The concept was imported by FremantleMedia North America after it was successfully deployed in Europe, from France to Finland, and in Australia.

The producers recruited 10 young women willing to tell the camera that they couldn't wait to give up the city life to be where lawns are shady and men aren't. By the end of the first hour, though, several who had professed a desire for country living seemed less than sincere.

No matter. All of them were willing, to one degree or another, to compete for the affection of Matt, the bare-chested farmer of Portage des Sioux, Mo., a small Mississippi River town just north of St. Louis.

In real life, Matt and his father, Melvin, grow corn, soybeans and wheat on about 200 acres. This being reality, though, a number of farm animals were imported for use in various challenges and to comport with viewers' images of what a farm should be.

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Farmer Wants a Wife