If you are looking for a dumb and fun series to get into that doesn’t check out Jury Duty. This quirky and wholesome show is sure to put a smile on your face.
Ronald is summoned to jury duty where he will serve with a collection of quirky characters. What Ronald doesn’t know is that there is no trial, and everyone else there is an actor. Ronald will sit through one of the most ridiculous court experiences ever held, but he also makes some friends along the way.
Ronald thinks he is in a documentary, the series is cut like a very silly one. The actors all do a fantastic job of staying in character, although there are a few moments in the series that almost break them. The concept is interesting, and surprisingly, it works great. The characters are quirky and fun, the situations are awkward and hilarious, and Ronald is a wholesome guy that brings it all together. As good as the actors in this series are, this show wouldn’t have worked without Ronald. He is kind, easy going, and he rolled with whatever wacky scenario they threw at him. The show will throw some ridiculous curves at Ronald, but he rolls with them in the best possible way.
The unpredictability of Ronald gives this series its charm. In other shows, you can kind of guess the direction the jokes and plot will go. In Jury Duty, you never know what hook Ronald will take, how he is going to react to the situation, or if he will figure it out. I enjoyed this spontaneity because it created some hilariously dumb moments.
This series is dumb good fun in the best way. If you haven’t watched it yet, check it out on Prime Video if you have a membership.
Series Review: The Rehearsal (2022)
The Rehearsal is a hard show to sell because Nathan Fielder’s humor isn’t for everyone. He is very dry and awkward in his deliveries, but somehow he makes it work. I believe it has to do with how his personality is contrasted against very serious situations that make the shows he makes work. If you can get past his awkward and dry sense of humor, you get an interesting show that explores how we make decisions.
Nathan Fielder uses HBO’s money to help people overcome difficult tasks in their lives. In the first episode, Fielder helps a man who wants to come clean about a lie he told his friends long ago. The lie has been weighing heavily on his conscience. Fielder promises to help him overcome the fear of the situation by helping him prep for the confession. The Fielder makes a replica of the location, gets actors to interact with, and goes over every possible outcome. The idea is to prep the subject by making him encounter every possible outcome. By the end of the rehearsal, the subject should be ready to overcome the task at hand. The show gets stranger as he will often turn the camera on himself and evaluate the morality of what he is doing.
Fielder uses this show to explore the social and situational factors that influence how we make decisions. Fielder will take a simple task or scenario and examine it from every possible perspective. He will also consider every possible outcome of a situation. Fielder uses the data he collects to manipulate situations to result favorably for him. You will sit there as he reevaluates a single moment in the show, dissecting it in order to understand why it resulted as such. If you like studying human behaviors and social dynamics, this is a fantastic show for you.
I fear I might not be doing this show justice because it is a hard one to explain. It is a comedy that isn’t bound by its genre. Instead, it is an in-depth study of the psyche of decision making. If you can get past Fielder’s stale personality, you find yourself with an interesting show. You can stream it on HBO.
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