The Ex-Secretary

This episode aired on April 27, 1971, and was filmed out of order in December 1970. It was not really an episode of Green Acres (1965) as much as it was a 'back door pilot' for a series based on the characters around Mr. Douglas erstwhile secretary (who has developed her own backstory since working for him years before at his law firm in New York). As such, the Green Acres (1965) connection is a pretext to allow an introduction of the actors in the pilot. Either way, it failed. The pilot was not picked up by CBS and dropped in June 1971. The episode serves as a totally unrelated series finale for Green Acres (1965). Many series did not have finales. Especially prior to the 1980s when it became nearly required. This episode, according to insiders, was a throw away designed to act as a fill during the holidays or prior to summer hiatus. It ended up becoming the series finale when CBS canceled the series several weeks later. Green Acres (1965) wasn't hot, but was ranked #34 in 1971 and #50 in 1970. It had been moved to Tuesday for the last season. The cast and crew didn't know the series would be canceled. Had they known, perhaps a series finale would have been made. Knowing the writers, it would have been a really good one.

References Ironside (1967)