I hate to admit (especially as a broadcast/media) consultant but one of my all-time favorite TV sitcoms was "Green Acres" (circa late 1960s). OK...sure...roll your eyes and do a few tsk...tsk's and feel superior. I don't care. For those of you too young or sophisticated to have ever seen the show, here is the setting in a capsule: High-dollar New York lawyer Oliver Wendell Douglass (Eddie Albert) from the big city always wanted to own a farm, he buys one in Hooterville (nowhere, USA) and drags his highly sophisticated wife Lisa (Eva Gabor) to live in the country. Oliver is not too swift at farm buying and buys a run-down one with a broken tractor and one cow on soil that earthworms are embarrassed to inhabit.

To make a long scenario short, this opens up tons of country versus city humor and lays open the introduction of all manner of unique characters which, by 2010 standards, should have been confined to the "X- Files".

Two of the unique characters (and my favorites) are Alf and Ralph - the Monroe brothers. They are the local handymen that Mr. Douglass hires to help fix up the place. Oh, did I mention that one of the brothers is a female? Just a small humor moment...or that they renovated the Douglas' main bedroom clothes closet without either putting a stop so the sliding door wouldn't fall off the track every time it was opened and also without putting a new wall on the outside of the closet facing the outdoors because it wouldn't be seen from the inside.

Admittedly, describing this stuff is probably less funny then seeing it (I recommend you do) but this show was one that severely warped my sense of humor toward things that were simple with a twist.

One of the lessons I was taught by the show was the value of value. The farm was so run down that Mr. Douglas was desperate all the time to buy what he felt he needed. And when he didn't think the deal was fair, he suffered and went on. Case in point. When they installed the telephone, the phone company placed the handset at the very top of the telephone pole next to the house instead of inside. Guess they never gave it a second thought. So, when anyone wanted to make or get a call, they had to climb up the pole. Douglas was unwilling to play extra for something he thought should have been included, so that funny bit never changed.

Another example of value was Mr. Haney (Pat Buttram) , the local supplier of anything and everything who had also sold Douglass the farm. Each time Mr. Douglass needed something, Mr. Haney was knocking on the front door with the needed item in his truck. Amazing coincidence. So, Mr. Douglass would deal and finally get the worthless item for far more than it was worth only to find out that the chair cushions were extra or the wheels for the tractor were several dollars more. OH? You want those chicken to actually lay eggs?

So, the moral of this story as a business example is, always provide more value to your customers than they could possibly expect. Even if you must add a few extra dollars to the price, your customers will appreciate not needing to worry about the quality of what they purchase or the quality of your service. And, from a communication perspective (my specialty) be sure your customers know that you provide that extra special touch and will support it to the end of the age. Honk your own horn as often as possible.

OH, by the way...you'll love Arnold, the clean pig who lives as the Ziffle' son in the next farmhouse. Does have a bad habit...watches TV constantly...and...well...good comedy doesn't need to be complicated or even dirty.

Good luck,
Gene