Life Delights

He’s handsome, dashing, noble, honest as the day is long, and has more integrity than Abe Lincoln. He’s a man of mystery whose past is shrouded in questions. He is an expert swordsman, a warrior of unparalleled skill, and a natural leader who inspires whole nations to follow him against the strongest social taboos. He is John Carter, Warlord of Mars. But before Carter became the Warlord of a planet-spanning alliance of nations he had to pass from life on one world to life on another.

Before Edgar Rice Burroughs set pen to paper to produce the fantastic story “Under The Moons of Mars” in 1912 (later republished as a book titled A Princess of Mars) the notion that an Earthman could find himself transported to another world where Earth-like humans would accept him as their leader had not really been explored in popular fiction. Since 1912 many authors have followed in ERB’s footsteps, but he is considered the grandfather of fiction about transplanted humans who conquer other worlds.

In 2012, marking the 100th anniversary of the publication of “Under The Moons of Mars”, The Disney Studios and Pixar Animation Studios will release the first of three movies about John Carter of Mars. Taylor Kitsch has been selected to play the Barsoomian warlord and Lynn Collins will play Dejah Thoris, the Martian princess who captures Carter’s heart. Science fiction fans have already begun putting up John Carter of Mars fan sites that will soon dominate the Web with fantastic images and details about minutiae from the books and movies.

There is even now a dedicated John Carter of Mars forum for fans of the movies. To be sure there have been previous attempts to bring John Carter to the silver screen, but none have succeeded. And only low-budget movie house The Asylum has yet beat Disney and Pixar to the punch. Asylum’s adaptation, titled “A Princess of Mars”, will be released direct-to-DvD in December 2009. While it’s not yet too late for people to add to the growing John Carter of Mars filmerium, it’s unlikely any other studios will try to capitalize on the Disney/Pixar project.

You may have heard that Disney and Pixar are collaborating on a John Carter of Mars movie franchise due to be launched in 2012. But did you know there have been several previous attempts to bring the story to the silver screen? John Carter is one of the most popular of writer Edgar Rice Burroughs’ heroes but though Carter was the first to spring from Burroughs’ imagination he was quickly overshadowed by Tarzan of the Apes.

Carter afficianados have long wanted to see their favorite swashbuckling hero from the age of pulp adventures come to the big screen but things have just never really worked out. Burroughs himself attempted to bring John Carter of Mars to film in the 1940s, but the animated project never got off the ground. Another attempt to create a John Carter of Mars movie in the 1970s also fizzled.

Although the first books in the series are now in the public domain, the characters are still owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. — a company E.R.B. himself set up during his lifetime to administer his literary properties. Hence, attempts to develop movie projects around the John Carter character have been frustrated by legal barriers and a lack of technological resources.

Fans have waited a long, long time to see the John Carter character brought to life. Here is hoping that the wait has been worthwhile. We may not get another chance to see these great adventure books brought to life again if this project fails.

A spin-off of the CBS program Petticoat Junction (1963), Green Acres surpassed its predecessor in audience popularity - spending four of its six seasons as a Top 20 Nielsen-rated program. Its family-friendly humor puts Green Acres in the same nostalgic category as shows like The Andy Griffith Show, back when TV sitcoms were all about humor and not as serious as they would later become with the introduction of 1970s stalwarts MASH and All In The Family. The brainchild of creator Jay Sommers, writer for shows such as The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet and Petticoat Junction (where Green Acres characters Sam, Doris, Fred, and Arnold make their first appearances), Green Acres’ unique brand of comedy lives on through a successful and ongoing syndication run, and its catchy theme song even captured the pop culture for a second time when Old Navy incorporated it into one of their trademark clothing commercials…

The Green Acres (Season 2) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere “Wings Over Hooterville” in which Lisa recounts the story of her first meeting with Oliver to the people of Hooterville. She tells them it was during World War II, and Oliver’s plane got shot down. With his parachute stuck in a tree, Lisa came to his rescue. Fast forward to the present day when the crops of Hooterville are suffering from the ill effects of the infamous “bing bug”. The crops need to be dusted, and the town appoints Oliver to carry out the task. Unfortunately, Oliver hasn’t flown a plane in years, and Eustace Haney’s cheap bucket of bolts is the last thing Oliver wants to fly… Other notable episodes from Season 2 include “The Good Old Days” in which Lisa longs for the good old days of her Park Avenue penthouse with its many luxuries and extravagant view, and “An Old-Fashioned Christmas” in which Oliver learns that he must first secure a permit before chopping down a Christmas tree on his own property…!

Below is a list of episodes included on the Green Acres (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 33 (Wings Over Hooterville) Air Date: 09-14-1966
Episode 34 (Water, Water Everywhere) Air Date: 09-21-1966
Episode 35 (I Didn’t Raise My Pig to be a Soldier) Air Date: 09-28-1966
Episode 36 (How to See South America by Bus) Air Date: 10-05-1966
Episode 37 (The Ugly Duckling) Air Date: 10-19-1966
Episode 38 (One of Our Assemblymen is Missing) Air Date: 10-26-1966
Episode 39 (The Good Old Days) Air Date: 11-02-1966
Episode 40 (Eb Discovers the Birds and the Bees) Air Date: 11-09-1966
Episode 41 (The Hooterville Image) Air Date: 11-16-1966
Episode 42 (You Ought to be in Pictures) Air Date: 11-23-1966
Episode 43 (A Home Isn’t Built in a Day) Air Date: 11-30-1966
Episode 44 (A Square is Not Round) Air Date: 12-14-1966
Episode 45 (An Old Fashioned Christmas) Air Date: 12-21-1966
Episode 46 (Never Trust a Little Old Lady) Air Date: 12-28-1966
Episode 47 (School Days) Air Date: 01-04-1967
Episode 48 (His Honor) Air Date: 01-11-1967
Episode 49 (It’s So Peaceful in the Country) Air Date: 01-18-1967
Episode 50 (Exodus to Bleedwell) Air Date: 01-25-1967
Episode 51 (It’s Human to be Humane) Air Date: 02-01-1967
Episode 52 (Never Take Your Wife to a Convention) Air Date: 02-08-1967
Episode 53 (The Computer Age) Air Date: 02-15-1967
Episode 54 (Never Start Talking Unless Your Voice Comes Out) Air Date: 02-22-1967
Episode 55 (The Beverly Hillbillies) Air Date: 03-01-1967
Episode 56 (Lisa’s Vegetable Garden) Air Date: 03-08-1967
Episode 57 (The Saucer Season) Air Date: 03-15-1967
Episode 58 (Getting Even With Haney) Air Date: 03-22-1967
Episode 59 (Kimball Gets Fired) Air Date: 03-29-1967
Episode 60 (The Vulgar Ring Story) Air Date: 04-12-1967
Episode 61 (Who’s Lisa?) Air Date: 04-19-1967
Episode 62 (Music to Milk By) Air Date: 04-26-1967

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Green Acres (Season 2) DVD.