If you’ve been wishing for a show to binge-watch while procrastinating your finals, look no further: the new mockumentary-style comedy “Jury Duty” is sure to leave you laughing harder than you ever thought you could watching a court case.
The punchline, however, is that this is no ordinary civic trial: everything is fake except for one juror.
The show is the perfect combination of “The Office” and “The Truman Show,” as it follows a jury trial through the eyes of Ronald Gladden, the only person there who is not an actor. Gladden, a 30-year-old solar contractor from San Diego, is unaware that the jurors, judge and entire case are fake and that everyone participating is either an actor or comedian. He was recruited for the show through a Craigslist ad and believed he was part of a documentary about the jury deliberation process, according to the show’s executive producer Nicholas Hatton.
The 17-day trial was filmed in an actual Los Angeles courtroom, and each part of the plot is planned and semi-scripted. Still, actors and producers had to think on their feet depending on Gladden’s real-life reactions to the insane plot.
A goody-goody boyfriend, a woman who is trying to corrupt him, a guy who invents cybernetic body enhancements and James Marsden playing an entitled primadonna version of himself are just a few of the characters Gladden comes across throughout the show. Gladden emerges as the star and the unsuspecting hero of the show, and audiences have noticed his kind-heartedness as he interacts with these “weirdo” characters.
“Jury Duty” was created by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, both of whom previously worked as writer-productors of “The Office.” The show is also reminiscent of the “Joe Schmo Show” of the early 2000s, a hoax reality television series that follows a lone person as they participate as a contestant. Gladden is essentially the “Joe Schmo” of “Jury Duty,” except the show does not exactly intend to prank him. Instead, it is set to surround Gladden with a ragtag group of weirdos, create a hero’s path for him to unite and inspire and hopefully provide a few laughs along the way, James Marsden explained to TV Guide.
The first four episodes premiered April 7 on Amazon Freevee, where you can watch the show for free with a few commercial breaks. Two episodes will be released every Friday, and the season finale will stream on April 21.