Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Under The Vines’ On Acorn TV, Where An Aussie And A Brit Inherit A New Zealand Vineyard And Try To Make A Go Of It

If we were to describe to you a show like this: “City dwellers get in over their heads in the country and meet quirky townspeople,” you could name probably about ten series like this over the years, from comedies like Green Acres to light dramas like Virgin River. Acorn TV is giving us another iteration of this story, with two very charming leads — and lots of great views of New Zealand’s hills and mountains. Read on for more.

UNDER THE VINES: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A woman is lying on a chair in a plastic surgery center in Sydney, her face marked up. When the doctor turns around, she’s gone.

The Gist: Daisy Munroe (Rebecca Gibney) wants to get her face refreshed, but has now bolted from the plastic surgery center three times. At a society fundraiser, she’s hit on by a younger man with a mommy fetish. She’s talking to her actor friend Griff (Dean O’Gorman) about that turn of events when she gets a call that her stepfather Stanley Oakley has died.

In London, Lewis Oakley (Charles Edwards) is in a holding cell, having drunkenly streaked across Piccadilly Circus the night before; his son embarrassingly tells him that he’s gone viral as “Piccadilly Willy”. He’s a lawyer who is under investigation for misdeeds by his business partner, and his wife has him at arm’s length after he admitted to an affair. He gets a call that his uncle, Stanley Oakley has died.

The two relatives of Stanley’s, thinking that they’re the “sole heir” to his fortune, run into each other at the airport in New Zealand, where the vineyard he owned is located. The lawyer, Vic (Cohen Holloway), tells them that Stanley actually meant “soul heir”, as he put his heart and soul into the vineyard. What the two of them find out is that he put most of his money there, too, as the vineyard is the only asset he had left.

Lewis finds out that most of his uncle’s money went to keep up Daisy’s lifestyle, even though Daisy only returned the favor with gift baskets every year. The two people who know the winery best, Gus (Simon Mead) and Tippy (Trae Te Wiki), basically think that they’re going to get fired if the new owners decide to sell.

Don (John Bach) and Marisa (Sarah Peirse), who own very successful neighboring vineyards, are eager to buy the new owners out, despite the fact that they say the vineyard has “bad soil” (and the fact that Stanley sold much of his harvest to them in recent years). Despite a number that will set them both up for a long time, Daisy thinks it’s a lowball offer. Her gut reaction is rewarded when a vintage that Tippy created (the “A.T.” vintage, rather than the awful “B.T.” swill Stanley made that Tippy gave to Lewis) wins a local wine contest. It also makes her wonder if she and Lewis can make a go of it there.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Under The Vines is about the age-old concept of city dwellers coming to the country and getting in over their heads owning a farm/vineyard/inn/etc. Along the way, the quirky townspeople they interact with become like a second family. In a lot of ways, this show harks back to older series such as Newhart and even Green Acres, to name just two.

Our Take: What the series’ creator and director, Erin White, has done with Under The Vines is create a gentle fish-out-of-water dramedy that’s not exactly a new concept, but is completely driven by the actors who have the main roles. There’s so much charm evident in the first episode that, despite the predictable nature of the debut, the story of Daisy and Lewis’ ownership of Oakley Vineyards will be fun to watch.

Gibney is especially charming as Daisy, who thinks age is just a number and is almost proud of whatever lines on her face she has already earned. She seems to be perfectly happy with her life in Sydney, but she finds something at the vineyard that even she was surprised she’d find: a dream. Gibney is especially adept at communicating Daisy’s vivacious and sexy vibe, all the while holding her own with both the grumpy Lewis and townspeople like Vic’s emotional potter wife Nik (Carrie Green).

Edwards’ role as Lewis is more predictable, as the grumpy, cynical guy who constantly needs to be convinced that this dream is possible. He’s also got a ton of problems going on back home in London, and those problems will play out as Lewis and Daisy try to turn the vineyard’s fortunes around. But predictable doesn’t mean that it’s not enjoyable, as he plays well off Gibney’s more devil-may-care personality.

We don’t think that White has set up Daisy and Charles as a romantic match, because he thinks she’s the same flibbertigibbet that sent him sprawling into a cake at a wedding when they were both teenagers 40-plus years ago. But their determination to stick with the vineyard will depend on how they bond with Gus and Tippy and how the town that they’re in receives these city dwellers from abroad.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: After Daisy rips up the sale contract after Charles negotiated a much higher price, the whole group gets in the vintage Citroën Stanley left them. When she asks for the key, the still grumpy Lewis tells her that it’s a corkscrew.

Sleeper Star: We liked Simon Mead as the simple but wise Gus and Trae Ti Wiki as Tippy, who has had winemaking in her blood since she was a kid, and is determined to make Oakley Vineyards a winner.

Most Pilot-y Line: The “non-binary fertility bovine” Daisy buys from Nik is beyond hideous, and it makes us wonder how Nik’s pottery business stays afloat.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Under The Vines isn’t going to blow you away with edgy comedy or a story you’ve never seen before. But the show’s leads, along with its supporting characters, have more than enough chemistry and charm to keep viewers engaged.

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, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream Under The Vines On Acorn TV