Another Hooterville connection to Mayberry was found by Ivan in "The Church Bell" episode of 'Mayberry RFD' with the casting of Barbara Pepper as Lucius Fremont's housekeeper......
Mrs. Doris Ziffel(Barbara Pepper)
(She goes by “Emma”—I guess she’s leading some sort of double life and doesn’t want Mr. Z or the folks from Hooterville to know.)
This is one Toobworldly observation by Ivan that has changed the accepted thinking about this 'Green Acres' recastaway, Doris Ziffel. Until he pointed out Barbara Pepper's participation in this episode, Toobworld Central has been operating with a much darker splainin as to why there were two Doris Ziffels on 'Green Acres'.
Unlike the case with Gladys Kravitz and Darrin Stephens on 'Bewitched', no magic was involved in the change of appearance for Mrs. Ziffel.
They are two different women.
But Toobworld Central's theory had been that Fred Ziffel murdered his first wife and buried her somewhere on his farm. Then he brought in his long-time mistress (also named Doris - Fred must have had a thing for women named Doris.) to pose as his new wife. As Hooterville was accustomed to strange happenings, they took it in stride that there was a new Doris Ziffel, without questioning what happened to the old one. 
See, that last part stretches credulity, even by 'Green Acres' standards... even by Toobworld standards - which also states that Arnold Ziffel is descended from the "demi-god" Hercules! 
But Ivan has given us anew pozz'bility. The original Doris Ziffel fled Hooterville and her stagnant life with her husband Fred for the hustle and bustle of the Big City.Yeah, I know it's Mayberry, not Raleigh (or even Mt. Pilot), but have you seen Hooterville?
Once in town, she changed her name to Emma. (It could be that "Emma" is her actual name. If Fred Ziffel did have a "Doris" fixation, he may have insisted that both women use that name instead of their own.)
Emma found employ with Lucius Fremont as his housekeeper and that's how we find her in "The Church Bell". And who knows? Maybe as part of her cleaning duties, she also polished his knob.....That's just my idea. Don't blame Ivan if your sensibilities were offended!
This has not been a Filmways presentation, Dahlink!
1 comment:
Just finished reading your posts...thanks a lot for the giggles, good sir--biggest chuckles I've had all week.
Because I've watched all of the R.F.D. episodes in advance (well, I had some free time this weekend) the Lucius Fremont saga is going to take a bizarre turn in the third season (which will be quite a ways away, blog-wise). In "Goober, the Housekeeper," Goob agrees to baby-sit Fremont's manse and in the process meets a young girl and her mother (played by Natalie Schafer!) who are convinced that he's a millionaire.
The Fremont character isn't referred to by his first name...but the actor playing him in that episode is (drum roll please) BILL BOUCHEY!
As The Patty Duke Show often warned us: "You could lose your mind!"
Best as always!
Ivan
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