There’s Plenty of Horsing Around on THE TOM GREEN FARM: ‘This Just Seemed Like a Fun Place to Do a Show’

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede   Canadian comedy legend Tom Green concocted a comprehensive way of describing his new series THE TOM GREEN FARM, which premieres Friday, May 29 with the first two episodes on Crave. “It’s a little bit of farm life, a little bit of mule riding, a little bit of fishing, and a little bit of getting to know my guests,” Green said. Specifically, in the first episode Green is visited by skateboard legends Tony Hawk and Kevin Staab, as well as music producer/DJ deadmau5, while Episode 2 tracks the arrival of drag superstar Priyanka and actor/director Michael Cera. In future episodes, the guest list includes Dan Aykroyd, Jay Baruchel, Jon Dore, Erica Ehm, Chantal Kreviazuk, Paul Langlois, Amber Marshall, Steven Page, George Stroumboulopoulos, Kurt Vile, and many more. This is definitely a unique series, which will come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Green’s cutting-edge comedy for the past 30 years. So here’s how THE TOM GREEN FARM came about: After living in Los Angeles for more than 20 years, Green moved back to his native Ontario about five years ago. He bought a beautiful farm, truly in the middle of nowhere, and has leaned into his new rural life. “I have this farm that I love, and I love filming and cinematography and photography,” Green said. “It’s a very photogenic, cinematic part of Ontario that I live in, and I wanted to show it off to the world, show off Canada. So this just seemed like a fun place to do a show. Rather than me going out to a studio or something, I would have people come to me.” The format is hard to describe, other than to say that THE TOM GREEN FARM has a little bit of everything. “It’s not exclusively like a sit-down show, but there are elements of podcasting (a new original podcast THE TOM GREEN FARMCAST launches on iHeartRadio Canada), elements of a talk show, and then elements of just sort of an out-in-the-field location variety show, where we do all sorts of activities, and things that you would do in the Canadian wilderness or in the countryside.” For example, the “activities” can include everything from designing and constructing a state-of-the-art, 12-foot skateboarding “vert ramp” in an open pasture to surprise Hawke, to teaching Priyanka the fine art of canoeing, with Priyanka returning the favour by introducing Green to tarot cards at dusk. Here’s an observation for consideration: whether they’re fully aware of it or not, there’s a genuine comedic spark between Green and Priyanka. Throughout his long and varied career, Green has often specialized in keeping others on their toes, because they’re never quite sure what he’s going to say or do. But in this case, Green also doesn’t quite know what Priyanka is going to say or do, and their honest reactions to each other are priceless. Just some food for thought for the future! For now, THE TOM GREEN FARM is ready to plow into a new form of entertainment. “I love being where I am, I love getting up in the morning and being with the animals, and so I think the idea of doing a talk show in the loft of a 100-year-old barn is actually the dream for me,” Green said. “But we’re also using new techniques, new technology, to be able to put cameras in different places, and film in ways that you wouldn’t normally be able to film out in the middle of the woods. There’s a lot of fun with the technology, and trying to make it look and feel different than what you’ve seen before. I find when we are able to do an interview in a strange place, like in a canoe or in the loft of a barn, it can really look spectacular. There’s a cinematic look to it, really high definition.” And the pastoral atmosphere has an interesting effect on the guests, too. “People are going to be acting differently, right?” Green said. “They’ll be responding differently, because they’re in this sort of non-traditional television setting. They’ll be more relaxed, because we’re enjoying a bit of nature, and showing off a bit of the Canadian lifestyle to people around the world. We’re really leaning into the Canadian part of it. We’re making a show about Canada, but it’s for everybody.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv