“Perfect Sundays” is a six-part entertainment series that deals with the serious subject of mental health and suicide in U.S. agriculture. The fictional series begins two years to the day that the Weeks family patriarch, Ed, died by suicide. Sam Goldberg, the founder, creator, and producer of the series, talked about why he put this together.
“Well, it’s a follow-up to a project called ‘Silo’ that Jim, who I’m standing next to, is the star of. Silo is a feature film about a grain entrapment, and while working on it, it became very clear that the stresses of identity and farm legacy can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back on a farm. In the case of Silo, that’s what leads to a grain entrapment accident, and that movie follows a rescue of a kid who gets trapped in a grain bin. And while working on it, many people requested we do something about farmer suicide. But we wanted to make sure it wasn’t relentlessly upsetting. We wanted to leave farmers with hope, but we did want to do something authentic.”
He said the series was a perfect way to bring what’s been a taboo subject in rural America out into the open for healthy discussion.
“So, Perfect Sundays felt like the natural extension of what Silo could be, which is to get farmers around the table talking about this subject, but in a way that doesn’t feel prescriptive, a way that doesn’t feel like you’re going to a mental health symposium, but through entertainment, because these are scripted fictional dramas with great actors like Jim. So, in Perfect Sundays, we follow a family that has recently lost their father to suicide, but they decide that they’re going to rescue the family dairy by turning it into a retail ice cream business. So, ice cream gives it hope and momentum, but there’s a real family drama underneath it, and our goal is to give farmers an escape that feels authentic to their lives.”
Actor Jim Parrack, one of the series producers, talked about what drew him to the script.
“When we worked on Silo, I think we found out we had a lot in common as men, and I grew up in Texas and like a military and ranching family, and so I’ve seen, my whole life, the toll of trying to feed the country from that angle and that side of things. I’m far too sensitive and creature comfort oriented to be a rancher myself, but I’ve always had a place in my heart for rural people and ag people. Yeah, without even knowing the details of the project, I just said, if I could help, let me know.”
Parrack also cameoed in the series as “Junior.” The series about “family, farming, faith, and community” is available at perfectsundaystv.com/.