Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Alan Cumming’s Paradise Homes’ On BritBox, Where The Actor Tours Dream Homes In Dream Locations — And Plops Down On The Bed

In Alan Cumming’s Paradise Homes, nan character tours dream homes successful dream locations successful nan UK, Canada and elsewhere, doing his accustomed cheeky Alan Cumming point while he tours them. He makes obliquely risque jokes, plops down connected beds and couches, and engages successful an activity pinch nan homeowners that is expected to springiness an denotation of really idyllic life is astatine these well-appointed homes.

ALAN CUMMING’S PARADISE HOMES: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Alan Cumming is connected a mini vessel successful nan h2o successful nan Norfolk Broads nationalist park. He’s reference nan instructions connected operating nan boat.

The Gist: The first of nan 2 homes Cumming tours is successful nan aforementioned Norfolk Broads, astir 2-and-a-half hours northeast of London. The location is built connected a level sunk heavy into nan marshy crushed successful nan Broads, and a family of 4 (and soon to beryllium five) person called it location for nan past fewer years. Cumming wanders around, looks astatine nan views of nan lily-pad strewn waters, and marvels astatine nan ablution that has a model pinch nary blinds, which has a awesome position but is only for nan hardiest of exhibitionists. He past goes retired connected nan stream pinch nan family to prime blackberries; they make a pastry pinch it and Cumming devours a portion pinch his bare hands.

Then we spot Cumming successful nan Grey Highlands successful Ontario, 90 minutes northbound of Toronto. In nan mediate of nan woods is simply a 19th-century log compartment that has been updated pinch a caller tile and renovated connected nan inside; attached via an unfastened (but heated!) breezeway is simply a long, modern building that greatly expands nan capacity of nan location and besides contains homey touches for illustration an outdoor terrace pinch a suspended fireplace.

Cumming talks to nan mates who ain nan place, arsenic good arsenic nan architects who created nan caller abstraction that complements nan old. He holds immoderate of nan axes and different weapons/tools nan mates has successful their collection, recalling his days playing a young slayer successful 1 of his early TV roles. The mates return him heavy into nan woods to trim up immoderate fallen trees for firewood, moreover utilizing their concatenation saw to trim immoderate mini branches that deed Cumming successful nan caput arsenic they were driving successful their ATV.

Photo: BritBox

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? A operation of The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes and The Reluctant Traveler and Zillow Gone Wild.

Our Take: We cited The Reluctant Traveler supra because, while Cumming isn’t arsenic reluctant a travleler arsenic Eugene Levy is connected his recreation show, nan constituent of a funny personage beingness successful what’s a beautiful modular recreation aliases location show makes Alan Cumming’s Paradise Homes nosy to watch.

We each for illustration looking astatine beautiful homes successful unsocial locations, but nan shows that characteristic those homes tin beryllium unbearably dry, pinch a soft sound complete character providing beautiful boring discourse complete nan beautiful pictures. So erstwhile you adhd a personage pinch is aliases her position to nan proceedings, it’s each nan better. Jack McBrayer, for lawsuit made Zillow Gone Wild worthy watching, conscionable to spot him fresh successful his funny ad-libs successful betwixt moments of slack-jawed amazement.

What Cumming brings to his show is his accustomed cheekiness, some successful his sound complete and erstwhile he deals pinch nan camera crew, homeowners and producers. He and nan producers person nary problem showing nan crew, because moments for illustration a backwards-walking camera usability almost taking a header into nan swamp are funny. Cumming plopping connected beds and couches and sitting areas is funny. Having him beryllium a small frightened while looking astatine a doorbell that’s expected to scare bears distant is funny.

But because Cumming is besides an admitted instrumentality of location creation and uses these homes arsenic inspiration for his ain country-home space, it’s besides fascinating to watch him return successful each of nan ideas that he sees truthful good executed successful these homes.

The homes are “paradise homes” because they whitethorn not beryllium successful a tropical climate, but they person awesome views, thin to beryllium isolated, and conscionable foster a warmth and peacefulness that you can’t get successful a suburb aliases city. Does it return a adjacent magnitude of money to make these paradise homes possible? Sure. But aspirational shows for illustration this aren’t trying to show really overmuch thing costs; they’re location to springiness group thing relaxing to watch and possibly get immoderate ideas they tin use to their much humble spaces. The little you deliberation astir really overmuch money went into these structures, nan better.

Sex and Skin: Nothing different than real-estate porn, unless you count Cumming getting into a basking tub pinch nan Canadian couple.

Parting Shot: After he says nan Ontario spot “ticks each my boxes,” we spot Cumming usage a thermometer arsenic a microphone arsenic he sits pinch nan owners successful nan basking tub.

Sleeper Star: As accustomed successful shows for illustration this, nan cinematographer does a awesome occupation astatine showing conscionable really bucolic nan settings of these houses are.

Most Pilot-y Line: None that we could find.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Alan Cumming’s Paradise Homes benefits from nan cheeky beingness of nan Scottish actor, transforming a barren taxable into a show that’s lukewarm and funny.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes astir food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His penning has appeared successful nan New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.