What do you get when you combine a former Martha Stewart Vice President, a drag queen turned ad exec and New York Times bestselling author, an estate and farm in upstate New York, a few quirky neighbors and goats, pigs and a llama to boot? In the case of Planet Green, it’s their next primetime docu-series The Fabulous Beekman Boys, scheduled to premiere Wednesday, June 16 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
The Fabulous Beekman Boys is a funny and irreverent peek into the world of Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge, a fish-out-of-water couple who are reviving a farm in upstate NY in order to create a new organic lifestyle brand, ‘Beekman 1802’. The series, produced by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato’s World of Wonder, uncovers how the couple’s city slicker skill-set doesn’t mean much when it comes to wrangling pigs and making goat’s milk cheese.
“We believe that a farm can be much larger than its fences. If someone told us that we’d trade in New York City for eighty goats, two pigs, a dozen chickens and a narcissistic llama, we would have told them that they were crazy,” said Kilmer-Purcell and Ridge. “It turns out that we are.”
“The Fabulous Beekman Boys is an amusing look into Josh and Brent’s very unique relationship, their desire to create a business and to transform their lives. Watching it unfold in real time is hilarious and entertaining” said Laura Michalchyshyn, Planet Green, Health, and Fit TV President and General Manager (who recently bought a farm of her own!). “Brent is a quintessential type A personality with a ‘my way or the highway’ attitude while Josh is a laid back, genteel kind of guy who spends weekends on the farm, but is still commuting to work in the city during the week. Their eccentric, extended friends and family dynamic reveals to viewers that trying to live the simple life isn’t so simple after all. We can’t wait to bring these charismatic new personalities to television.”
“They bought the farm…literally!” says co-executive producer Fenton Bailey. “From wrapping 14,000 bars organic goat milk soap to organizing a harvest festival to benefit the nearby town of Sharon Springs, Brent and Josh have their work cut out for them, 24/7.”
The Fabulous Beekman Boys documents the adventure of a lifetime, as Brent and Josh try to make their entrepreneurial venture a success without sacrificing their personal relationship. The farm is home to a menagerie that helps produce everything from goat milk soap to cheese, but with Josh still living in the city to earn a paycheck and Brent living full time at the farm dealing with the day to day tasks, the couple have created a recipe for conflict. They try to make the most of their weekends together on the farm now that their getaway has become their latest project, but there’s always more work: be it a harvest weekend, book signing or launching a new flavor of cheese. There’s a lot on the line but the “boys” are driven to fulfill their dreams.
Episode 101- In this episode, the Beekman boys welcome two new residents to their growing family as they bring home a pair of baby pigs who seem more than a bit reluctant to join the Beekman menagerie. Josh asks Brent to come into the city for the first reading of his new book, but Brent is busy with the business and Josh is left disappointed. Personal feelings are put aside after Polka Spot, the llama, appears to have become ill after her feeding. Things come to a head after Josh returns to the farm looking forward to a relaxing weekend, and discovers that Brent has other plans.
Episode 102-In order to bring attention and business to Sharon Springs, as well as the burgeoning Beekman brand, Brent plans a Harvest Weekend at the Beekman property. Brent is getting stressed out about the event and the poor attendance so far and wants to make sure that everything goes off as planned. At the feast, Josh is dismayed to discover that Brent didn’t get them reservations to their gourmet dinner and the couple has to resort to eating a less-than farm fresh meal.
Episode 103-Josh heads home to the Beekman from NYC and is looking forward to his 40th birthday weekend on the farm, however Brent has agreed to host the first-ever wedding at the Beekman so Josh’s birthday is put on the back burner. Josh’s anger is overshadowed by sympathy when the ominous weather threatens to ruin the bride’s special day. Brent and Josh pitch in to help with the ceremony, and Josh confesses that his disappointment lies less in the fact that he didn’t get a birthday party, and more in that another couple is getting married at the Beekman before themselves. In the end, Brent gets back into Josh’s good graces with a truly surprising birthday present.
Dr. Brent Ridge was the Vice President of Healthy Living for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and developed Stewart’s Healthy Center for Living at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. Brent’s doctor skills come in handy when the animals on the farm fall ill.
Josh Kilmer-Purcell is the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Myself These Days and Candy Everybody Wants. His newest book The Bucolic Plague: From Drag Queen to Goat Farmer An Unconventional Memoir (Harper Collins, June 2010, $29.95), is a look back at his experiences at Beekman Farm over the past year.
The Fabulous Beekman Boys is executive produced by Planet Green’s SVP of Production & Development, Jeff Hasler and Executive Producer Lynn Sadofsky. Executive Producers from World of Wonder are Randy Barbato, Fenton Bailey and Tom Campbell. Angela Berg is the supervising producer. Innovative production company World of Wonder is behind such entertaining hit series as Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Million Dollar Listing and Man Shops Globe. In addition, World of Wonder has created award winning films and documentaries such as The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Party Monster and Monica in Black and White. With offices in Hollywood and London, the company has produced cutting-edge fiction and non-fiction programming for HBO, Showtime, VH1, Sundance Channel, Discovery, MTV, BBC, PBS and Channel 4 UK, and can be found online at its entertainment blog The WOW Report, which boasts 500,000 unique visits per month at www.worldofwonder.net.
Planet Green is the multi-platform media destination that launched on June 4, 2008. Planet Green is the center for a new conversation, speaking to people who want to understand how humans impact the planet, and showcase passionate people doing forward thinking things.
Planet Green and its two robust websites planetgreen.com and TreeHugger.com, offer unique, original, insightful, inspiring, and entertaining content related to how we can evolve to live a better, brighter future. Planet Green’s unique programming, digital tools, and content will enlighten, empower and most certainly, entertain.
Planet Green is a division of Discovery Communications.