Creators say short runtimes and Vancouver Island scenery shaped 'This Is a Gardening Show'

Gardening TV is usually slow, instructive, and a little stiff. This Netflix show is not. “This Is a Gardening Show,” which premiered on April 22 for Earth Day, works because it keeps the scale small — short episodes, local scenery, and a host who never acts like the smartest person in the frame. The new wrinkle this week is that the people behind it spelled out how deliberate that was, and why the format ended up mattering as much as the gardening itself. ### What is the show, exactly? It’s a six-part Netflix docu-comedy hosted by Zach Galifianakis, built around food-growing topics like apples, tomatoes, foraging, corn, root vegetables, and compost. The episodes run about 15 to 20 minutes, and the pitch is simple: Galifianakis talks to growers, experts, and kids while learning out loud, not lecturing. That makes it feel closer to a curious field trip than a traditional how-to series. ### Why are the short runtimes such a big deal? Because the length is basically the tone. The creators told What’s on Netflix they embraced bite-sized episodes on purpose, and you can feel that in the finished show. At 15 to 20 minutes, each installment has room for one idea, a few jokes, and one or two genuinely useful facts before it starts dragging. That’s a big reason the series feels welcoming instead of homework. ### Why does Vancouver Island matter so much? The setting does more than make the show look pretty. The series was filmed largely around Vancouver Island, where Galifianakis lives, and the creators leaned into the area’s farms, orchards, forests, and coastline as part of the show’s identity. Basically, the landscape keeps reminding you that this is about real food systems and real places, not a celebrity wandering through a studio set with potted herbs. ### What does Galifianakis add besides name recognition? He gives the show its weird little pulse. The behind-the-scenes explanation is that his unscripted humor shaped the rhythm, and that tracks with the reviews. He uses the deadpan awkwardness people know from “Between Two Ferns,” but here it lands softer — more earnest, less mean. The camera. ### Is it actually good, or just novel? Mostly good — and novel in a useful way. Arab News called it “joyous,” while other reviews describe it as charming, accessible, and slightly loose around the edges. That looseness seems intentional. The show is not trying to be the definitive gardening text. It’s trying to make people care where food comes from, and to do that without sounding preachy. ### Why does this format work right now? Because lifestyle TV is crowded, and celebrity-hosted nonfiction can feel overbuilt. This series goes the other direction — fewer stakes, less polish, more texture. Netflix’s own description leans on “funny” and “oddball,” and that’s the lane. Turns out gardening becomes easier to watch when nobody insists it must be profound every second. ### Is this part of a bigger gardening moment? Kind of, yes. Gardening and flower-show culture already had momentum, and this show slots into that broader appetite for plant, food, and outdoor programming. But it stands out because it isn’t really selling aspiration. It’s selling curiosity — with jokes, kids, and nice light on Vancouver Island. That’s a different proposition, and probably the smart one. ### Bottom line The creators’ explanation makes the show click. “This Is a Gardening Show” works because it stays modest — short episodes, real places, and a comedian willing to sound a little foolish. In streaming, where everything is tempted to become bigger and shinier, that restraint is the whole hook.