular.  She always appeared in overalls and was up to some kind of construction project.

Lake Loon

Now, was she Ralph or Alf?

She was Ralph.

"I'm Alf and this is my brother Ralph."

Monroe Brothers, builders of fine Chicken Coops and any other structure..... as long as it's called a Chicken Coop.

TAGS was more like real life than any other show IMO.   A LOT of the situations, scenes, sayings, actually happened in real life, especially Andy Griffith's.

I can relate to most all of the same stuff that happened on TAGS.  Andy's southern raising was very evident in the show as well as in my life too.

Green Acres was ridiculously silly and goofy, but very funny and entertaining to watch.