Californians and New Yorkers have one thing in common, they all think the world revolves around them to such an extent everyone gets their little in-jokes.
In "King Oliver I" the governor of the state is a former actor, probably based on Ronald Reagan. He goes on television and declares the state bankrupt. As a result, rather than employing supply-side solutions, this strange "Reaganesque" character goes the route of Democrats Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and says he has to hike taxes 52 percent.
Naturally distressed by this, Hooterville secedes from the state, blowing up the bridge over Simpson's Swamp. After an unsuccessful bid to join Nevada, the town declares itself an independent kingdom. And Oliver Douglas, who originally just wanted a Tea Party type tax revolt, is elected king--without his knowledge, of course, though he gets blamed for the whole thing, as usual, even though he had nothing to do with it.
Lisa then comes up with a solution that is actually fascist, involving the government's seizure of all a business' earnings and everyone lives happily ever after . . . except, presumably, the proprietors and workers of the business, who will be forced to operate for nary a penny.
This episode contains not one word of economic sense, yet it is one of the funniest last episodes of the show (arguably surpassed only by "The Hole in the Porch"). Usually the hilarity of a television series has to do with how close it is to reality. Fortunately, "Green Acres" never took that route and the more bizarre and unreal this storyline gets, the funnier it gets. A warning to governors, however: don't try this at home.
Oh, one word of caution: crowns keep appearing on people's heads when they eat breakfast; this is based on a margarine commercial current at the time where someone ate the product and a crown appeared on their heads with a blast of trumpets. So much for topical humor. That stuff just doesn't travel.
In "King Oliver I" the governor of the state is a former actor, probably based on Ronald Reagan. He goes on television and declares the state bankrupt. As a result, rather than employing supply-side solutions, this strange "Reaganesque" character goes the route of Democrats Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and says he has to hike taxes 52 percent.
Naturally distressed by this, Hooterville secedes from the state, blowing up the bridge over Simpson's Swamp. After an unsuccessful bid to join Nevada, the town declares itself an independent kingdom. And Oliver Douglas, who originally just wanted a Tea Party type tax revolt, is elected king--without his knowledge, of course, though he gets blamed for the whole thing, as usual, even though he had nothing to do with it.
Lisa then comes up with a solution that is actually fascist, involving the government's seizure of all a business' earnings and everyone lives happily ever after . . . except, presumably, the proprietors and workers of the business, who will be forced to operate for nary a penny.
This episode contains not one word of economic sense, yet it is one of the funniest last episodes of the show (arguably surpassed only by "The Hole in the Porch"). Usually the hilarity of a television series has to do with how close it is to reality. Fortunately, "Green Acres" never took that route and the more bizarre and unreal this storyline gets, the funnier it gets. A warning to governors, however: don't try this at home.
Oh, one word of caution: crowns keep appearing on people's heads when they eat breakfast; this is based on a margarine commercial current at the time where someone ate the product and a crown appeared on their heads with a blast of trumpets. So much for topical humor. That stuff just doesn't travel.
