“Why gardening?,” Zach Galifianakis asks as he concludes his quest to get the fingers of Netflix viewers a distinct shade of green. “Why the fuck not?”
It’s a mantra which could be applied to “This Is a Gardening Show” itself, a six-part bite-sized hodgepodge of “Kids Say the Funniest Things,” PBS mainstay “The Victory Garden,” and the gentler side of Adult Swim which, on the surface, doesn’t have any particular reason to exist. However, in a landscape where even “comedies” about sandwich shops seem determined to raise the blood pressure, it’s the kind of decompressing palate cleanser which should be medically prescribed.
Galifianakis, a man who has built his career on playing the socially awkward schlub, might not initially seem like the most obvious candidate to inspire a horticultural revolution. But as a part-time resident of a largely self-sufficient island in British Columbia (where the show is filmed), and owner of a 60-acre farm at the foot of North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains, he appears to have the necessary interest, if not always the knowhow (he repeatedly beats himself up for his ignorance of the apparent basics) to act the conduit.
He’s certainly enthusiastic enough. “If I were to offer a remedy to the human condition, it would be gardening… or acid,” he declares, proving you can take Galifianakis out of the stoner comedy, but not the stoner comedy out of Galifianakis. The interstitial sequences in which psychedelic animated visuals accompany random facts (half of America’s tomato intake comes from ketchup, for example) and plants are shown forming in rapid time-lapse footage — not to mention a soundtrack filled with the slacker rock of Mac DeMarco — suggest this would complement the munchies.
‘This Is a Gardening Show’Radical Media/Netflix
The star’s genuine enthusiasm is infectious throughout, whether he’s gushing about the art of grafting (fusing two different parts of two different trees together in a Frankenstein’s monster-esque approach to fruit making) or marveling at the creation of a “Viney Winey,” a global warming-ready tomato plant that can withstand higher-than-normal temperatures, perhaps in preparation for the apocalypse Galifianakis appears to believe is impending. And he isn’t afraid to pose the questions gardening novices may feel too stupid to ask, either (“What is a tomato?” “Is corn a grain?” “I’m not gonna get diarrhea, am I?”).
Naturally, the showman can’t help from throwing in a few quips in among all the educational tidbits. “They should have put you in charge of finding bin Laden,” he tells two prolific mushroom foragers while joining them on their latest hunt. And he excitedly invents a new vice, gambling on the colors of potatoes, while helping a local farmer to help dig up her spuds. Yet, unlike his guests on “Between Two Ferns” (no prizes for guessing where he slips in that reference), he treats the experts with respect while displaying a legitimate sense of awe.
Not that these feelings are always reciprocated. Providing the show’s most amusing back-and-forth, no-nonsense corn farmer Murray — very much the antithesis of the Jolly Green Giant — spends most of Episode 5 roasting the comedian about his aging appearance (“You’re a bit old to be getting into machinery”) or practically trolling him from behind the wheel of his beloved tractor. Maybe he thought Galifianakis’ antagonistic chat show was real?
The star also gets a rough ride from many of the elementary school interviewees that allows the unlikely gardening enthusiast to embrace his more familiar manchild. “How’s that funny?” comes the response to one of many unappreciated dad jokes on the show’s subject matter. “I’m bored,” comes another, followed by an admission he’d rather talk about bugs. Seven-year-olds are quite clearly a tough crowd.
‘This Is a Gardening Show’Radical Media/Netflix
Of course, cynics would say this is an easy way to get laughs, but Galifianakis’ quick wit ensures the unfiltered youngsters don’t always take center stage. On hearing the one-liner, “Why did the apple cross the street? ‘Cause it wanted to go poo-poo,” he responds, “Do you work for Joe Rogan?” And his natural reactions to the more surreal interactions — an old-before-his-time hawthorn berry aficionado who claims to have 11 kids, a girl who when asked about Justin Bieber and Harry Styles, answers, “Are they creepy people?” — are a joy to see unfold.
You could quite happily watch him pretending to answer a phone made from corn or hosting a quickfire game of ‘Plant or Non-Plant’ (Endive, yes, Robert, no) for 90 minutes instead.
If this all sounds a little too safe and cutesy, then there are still the occasional absurdisms which lean into his reputation as a one-man chaos machine. Most occur as the closing credits roll, whether pretending to be viciously mauled by a bear or, even more unnervingly, clearly superimposing his face onto the body of a performing cellist.
There are glimpses of his old DGAF-ness, too, in how he randomly and repeatedly trash-talks Ryan Reynolds (“Bland, plain, nothing going on,” he says, comparing him to a radish). That is, until a last-minute voicemail disappointingly shows the “Deadpool” star was in on the joke (seriously, is he ever not?).
Still, as its matter-of-fact title implies, “This Is a Gardening Show” isn’t really designed to ruffle any feathers or change the face of comedy. Like “Joe Pera Talks with You” or “How To with John Wilson,” it’s a warm-hearted celebration of life’s simple pleasures which favors sincerity over snark.
If this doesn’t get you abandoning the frozen veg aisles and growing your own, nothing will.
“This Is a Gardening Show” starts streaming on Netflix on Wednesday, April 22.
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