Zach Galifianakis is swapping the interview chair for a trowel in his new Netflix series, “This Is a Gardening Show,” premiering on Earth Day, April 22. The six-part series, with episodes running 15 to 20 minutes, sees the actor and comedian explore gardening with a blend of sincerity and absurdity.
Galifianakis, who says he has gardened “on and off” for 25 years, leaves the expertise to specialists in apples, tomatoes, foraging, root vegetables, corn and compost. The laid-back experts demonstrate techniques such as grafting an apple tree and adding nitrogen-rich ingredients to a compost bin.
Each episode features amusing interviews with students from Brooklyn Elementary School in Comox, British Columbia. Galifianakis employs his signature deadpan style, asking questions like “How many children do you have?” and letting their off-the-wall responses land. He also delivers a knock-knock joke about Benjamin Netanyahu and a running gag about Ryan Reynolds, all of which go over the children's heads.
Bloopers are woven into each episode, along with lines such as “If I were to offer a remedy to the human condition, it would be a garden … or acid.” Galifianakis remarks that “the future is agrarian” and that gardening is “good for your heart.”
