Zach Galifianakis, widely known for his comedic ventures and his role as Alan in The Hangover, stars in This is a Gardening Show, a six-episode educational docuseries about gardening.
It’s difficult to imagine the same guy who cracked jokes with Obama teaching us about the importance and benefits of gardening, but Galifianakis has gardened as a hobby for 25 years, and attributes it as a main reason for his happiness.
Each episode starts with an impromptu interview with children where they discuss their interest in gardening, talking about everything from root vegetables to types of apples.
During these interviews, Galifianakis tells corny jokes and gets hilariously insulted by elementary school-aged kids who bring to mind the iconic barbs of his talk show, Between Two Ferns.
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Overall, it’s a lively way to present the topic of gardening, combining Galifianakis’s humor with the children’s bluntness, giving us entertaining jokes in the first few minutes of each episode. In one scene, Galifianakis asks a little boy what he thinks about him, and the little boy says, “He’s not my favorite.”
Galifianakis then works with professionals to learn more about specific gardening topics such as harvesting, composting and individual produce production, including tomatoes and corn. Despite his previous experience, Galifianakis learns more about how to take the hobby to the next level and what it’s like for professional farmers and gardening experts.
During discussions about different fruits and vegetables, Galifianakis learns more about the differences between species types, such as what differentiates the tomato that you see at a grocery store from the one at your local farmers’ market.
It’s interesting to see the intricacies and complexities of gardening, considering most people buy their produce from the grocery store without knowing its origins or overall quality.
Galifianakis reiterates throughout the series that gardening not only feeds the human population but also acts as a therapeutic activity with benefits beyond simple nourishment. Regularly, he makes a point to state that the “future is agrarian.”
Aside from Galifianakis’s humor, the docuseries carries a deeper meaning for our future as a society. The message feels particularly resonant here in America, where the simple act of gardening seems so far removed from the average adult’s daily routine.
Outside of the occasional school assembly about composting and recycling, schools lack a comprehensive education about sustainability and environmentalism. It’s detrimental to our health and our planet to promote overproduced or low-quality food above more mutually beneficial options, such as homegrown produce.
“As pessimistic as one can get these days, the gardens are hope,” Galifianakis said in the show.
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The docuseries offers more than Galifianakis’s signature comedic moments, presenting sustainability as real hope for the future of humanity. I felt the message grounded me amidst the chaos of daily life in today’s world.
I’m sure people can relate to feeling despondent about the world today, considering political polarization, a bleak job market and a lack of affordability in practically everything. But Galifianakis’s docuseries proves that simple routines, such as gardening, can provide an escape from a good chunk of the problems he mocks throughout the series.
“If I were to offer a remedy to the human condition, it would be a garden … or acid,” Galifianakis said.
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