Known for his fabulously rude chat show Between Two Ferns, and his role as reprobate Alan in the Hangover movies, Zach Galifianakis is no Monty Don. Indeed, so unlikely a gardening show host is the actor that the title of his new series – This Is a Gardening Show (Netflix, available now) – has to bluntly spell it out.
It turns out Galifianakis has been gardening for 25 years. He doesn’t claim any great expertise, but says: “I honestly think, for human beings and for the world itself, the only future is agrarian.”
The show is no treatise on our broken food system, though. Instead, each 15-minute episode – shot in British Columbia, Canada – takes a leisurely look at growing different foods (there are detours into foraging and compost, too).
The first two episodes, on apples and tomatoes, begin with Galafianakis hosting daft, funny interviews with kids. Then we get a brief animated history of each fruit, before he heads to a farm to find out more. His interviews with growers are in the same silly spirit as those with the kids, but he unearths some fascinating insights. On learning “the only good way to get a good-tasting apple” is via the techniques of grafting or budding, he’s blindsided. “No one knows that, do they?”
Similarly, a tomato-farming couple have our host feeling like “a moron” as they detail the best way to grow them. He jokingly pledges to return to steal their delicious produce – much to their bemusement.
The show is a quiet, light-touch way for Galifianakis to share “the beauty and happiness in all this” – and it’s a delight: charming TV for all ages and gardening abilities.
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