By Scott Campbell
“I was on a farm,” Tom Green says during a phone interview. “I thought, ‘We should do a show here.’ And then it just unravelled from there.”
The one thought led to the newest Crave original series, The Tom Green Farm, produced by Tom Green Productions Canada Inc. in association with Crave, premiering on Friday.
The 10-episode first season is set in rural Ontario, on a 150-acre lot that features Green’s farmhouse, built in 1857.
“I think the biggest surprise is the fact that I have these amazing big animals now that are part of our family,” he says.
“My wife and I look after this giant 1,500-pound mule and horses. It’s a whole new experience I never really, frankly, imagined growing up. I would have these big donkeys and horses living with us,” he continues. “They’re so friendly, and they sort of become kind of connected with you, it’s not an inanimate object that’s there. They actually know you, and I know them, and we trust each other, and we spend time with each other.”
“It’s really a kind of moving experience every day when you realize these animals are our friends, and we all love each other.”
Green was born in Pembroke, Ontario, but remembers living in Petawawa—calling himself a “military brat”—and going to school there. He noted his father was a captain in the Canadian Armed Forces, so the family moved around a lot.
The time in Petawawa has led to Green’s induction into the Petawawa Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame, scheduled for June. This is thanks to a suggestion by singer Jason Blaine made to Mayor Gary Serviss.
“We’ll be going up there and having a fun time in our old stomping grounds for sure,” he says.
The mention of Jason Blaine is because he is also one of the guests who visits The Tom Green Farm in Season 1. The media release mentions guest names such as Amber Marshall, Jay Baruchel, Michael Cera (pictured above), Chantal Kreviazuk, The Tragically Hip’s Paul Langlois, Steven Page, Priyanka, Jessie Reyez and George Stroumboulopoulos.
“We had Tony Hawk [and Kevin Stabb] on the show,” said Green. “We built a skateboard ramp that was sort of an incredible experience for me, being a skateboarder growing up. We had Dan Aykroyd on the show, a legendary entertainer, and it was just sort of an honour to have him come out to the farm.”
Really, all the guests surprised Green because they made the effort to show up in the middle of the wilderness.
“I think it really bleeds into the interviews and the show because people are having fun and excited to be out in nature and exploring the rural countryside,” he says.
Green has gained a few interview experiences through the years. He mentioned being a guest host for David Letterman on The Late Show, a guest host for Larry King and, of course, hosting The Tom Green Show, and he built a studio in his living room for a show called Webovision.
Green is happy with the completion of this current project, now that it’s all put together and ready to be unleashed into the world. A lot of work was put into it, as it’s been a labour of love.
“It’s almost like a cinematic film shoot type thing,” he says. “There are really a lot of technical aspects of it, and now that we have everybody to see life on the farm and all of our amazing guests that came out.”
The Tom Green Farmcast is also launching on iHeartRadio Canada the same day the series premieres, serving as a companion piece.
“If you want to watch the show in its entirety, you should watch it on Crave,” Green says. “But if you’re driving in your car and it comes on iHeartRadio, you can hear a great interview with Dan Aykroyd or one of our guests, and hopefully that’ll make you go get Crave. If you don’t have Crave already, watch the show because it’s a lot of fun.”
The Tom Green Farm debuts Friday on Crave. Following the debut, two episodes will be released every Friday.
Images courtesy of Bell Media.
