Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Living The Dream’ On BritBox, Where A Brit Buys A Florida RV Park

You all know the phrase “Living the dream!” It’s often said sarcastically as you’re doing something like picking up dog poop or something equally gross or boring. But what if you really are living the dream, even if it’s fighting off angry residents of a Florida RV park? That’s the premise of the BritBox series Living The Dream. Read on for more…

LIVING THE DREAM: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: To a guitar-driven rock soundtrack, we see a pasty guy in a floppy hat trying to clear some tall grass with a weed whacker. He finds what he thinks is a snake in the grass, then realizes it’s a huge alligator.

The Gist: Mal Pemberton (Philip Glenister) has decided to sell his internet company in the UK, and move his entire family to Florida. He’s always loved the idea of being in the warm sun of Florida instead of the grey drabness of Yorkshire, and his family is excited too; he explains this all as he’s being interviewed by the U.S. Embassy for the visa for him and his family. He’s bought an RV park and he knows he’s going to be successful.

Like we said, his whole family — wife Jen (Lesley Sharp), daughter Tina (Rosie Day) and son Freddie (Brenock O’Connor) — are eager to go, but Jen’s mother Maureen (Paula Wilcox) thinks they’re going to get malaria or eaten by an alligator. But all of those warnings go away when they land near Kissimmee and see the awesome cars and massive house that they’ve rented until they decide whether they’re going to stay. Mal goes skinny-dipping in the pool; he’s embarrassed when his pink-haired, free-spirited neighbor Rhoda (Kim Fields) spots him, and assures him that it’s a thing in this neighborhood.

On the night before he takes the keys from the old owner, Mal takes Freddie to the RV park, and is accosted by the drunk residents, including the site manager, who has no idea that the park was sold, and a large mustachioed man who screams that the place is “Adults Only.” Mal and his son are bum-rushed off the property.

The next day, the lawyer hands over the keys, and tells the Pembertons everything’s fine. A wary Jen goes with Mal, and finds out that the beautiful park in the brochure is a fantasy, and the residents are mostly drunk louts. One helpful resident, Alden (Leslie Jordan), tells Mal about the park’s most intimidating resident, Troy Marshall (Kevin Nash), who lives behind an illegal fence, sleeps with residents’ wives, and basically wants to be left alone. The manager is let go, but demands Mal pay the $2,000 the old owner owes him.

During a meeting with the residents, Mal and Jen announce that the park will be a family park; everyone is upset, but Troy takes matters into his own hands, cutting the fence to the pond and baiting it with raw meat, which leads us back to the opening scene. Working on a tip one of Rhoda’s RV-park-owning friends gave him, he confronts Troy, ordering him to shut his grill off and take down his fence.

Our Take: Living The Dream takes the “fish out of the water” formula and gives it a twist. Here, the Pembertons actually want to be in this strange and new environment in Florida, in the sun and water, driving their luxury SUV through suburban mini-mall and fast-food-lined streets. It feels like it’s the people around them who are going to have to adjust, and that’s the best reason to watch this show.

Don’t get us wrong, Mal is in over his head, having bought the RV park sight unseen, with the lawyer brokering the deal buggering off to Cuba with his likely massive fee. But he’s not completely hapless, as we see when he confronts Troy, despite being about two feet shorter and, well, British. The rivalry between the two is going to drive a lot of the first season (the second is already running on Sky One… the first season aired in the UK in 2017), as is the story of the Pembertons getting used to the fact that Florida is, well… Florida. The “Florida man” meme isn’t a meme for no reason.

American sitcom legends Fields and Jordan fit well in this ensemble; Jordan’s Alden is a kiss-up who is obsessed with the picture from the park’s satellite dish, leading to a chaotic scene when he finds out how clear a direct hookup is and the rest of the residents get wind of it. And Fields plays a very Kim Fields-like role; Rhoda may be kooky and more sexually open than some of the roles she’s played, but the regal manner in her character is all Kim.

The show tries to shy away from showing every person in that park as a hick, which is refreshing, but the cultural clash between the Pembertons and the residents will be present during the first season, as will likely be the increasing doubts by Jen that they could pull this off. It’ll be interesting to watch.

Sex and Skin: Rhoda invites Mal and Jen to a welcome party, where we find out that her relationship with her husband is, um, interesting to say the least.

Parting Shot: The park is on fire, there’s an alligator loose, the inspector is there, which is when Jen and the kids pull up, jaws agape. It’s then that Jen’s worrywart calls on FaceTime and sees what’s going on.

Sleeper Star: We’re curious to find out what other layers there are to Kevin Nash’s Troy other than redneck instigator.

Most Pilot-y Line: The old manager’s name is Tom Jerry, and he tells Mal, “I ain’t workin’ for no Australians!”

Our Call: STREAM IT. Living The Dream isn’t hilarious, but the cast and the twist of a tried-and-true formula is enough to keep watching.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Stream Living The Dream on BritBox