Eddie Albert Reveals Why Green Acres was Canceled

Greenacres was the place to be or at least that's what the opening theme song of the 1965 hit sitcom kept telling us the show chronicled the Douglas family a bunch of uber wealthy socialites from the Big Apple that made the sudden move to rural Hooterville there they restarted their lives on a decrepit farm that had seen better days audiences were mused with hijinks and shenanigans that kept them coming back for more each week in its prolific 170 episode run the show saw six seasons that received both unrivaled ratings and critical approval the show is a sort of spinoff from another hit show that took place in the same rural community petticoat junction which followed the lives and exploits of a backcountry clan of miscreants and managing a hotel petticoat junction was in turn a spin-off of the iconic Beverly Hillbillies which Green Acres borrowed many elements from in fact the shows were in many ways reversed concepts of each other in this video we're gonna take a behind-the-scenes look at the fascinating world of Green Acres star Eddie Albert make sure you stick around for the full video to learn about his experience on the show and why he says the show was canceled facts verse presents Eddie Albert reveals why Green Acres was cancelled before we get started show a little bit of southern hospitality by liking this video and subscribing to the channel don't forget to click the notification bell so you don't miss a video country bumpkins and BMWs Green Acres knee-slapping belly-laugh inducing premise unfolds when a certain unscrupulous salesman named mr. Haney pulls a fast one on Oliver Douglas the show's former attorney and patriarch by selling him the rundown trash hole of a farm that serves as the show's backdrop this place is seriously a dump everything is in shambles and the neighbors are all buffoons mr. Haney is a recurring nefarious character who shows up always just at the right time to sell all of her junk he doesn't need or things he already was entitled to in the first episode we see mr. Haney clearing out the house of all its fixtures just to attempt to sell them back to an infuriated Oliver who can't help but continually be bamboozled by mr. Haney's shady shifty trickery miss Lisa Douglas Oliver's Hungarian high-maintenance wife transitions to life on the ramshackle farm quite poorly she misses her Manhattan socialite friends and luxuries she seems to be one of the only characters on the show that consistently knows that the property is a lemon she can be a bit naive at times but serves as the voice of reason and an otherwise absurd surreal nightmare they found themselves in despite the show's immense popularity CBS would eventually give it the ax when Fred Sullivan decided the network needed a much overdue makeover the network had a whole slew of serials that took place in the American countryside Mayberry RFD and The Beverly Hillbillies coupled with Green Acres was starting to give CBS a reputation of being too country bumpkin II in an event that was known as the rural purge all these shows were taken off the air Eddie Albert would go on to find success in other shows after Green Acres but he was always best known for his role as Oliver Douglas this kind of typecasting was a bit frustrating for him since he would always be seen as the man from Hooterville let's take a closer look at his life before and after Green Acres the early life and times of Eddie Albert Eddie Albert Heimburger was born April 22nd 1906 that makes him a tourist for all of you out there that were wandering he was from Rock Island Illinois his father Frank Daniel Heimburger was a successful real estate agent and his mother Julia Smith was your typical American housewife they would soon move to Minneapolis Minnesota in search of a better life and at the age of 6 little Eddie Albert would score his first job as a newspaper delivery boy Eddie Albert worked this job for a solid ten years providing much-needed supplemental income to his parents who were struggling with great financial difficulties however he lamented the fact that the job was so impersonal he never got the chance to interact with the customers he cites this as a contributing factor for later social anxiety he would feel in large groups in grade school he would be at the receiving end of taunts and name-calling because of his German last name world war ii was going strong and being German American would often lead to discrimination and accusations of being in line with the enemy this was around the time he would get the idea to go by Eddie Albert dropping the Heimburger little Eddie grows up after highschool Eddie would attend the University of Minnesota as a business major he'd see financial success in the business world until the stock market crash in 1929 which left him unemployed and desperate for work he would take any job he could even working as a trapeze artist and nightclub singer perform moving to New York and landing his first job in show business hosting a radio show called The Honeymooners grace and Eddie show grace bat and Eddie Albert had a great deal of on the air chemistry so much so that people really thought they were a newlywed couple the show had proved to be a success and ran for three seasons and would even see a traveling stage show adaptation as such Eddie would land himself a few roles in various Broadway plays such as brother rat in 1936 which would later be made into a major motion picture starring Albert and Oh evening star also in 1936 he would play in one more play the boys from Syracuse in 1938 before signing his first Hollywood contract with Warner Brothers that same year upon signing with Warner Brothers he would be immediately immersed in work between 1938 and 41 he would play a part in 12 films including - brother rat films in 1938 and 1940 an angel from Texas in 1940 and the great nobody in 1941 a spy for the US Army the LA Times reported a rather strange story in February of 1940 apparently Eddie had gone to Mexico in hopes of finding gold got lost on the back of a burro and used the rest of his drinking water to pan for the precious metal he barely survived but eventually found his way back to society he had a couple of gold nuggets to prove his story the truth of the matter is actually far more exciting than his cover story he was in reality working hand in hand with the US military on a top-secret espionage mission while on tour with the Escalante Brothers circus where he went undercover as a trap easing clown he was secretly taking pictures of German u-boats that were in Mexican waters he ended up enlisting in the US Coast Guard and being appointed as lieutenant in the US Naval Reserve before being awarded a Bronze Star for his heroic bravery he was a decorated war hero at the same time as he was a Hollywood star Eddie Albert begins to expand his portfolio during the war Eddie had one particular event that rattled him to the core we don't know much in terms of specifics but apparently he found himself in a situation where he barely came out alive he promised himself if he were to survive he would never live his life as carefree or willy nilly ever again that's exactly why when he came out on the other side he really thrust himself into his work he would go on to star in 15 feature films and would even start his own production company Eddie Albert productions which would Center it's focused on education material and films geared towards industry the 1950s would prove to be another eventful decade for Eddie Albert where he would go on to star in eighteen movies and would even step back on stage again for 1955 s Ruben Ruben and Skye darling in 1958 it was in his feature film the Fuller Brush girl in 1950 that he would be introduced with television maverick Lucille Ball known for her shows I Love Lucy and here's Lucy the meeting would propel his career into the eventual landing point of the small screen where he starred in his first television sitcom leave it to Larry where he would play the title role of Larry Tucker a shoe salesman who lives with his boss and father-in-law played by Ed Begley senior the show proved to be a turning point in Eddie Albert's career from that point onward he would make many guest appearances in variety shows sitcoms and made-for-tv movies rounding out the rest of the decade television was a brave new world for Eddie Albert television was a new frontier in the 1950s and 60s Eddie Albert found himself rather excited by the prospects of being a part of a phenomenon that had yet to sell out to big bankers and corporate interest just yet he saw TV as a vehicle more making social change television had the potential to bring a whole new wave of education to the masses Eddie knew it was a tool that could be used to further promote the vision of the founding fathers movies were very methodical and precise every scene is handcrafted and shot to the T of the director frame by frame TV on the other hand especially live programming was a lot more nitty gritty last-minute changes would be called four minutes before the camera started rolling and within minutes of your onstage performance your image and words would be broadcast all throughout the planet with the aid of satellite technology and the 60s rolled on Edie's television career would continue to blossom in the early 60s with appearances on hit shows like the lieutenant and the Outer Limits but it was in 1965 when Eddie was approached by producer Paul Henning with a new project he would find the role that would prove to be among his most defining of works Green Acres the show was a monumental boost for his already stellar career the humorous show which tackled the age-old trope of country versus city living would turn him in his co-star ava Gabor into household names Ava as his precocious highfalutin wife Lisa would play her role effortlessly much of her comedic genius was just being herself in the setting of the farm it was a dichotomy of sorts there she was in designer outfits with expensive handbags playing farm wife with pigs and cattle and whatnot she was obviously out of place and knew it that's what made her role so funny Eddie Albert's character Oliver was much more complicated although he had seen much monetary and social success back in the big city he had always pined for a simpler life in the country he wanted a break from the hustle and bustle and to get a chance to grow his own food the problem was he could be quite gullible at times falling for mr. Haney schemes and cons and despite his desire for simplicity he really didn't have a grasp of what running a successful farmstead really entailed the characters in the show proved to have excellent chemistry and audiences everywhere agreed wholeheartedly CBS Nyx's Green Acres critics however remained mixed about the show many claim the show is too lowbrow for their tastes and CBS had become more concerned about their image in recent years so instead of continuing the show for the benefit of its millions of viewers Green Acres was cancelled in 1971 just like that it was all over Eddie Albert was infuriated by the decision he saw it as a wildly hypocritical move that seemed detached from the reality that millions of viewers found the show to be endearing and humorous he was disgusted that network executives would rather see more intellectual material like the Bob Hope show instead of catering to the desires of the masses that is to provide a consistently and our taining show each week Albert still believes that Green Acres was one of the best written shows on television and it was only canceled because CBS was more concerned with what bigwig execs thought over the interest of the public Eddie Albert went on to star and critically acclaimed TV shows and films but he would never quite shake his connection with that of his character Oliver from Green Acres he would live an eventful life one that saw him maintain his integrity and hold true to his core values he sadly passed away on May 26 2005 at the age of 99 from complications of Alzheimer's disease that wraps up our exclusive look at the life of Eddie Albert which show do you think was funnier The Beverly Hillbillies or Green Acres let us know what you think in the comments also don't forget to subscribe to facts verse for more videos like this you

Channel: Facts Verse

Views: 222,198

Rating: 4.9010077 out of 5

Keywords: green acres, green acres tv show, green acres theme song, green acres is the place to be, green acres eddie albert, green acres eva gabor, green acres canceled, eddie albert interview, eddie albert green acres, eddie albert movies, eddie albert and eva gabor, eddie albert actor, eddie albert biography, eddie albert bronze star, eddie albert bio, eddie albert green acres character, eddie albert music, eddie albert military service, eddie albert show, eddie albert tv shows

Id: t1X5eEd--P8

Length: 12min 9sec (729 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 11 2020