Updated: February 24, 2026

Main characters:

Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as Oliver and Lisa Douglas Oliver Wendell Douglas ( Portrayed by Eddie Albert ) Named for Oliver Wendell Holmes, he is an attorney who makes the rash decision to leave his successful law practice and pursue his lifelong dream of being a farmer, despite having no real world knowledge or experience, as evidenced by him doing farm chores while wearing a three piece suit ( In "The Hooterville Image," the denizens decide Oliver is ruining the town's image by doing his chores in a suit and demand that he wear overalls ). Much of the humor throughout the series derives from Oliver's striving toward success and happiness in an absurd situation, despite the rural citizenry, his high maintenance wife, and his affluent mother ( Eleanor Audley ), who ridicules him for his agricultural pipedreams in the episode "The Wedding Anniversary." Oliver is also subjected to ribbing by the Hootervilles when he launches into starry eyed monologues about "the American farmer" replete with a fife playing "Yankee Doodle" in the background ( Which every on-screen character except Oliver can hear ). Oliver drives a Lincoln Continental convertible, a stark contrast to the often decrepit vintage vehicles generally shown. In later seasons, the Lincoln is replaced by a Mercury Marquis convertible.

Lisa Douglas ( Portrayed by Eva Gabor ) Lisa and Oliver are both veterans of World War II. In "Wings Over Hooterville," she recalls how they met. According to Lisa, she was a sergeant in the Hungarian underground, and he was a United States Army Air Forces flier, forced to bail out of his plane. However, she gives several other fanciful versions of how they met in subsequent episodes. In the episode, "A Royal Love Story," he is a tourist in Paris, and she is a waitress/tour guide, living with her father, the deposed King of Hungary. Pampered by her wealthy family, her skewed world view and domestic ignorance provide fertile ground for recurring gags. Instead of washing dishes, Lisa sometimes tosses them out the kitchen window. In the episode, "Alf and Ralph Break Up," Lisa admits she has no cooking abilities and that her only talent is Zsa Zsa Gabor impersonations ( The real life sisters were often mistaken for each other ).

Oliver and Lisa are both depicted as fish out of water. While Oliver instigated the move from Manhattan to Hooterville over Lisa's objections, he is typically uncomprehending of and impatient with his new situation. Lisa, on the other hand, somehow understands the sometimes surreal world of their neighbors, and they in turn are accepting of her own bizarre notions.