Fox's Farmer Wants A Wife Is Totally Not What I Was Expecting, And That's A Good Thing

Farmer Wants A Wife cast
(Image credit: Fox)

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the series premiere of Farmer Wants a Wife. Read at your own risk!

When I first saw the title of Farmer Wants a Wife, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. It's not often that television zeroes in on the farming profession, but my experience is that when it has, it's not always the most flattering portrayal. Just look at Cletus from The Simpsons and Netflix's The Ranch as two examples! I went into this new Fox series – which is the latest incarnation of a format that has become the most successful dating show in the world – with low expectations, only to be pleasantly surprised. 

I was expecting to be introduced to a bunch of farmers who were caricatures of what actual farmers are really like, along with "city slicker" women who seem to be straight out of a Hallmark movie as they fumble and falter their way through farm tasks to prove they're capable of farm life. I'm happy to report I was surprised in a good way to find that wasn't the case and that this may be one of the more wholesome dating shows out there. 

Farmers Ryan Black, Allen Foster, Hunter Grayson, and Landon Heaton are each looking for a wife to help them run their respective farms, and we learned in the premiere that they had a number of interested women as candidates. In the end though, each man could only invite five of the women to their farm. From there, the goal is that they'll make a connection with one, and move further in a relationship with them by the end of the series.

Farmer Wants a Wife had me thinking the farming element would be a gimmick to hook viewers, but it isn't presented in the way I expected. That is to say, the show leans more on the beauty of living in the countryside and off the land, and less on the downsides of farm living. 

For example, one segment featured a woman petting a pig, and I just kept waiting for the show to hit on some gag or low-hanging fruit joke about farm life, and it just didn't happen. Perhaps it's Yellowstone and its spinoffs that are making people rethink their preconceived notions of this way of life. 

I guess what I'm getting at is that Farmer Wants a Wife isn't a series for people seeking out a wacky off-the-wall series where they can poke fun at the participants similar to Paris Hilton's past reality series The Simple Life. This is a serious show, and it's backed up by the fact that the franchise (comprised of the original and spinoffs throughout 32 countries) has seen 180 marriages. The title may seem a bit goofy, but this show is very much trying to line up its farmers with women they'll ultimately walk down the aisle with. 

Dating show lovers might already get their fix with Bachelor Nation considering how the shows in that franchise cycle into each other, but I think Farmer Wants a Wife is worth checking out. This is especially true if you're someone looking for shows that depict rural living, though I'll concede these men live on some pretty large farms. Do most farmers' wives need to really know how to care for 80+ cattle? I legitimately don't know the answer to that question, but I guess I might find out in the coming weeks. 

Farmer Wants a Wife airs on Fox on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET, but those with a Hulu subscription can catch the premiere if they missed it. It'll be interesting to see how this show does in the coming weeks and if it can make a splash in the dating show genre. 

Mick Joest
Content Producer

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.