Of course the pig from ''Green Acres'' got fan letters
Boy, do we love that pig!
Television viewers spend their whole lives praising the human actors in their favorite series. Well, it's high time we started dishing out compliments to those who really deserve it: The animal actors. That's right. Where would The Brady Bunch be without Tiger the dog? Where would any Western star be without a horse to ride on? These animals are integral to the success and popularity of any television series, the same as any other actor, and they deserve some respect!
While we love Eva Gabor and Eddie Albert, the Douglas family isn't complete without their child, Arnold Ziffel. According to The Hog Book by William Hedgepeth, Arnold the Pig received rave reviews from official press releases the moment he began appearing on Green Acres. "There's no business like SHOATbusiness if you happen to follow the antics of Arnold on CBS's Green Acres," one wrote. "A pig is an unlikely animal to capture an audience's fancy, but Arnold seems to mean more to the TV audience than just than just another potential ham sandwich."
The book also revealed that, like any other television superstar, Arnold received his fair share of fan letters, from both adults and children. "One sixth grade grammar school in Hilliard, Ohio, wrote fan letters en masse to Arnold and even promised to stop eating pork chops."
Sure, Arnold could be a diva sometimes, at least according to Richard Bare, who served as a director on the show. But he had the talent to back that confidence up. "Arnold did get temperamental-particularly in the late afternoons, like other actors," he said.
"We matched up a horse with Arnold in a two-shot sequence during one show, and it was no contest. Arnold zipped through his scenes, while we literally had to drag a performance out of the horse."
Now there's a pig you can be proud of!