Zach Galifianakis cultivates plenty of laughs in 'This Is a Gardening Show'

"Host Galifianakis clearly has fun, and so do his guests. One segment in each episode has him interviewing kids at a grade school, acting like Art Linkletter used to in his very old radio and TV shows. The questions typically revolve around gardening, fruits and vegetables, but invariably veer off into uncharted conversational territory. Galifianakis proved his ad-lib prowess as an interviewer on his online interview show Between Two Ferns, but the object there was to make his guests intentionally uncomfortable."

"On this show, whether he's talking to farmers, horticultural experts or little kids, Galifianakis himself always ends up being the butt of the joke. The six episodes in this first season I'm hoping there will be more are devoted to apples, tomatoes, foraging, root vegetables, corn and compost. Zach, who lives in British Columbia, has been gardening for some 25 years. This Is a Gardening Show was filmed on Vancouver Island, and every farmer he visits is a true character."

"These gardening shows rely on a basket of tricks. They use time-lapse photography to capture both growth and decay. They use the segments with kids for pure comedy. Galifianakis also visits different farms and farmers to sample their wares, and every time he bites into an heirloom tomato, or a home-grown carrot, he pronounces it the best one he's ever tasted. And I don't think he's kidding."

"In the course of these compact 15- to 16-minute episodes, Galifianakis learns how to graft apple trees, make richer compost and generally how to self-sustain."

The series centers on a host who treats gardening with playful irreverence while interviewing farmers, experts, and children. Episodes include grade-school kid interviews that start with gardening topics like fruits and vegetables and then drift into unexpected conversation. The host’s humor relies on botched takes, tossaway asides, and frequent jokes that often leave him as the punchline. The first season contains six short episodes focused on apples, tomatoes, foraging, root vegetables, corn, and compost. Filmed on Vancouver Island, the show features real farmers and uses time-lapse photography to show growth and decay. Farm visits include tasting produce and learning practical techniques like grafting apple trees and improving compost.

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