Richard Bare spent most of his directing career helming the productions of every single episode of Green Acres. You'd think after all that time spent directing what some consider to be the dumbest sitcom ever he'd never want anything to do with the show ever again. WRONG!
Bare recently bought the rights to remake the series from the widow of creator Jay Sommers. According to Bare, now is the perfect time for a remake of GA to hit the airwaves.
"Studios are going to be searching for properties that have been written and ready to go into production without upsetting WGA in any way," Bare said.
The pilot for the new series is already written and takes place a month after the original series finale. No decisions have been made regarding casting but Bare already has people on the hunt for actors who are dead ringers for Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor.
Bare hasn't detailed his plan to circumvent the current writer's strike but since he has acquired the rights to the series there's a good chance that he plans to use some of the original scripts. This comes as great news for people who watched Green Acres for the writing, all three of them.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-20-2007 @ 11:16AM
jkmkay said...
Green Acres along with The Beverly Hillbillies.Stupid,inane absolutly,but they were also very funny.It takes a talented group to pull that off.I doubt lightning can strike twice.
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11-20-2007 @ 11:16AM
Karl said...
Green Acres started airing on DejaView (a Candian TVLand-clone) a couple of months ago, and it's been a pleasant surprise.
The other shows in its universe deserved the cancellation they got in the CBS rural purge. Petticoat Junction was almost sickeningly saccharine and Beverly Hillbillies rarely rose above hokey. Green Acres, on the other hand, was only geographically rural. It was often hilarious, and surreally so.
For example, an episode that aired last week started with the Douglases asleep as the credits finished their roll. The awoke, and Lisa asked Oliver who Jay Simons and Dick Chevillat were - their Created By credit had just rolled over. He asked why, and she replied that she dreamed that their names were floating over her head.
(It also helps that on my favourite sitcom, NewsRadio, it was Dave Nelson's favourite show.)
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11-20-2007 @ 11:34AM
Gazzoo said...
No one who's watched the show for more than a few minutes would ever call it 'dumb'. This surreal comedy was an acknowledged influence to the creators of "NewsRadio". Lumping it in with "The Beverly Hillbillies" is like lumping "All in the Family" in with "Good Times".
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11-20-2007 @ 11:41AM
Helen McDermott said...
What? A clean and wholesome sitcom again? How wonderful. Tthe current crop of sitcom writers should have their minds washed out with soap. Sex actually gets boring after a while when it saturates their TV's.
Funny isn't funny any more when it's at gutter level. Maybe they can use this "time out" to rethink their writing.
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11-20-2007 @ 12:34PM
ARTJPET said...
Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies are among the best casted comedys ever! The writing was creative, but the actors / actresses took the charactors to the greatest level! Unfortunatly when you do a great acting job in a goofy comedy, you are typcast and rarely given creditability for future serious parts! Hope the remake is as good as the original!
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11-20-2007 @ 12:40PM
Joey Geraci said...
Uhm, Helen, maybe you should have your own mind washed out with soap if all you can find on the sitcom airwaves are sex-filled shows. Perhaps you've never switched the channel to NBC? Chuck, 30 Rock, and The Office have all been waiting for you.
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11-20-2007 @ 12:52PM
Oreo said...
I'm confused.
You say it is a remake in the title, make it seem like they will just dust off the old scripts in case of a long strike. But then there is this part....
"The pilot for the new series is already written and takes place a month after the original series finale."
If it takes place after the real show than how is it a remake and how can they write episodes without writers?
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11-20-2007 @ 1:45PM
marah said...
sweet lord, i love green acres. and while it's pretty inane, it's like family guy. the insanity just makes it fantastic.
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11-20-2007 @ 2:22PM
Syn said...
There were probably scripts written that were never used.Always one of my favorites I think GA was and is a riot.It makes me think of what a show would be like if written and produced by Mel Brookes And the Zuckers.That said they should not make a new GA the way it is being talked about,just because you find look alikes (for the whole cast?) doesn't meen they would be as funny. Instead make it now with a granson moving to the old farm with his city wife.By now Hootrviller should be as modern as the 70's.
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11-20-2007 @ 2:47PM
BC said...
I don't know anyone who considers "Green Acres" to be the dumbest sitcom ever. I doubt it would even crack the top 100. I'm surprised by how many people recognized the subversiveness of the social satire going on beneath the slapstick. But I don't see a point in remaking or continuing it.
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11-20-2007 @ 5:43PM
Jim Kosmicki said...
as has been said, only people who have not watched it recently would characterize Green Acres as bad. Petticoat Junction was horrible and tarnishes all the CBS Hooterville shows. Green Acres was wonderfully written, perfectly cast, and performed well. It is rightfully a classic comedy, much less just TV comedy. Now MGM or whoever needs to get then last few seasons released on DVD.
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11-20-2007 @ 2:51PM
Rufus Firefly said...
Wasn't "Newhart" basically a remake of "Green Acres"?
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11-20-2007 @ 3:44PM
Oliver Wendell Douglas said...
Paul Goebel wouldn't know entertainment if it was pointed out to him.Wonder if his uncle got him the job of writing entertainment news after getting fired from a convenience store gig?
The original Green Acres show was great!
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11-20-2007 @ 4:39PM
Syn said...
The people were just a little more normal then the ones on GA,they're more like people from Pixlie.
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