Lisa Douglas
Encyclopedia
Lisa Douglas was the leading female character in the 1960s CBS
situation comedy
Green Acres
.
Lisa (portrayed by actress Eva Gabor
), a glamorous Hungarian
immigrant
, was the wife of
Oliver Wendell Douglas
, a successful New York City
attorney who had long harbored the dream of moving to the Midwest and operating a farm
. Lisa had no desire to leave New York and live in an unsophisticated rural
area; however, out of loyalty and duty to her husband she accompanied him on his quest nonetheless. Ironically, (or inexplicably) Lisa got along wonderfully with her mother in-law, Eunice Douglas (Eleanor Audley
) whom she called "Mother". She and her mother-in-law were in agreement not to move to the hinterlands.
Once Mr. and Mrs. Douglas arrived in tiny Hooterville
, however, Lisa found herself fitting in with the zany, outlandish residents of the area and their absurd ways (in fact, much more than her husband did). Lisa had no trouble accepting that the "son" of a neighbor couple was, in fact, a pig
, that one of the two "brothers" hired as contractors to remodel their dilapidated farmhouse was female, or absurd events such a crown
suddenly appearing on her husband's head every time that he ate margarine
(a satire
of a then-current advertisement
for Lever Brothers
' Imperial Margarine
) or her finding the credits for the current episode
of the program appearing on the eggs
laid by her hens
. She also seemed to tolerate Oliver's interminable speeches about the nobility and greatness of the American
farmer, who caused the crops to come "shooting up out of the ground" (she called this his "shoosting speech"). (Her mangling of the English language
was reminiscent of an earlier sitcom character, Ricky Ricardo
of I Love Lucy
.) In contrast, Oliver was in denial of the fact (apparent to all) that his "American Dream" was, for him at least, a nightmare.
Lisa was another example of the television cliché that a beautiful
woman was almost invariably an incompetent cook, a characteristic which she shared with Elly May Clampett of The Beverly Hillbillies
, another show featuring absurd rural characters which was also being produced at the same time and by the same production company. Her hotcakes, for example (the only thing she knew how to cook), had the consistency (and edibility) of rubber
. In one episode, Oliver makes use of her "new method" hotcakes turning them into headgaskets for a broken truck. She also was the embodiment of the cliché that beautiful women are dim and daffy, like Gracie Allen
, though in some ways she was much smarter than her husband.
In one episode, Lisa asks a visitor drinking coffee if he'd like another cup. He says yes and she takes the cup, throws it out the window, gets another cup and then pours coffee into it.
Lisa seemed to recognize that her husband was an incompetent failure as a farmer but was determined to accept that this was a phase that he was going through and to see him through it to its conclusion. While Oliver was always regarded by the Hootervillians as somewhat strange, Lisa fit right in with them and was befriended by almost all of them in short order. In fact, she developed a motherly relationship with Eb Dawson, the hired hand. Although she would gladly have returned to New York in a minute had he requested it, it was she, and not he, who seemed to have found genuine happiness.
In an episode, Lisa said that she did a good impression of Zsa Zsa Gabor
, Eva Gabor's sister.
In the first few episodes of "Green Acres" Lisa was actually sensible and Oliver was the "whacky" comedy relief. Lisa had no trouble dealing with Mr. Haney and was responsible and logical. This soon changed and Oliver became the straight level headed lead while Lisa adopted a more zany character.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Green Acres
Green Acres
Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
.
Lisa (portrayed by actress Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor was a Hungarian-born socialite and actress. She was widely known for her role on Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, Duchess in the 1970 Disney film The Aristocats, and Miss Bianca in Disney's The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under...
), a glamorous Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
immigrant
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, was the wife of
Oliver Wendell Douglas
Oliver Wendell Douglas
Oliver Wendell Douglas was the major character in the 1960s CBS situation comedy Green Acres. The character's name was inspired by famed Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and possibly also by then-Supreme Court justice William Orville Douglas....
, a successful New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
attorney who had long harbored the dream of moving to the Midwest and operating a farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
. Lisa had no desire to leave New York and live in an unsophisticated rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
area; however, out of loyalty and duty to her husband she accompanied him on his quest nonetheless. Ironically, (or inexplicably) Lisa got along wonderfully with her mother in-law, Eunice Douglas (Eleanor Audley
Eleanor Audley
Eleanor Audley was an American actress who was a familiar radio and animation voice, in addition to her TV and film roles...
) whom she called "Mother". She and her mother-in-law were in agreement not to move to the hinterlands.
Once Mr. and Mrs. Douglas arrived in tiny Hooterville
Hooterville
Hooterville was a fictional town that was the setting of the American television sitcoms Petticoat Junction and Green Acres.-Citizens:The town of Hooterville was founded in 1868 by Horace Hooter...
, however, Lisa found herself fitting in with the zany, outlandish residents of the area and their absurd ways (in fact, much more than her husband did). Lisa had no trouble accepting that the "son" of a neighbor couple was, in fact, a pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
, that one of the two "brothers" hired as contractors to remodel their dilapidated farmhouse was female, or absurd events such a crown
Crown (headgear)
A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents power, legitimacy, immortality, righteousness, victory, triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death. In art, the crown may be shown being offered to...
suddenly appearing on her husband's head every time that he ate margarine
Margarine
Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes, typically composed of vegetable oils. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter...
(a satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of a then-current advertisement
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
for Lever Brothers
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
' Imperial Margarine
Imperial Margarine
Imperial is a brand of margarine distributed by Unilever. It is known or best remembered for early commercials in which a person who recently ate something with the margarine would have a crown appear on their head ....
) or her finding the credits for the current episode
Episode
An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
of the program appearing on the eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
laid by her hens
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
. She also seemed to tolerate Oliver's interminable speeches about the nobility and greatness of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
farmer, who caused the crops to come "shooting up out of the ground" (she called this his "shoosting speech"). (Her mangling of the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
was reminiscent of an earlier sitcom character, Ricky Ricardo
Ricky Ricardo
Enrique Alberto Fernando Ricardo y de Acha, III, a.k.a. Ricky Ricardo is a main character in the television show I Love Lucy, played by Desi Arnaz...
of I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
.) In contrast, Oliver was in denial of the fact (apparent to all) that his "American Dream" was, for him at least, a nightmare.
Lisa was another example of the television cliché that a beautiful
Beauty
Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture...
woman was almost invariably an incompetent cook, a characteristic which she shared with Elly May Clampett of The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
, another show featuring absurd rural characters which was also being produced at the same time and by the same production company. Her hotcakes, for example (the only thing she knew how to cook), had the consistency (and edibility) of rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
. In one episode, Oliver makes use of her "new method" hotcakes turning them into headgaskets for a broken truck. She also was the embodiment of the cliché that beautiful women are dim and daffy, like Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
, though in some ways she was much smarter than her husband.
In one episode, Lisa asks a visitor drinking coffee if he'd like another cup. He says yes and she takes the cup, throws it out the window, gets another cup and then pours coffee into it.
Lisa seemed to recognize that her husband was an incompetent failure as a farmer but was determined to accept that this was a phase that he was going through and to see him through it to its conclusion. While Oliver was always regarded by the Hootervillians as somewhat strange, Lisa fit right in with them and was befriended by almost all of them in short order. In fact, she developed a motherly relationship with Eb Dawson, the hired hand. Although she would gladly have returned to New York in a minute had he requested it, it was she, and not he, who seemed to have found genuine happiness.
In an episode, Lisa said that she did a good impression of Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...
, Eva Gabor's sister.
In the first few episodes of "Green Acres" Lisa was actually sensible and Oliver was the "whacky" comedy relief. Lisa had no trouble dealing with Mr. Haney and was responsible and logical. This soon changed and Oliver became the straight level headed lead while Lisa adopted a more zany character.