Jim Belushi can’t wait for the Apr. 5 Season 3 premiere of Growing Belushi on Discovery+. The network planned for an earlier rollout in February, but then decided to wait until April – the month of the 4/20 stoner holiday. Season 2 ended with a fire on the Belushi’s Farm property in Medford, OR.
Belushi tells CelebStoner:
“This time we did six episodes [instead of four]. It was a 30% jump from Season 2. Discovery has only had four shows in their history that have done that. First episode we find out what happened with the fire. Then we go on a journey of expansion. We’re looking for a home. It’s kind of an empty nest thing. I just got divorced and I feel homeless. The underlying theme is ‘What is home? What is family?’ My cousin Chris [Karacosta] is in it. The journey take us from Oregon to Chicago to Michigan to New York to Albania. We take over a grow in Illinois, play the Infused & Blues concert at Joliet prison with the Blues Brothers, open a dispensary in Mohawk Nation and go to Albania for nine days.”
Belushi’s family history is Albanian:
“I went to Lazarat – it has perfect growing conditions. There are 700 people in that village that were growing and curing. It was their livelihood. And they got shut down. The government wants to create a legal business in order to participate in the taxation and the funds. They want me to kind of spearhead it in Albania. I think we can really help Albania deliver quality cannabis and oil. It’s great TV. We shot the hell out of it.”
Back to Growing Belushi:
“I’m getting recognized for this show all over the place. It’s used to be According to Jim or K-9, but now it’s like, Wow, people are really [into it]. It is writing and producing and directing and editing and acting, it’s just not a script which is super cool and creative and collaborative. It’s so much fun.”
However, things are not going so well in Oregon. Belushi’s business there has suffered due to a variety of issues: climate, decline in tourism, high taxes and an an overabundance of cannabis products.
In an interview Oregon Live, Belushi comments:
“There are so many grow licenses, they’re producing more than you can sell. It hurts everybody,” adding:
“This is not a gold rush anymore. It’s not like people are making lots of money. The margins are thin, especially with the compressing of the price.”
Oregon Live also reports Bill Maher and Arnold Schwarzenegger make appearances in Season 3. Maher previously compared the show to Green Acres.
Watch Growing Belushi on Discovery+ at 9 pm ET on Wednesdays, starting Apr. 5. (Full Story)