talking pig and beloved son of Fred and Doris Ziffel
Arnold Ziffel was a fictional character featured in Green Acres, an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. and originally aired on the CBS network from 1965 to 1971.
Green Acres was premised on rural American humor and featured Oliver Wendell Douglas (actor Eddie Albert) and his wife Lisa (actress Eva Gabor), city-dwellers who move to the unfamiliar environment of Hooterville, a fictional farming community and a place where everyone took for granted that a talking pig, Arnold, was the “son” of farmer/owner Fred Ziffel.
Arnold was a pig, but he was treated as the son of Fred and Doris Ziffel. Arnold could do pretty much anything he wanted. He was very talented. He could write his name, change the channels on the television, and play the piano. Arnold also attended school, carrying his lunchbox in his mouth, where he often played practical jokes on the other students.
Arnold fell in love with Mr. Haney’s prized Basset Hound, ‘Cynthia’, but in a scene full of pig grunts and dog barks, subtitles explained that they were realizing that their love could never be. Mr. Haney threatens to sue Mr. Douglas because Arnold has ruined Cynthia for show as she has begun to grunt like a pig too.
Another story line had Arnold inheriting millions of dollars as the sole descendant of the favorite pig of a pork-packing magnate. Arnold’s deceased relative was distinguished by his ability to predict the weather with his tail.
The above biographic information is based on information in the Wikipedia article: Arnold Ziffel. The text contained in Wikipedia is licensed to the public under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). The full text of this license is at Wikipedia:Text of the GNU Free Documentation License. [DES-1/10]
