TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: Freevee, Amazon Prime Video
Premise: The series chronicles the inner workings of a jury trial in the US through the eyes of juror Ronald Gladden, a solar contractor from San Diego, who is unaware that his jury duty summons was not official, and that everyone in the courtroom aside from him is an actor. Everything that happens, inside and outside the courtroom, is planned.
Cast: James Marsden, Ronald Gladden, Alan Barinholtz, Kirk Fox, Susan Berg, David Brown, Ross Kimball, Pramode Kumar, Mekki Leeper, Edy Modica, Brandon Loeser, Ishmel Sahid, Ron Song, Maria Russell, Trisha LaFache, Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola.
What it reminds me of: Punk’d, Jackass, The Prank Panel, The Truman Show.
Why I like it: James Marsden. Kirk Fox. Ike Barinholtz’s dad. This show’s premise is so wild. There is no way it should have worked. I don’t know how they pulled it off, but they sure did. This show is so laugh-out-loud funny. The acting is crazy good, across the whole cast. I don’t know why it took so long to make a show like this. James Marsden plays a fictionalized version of himself. In each episode, he becomes more and more of a selfish, over-confident actor. Which seems to be the exact opposite of who he is in real life.
Since following this show, I have followed the cast on social media and read interviews with some of them, including Ronald Gladden. One thing that stuck out to me is that James Marsden kept in close contact with Ronald after the show ended and helped him readjust to real life.
I still don’t know how nobody recognized Kirk Fox. The San Diego native is known for shows such as Parks & Rec, Community, and FXX’s Reservation Dogs. Check these shows out along with his hilarious and deadpan stand-up comedy.
Trailer: