FOX’s latest trek into reality television may be its boldest one to date, as Farmer Wants a Wife has as outlandish of a premise as any dating show out there. If the name sounds familiar, the show first aired in 2008 on The CW but lasted just one season before being rebooted by FOX more than a decade later. As is usually the case, the show promises to find love for its four leads by bringing in a group of hand-selected women who meet their criteria. That’s about the only similarity this show has to its peers, as its unique concept strays away from that point.
There’s no doubt we are in the midst of a reality dating boom that was spearheaded by The Bachelor franchise in the early 2000s and has been reinvigorated with the addition of streaming platforms, namely Netflix, firing off news of shows like Love is Blind and Too Hot to Handle like clockwork. It’s no surprise FOX is looking to capitalize where it can in this sphere. With Farmer Wants a Wife, it’s an ambitious foray into the category, but it’s one that actually has the chance to follow through in its objective. As outlandish as the name may be, this new series, which is hosted by Jennifer Nettles, is grounded in its approach and because of it, is better positioned to give its leads a real chance at finding love.
There’s No False Reality With ‘Farmer Wants a Wife’
Where this show finds itself ahead of many of its peers is in its backdrop. The most common mistake reality dating shows fall into is in how they create a false sense of reality for their participants. Let’s face it, how many dates is the average person going to take on a tropical island, at the base of a waterfall, or on a helicopter ride overlooking the city? From an entertainment standpoint, there’s nothing wrong with doing this. As viewers, we enjoy seeing a show like The Bachelor that transports its contestants all across the world with new dates every episode in different cities from Paris to Rome and everywhere in between. Is that what is actually best for finding real love, though? The track record of these shows suggests these lavish settings may not ultimately be in the recipe for finding a successful marriage. The Bachelor isn’t the only show that falls victim to this, there are plenty of shows like Too Hot to Handle, Love Island and Are You The One? that use a tropical backdrop to create the perfect atmosphere for their contestants. Attempting to find love when everything is set up as ideally as possible makes it difficult for the leads to decipher what is real and what is an act.
With Farmer Wants a Wife, there are no signs of crystal clear waters, an endless supply of margaritas, or people frolicking in bikinis. This is as grounded of a dating show as you’ll find. As the first episode showed, once each of the four leads narrowed down their initial group to six women, the ensuing episodes see them all head off to their respective leads’ farm. That is where they will live with the other women and be thrust into the everyday life of their farmer. The four leads this show focuses on are Ryan Black, Allen Foster, Hunter Grayson, and Landon Heaton. There’s nothing romantic about it. It’s a full immersion into that person’s life and there’s no hiding. As these participants quickly see, if you’re not willing to help corral the horses and pigs, you probably aren’t meant to be a farmer’s wife. The interesting dynamic at play here is that most of these women come from big cities and aren’t accustomed to this lifestyle. It’s not too hard to spot the ones who are hesitant to get their hands dirty and the ones who may have been seeking this lifestyle for quite some time. What has transpired over the first few episodes that have aired are real conversations being had and an up close and personal look at what their lives would look like if they’re the one chosen at the end.
‘Farmer Wants a Wife’s Real Setting Makes it Easier For its Leads
Farmer Wants a Wife is on the path to finding success because it has cut all the nonsense that plays out in other reality dating shows. The drama among peers typically overshadows everything that’s going on in the 1-on-1 dates, but Farmer Wants a Wife avoids that, for the most part, as everyone is so focused on determining if this is a way of life they can thrive in. There’s also a sense that everyone here is for the right reasons. This is something that has come into question with shows like The Bachelor and some of the Netflix programs because it’s becoming so easy for these participants to capitalize on being an influencer or landing a modeling gig after the show airs. With Farmer Wants a Wife, it’s not as if being covered in mud or doing the dirty work on the ranch is going to provide resume boosters for modeling gigs. As a result, everyone seems way more real and authentic in their conversations.
Will this end up increasing the odds of finding the perfect match in the end? Only time will tell, but in its early going, Farmer Wants a Wife has everything it needs to be successful. What makes a show like Love is Blind and Married at First Sight set up for success is that once the initial honeymoon is over after a few days, the couples are thrown back into their real lives and are tasked with finding out on their own if they can work together after filming. How their lives can coexist when they’re both working, how their pets interact, and how their families view the other person are all questions that are answered quickly and aren’t left on the back burner as the other shows do.
Farmer Wants a Wife airs new episodes every Wednesday night on FOX and is available to stream on Hulu.
