Rating: 3/5
“The Truman Show” is the fictional story of a man whose life is the world’s entertainment. Every second of his life is filmed unbeknownst to him. He believes everything around him is real and his actual life. “Jury Duty” is a reality show that takes this story and makes it real for three weeks.
In the show, one man, Ronald Gladden, believes he is part of a documentary filming a real-life court case. He is not. Everything around him is fabricated, and everyone is an actor. By framing the show as a documentary, the show could use cameras openly — though they did use a few secret cameras — and mic everyone up without Ronald asking any questions. It also allowed them to do confessionals to understand Ronald’s feelings.
Though this show has a horrifying premise, it’s actually quite funny. The show doesn’t make a point of mocking Ronald for not knowing everything is fake. In fact, it takes itself quite seriously, and everyone is very immersed in this false reality. The show focuses on the relationships Ronald forms with his other jurors and the bond they form. One of the highlights of the show is James Marsden playing an exaggerated version of himself, a vain actor relegated to being an alternate juror. Marsden has to balance acting like an obnoxious diva and not making Ronald resent him, which he excels at. In one of the first episodes, Marsden gets the entire panel of jurors sequestered, but that becomes the catalyst for everyone to bond.
Beyond the absurd premise, the majority of the comedy stems from Ronald’s relatable reactions. Ronald conveys much with small expressions, like utter confusion by simply shaking his head. The show was an incredible mix of improv and writing. While the scenarios are all scripted, actors speak off the cuff as they never know how Ronald will react and will have to treat the situation accordingly. The show serves as an in-depth character study of Ronald, testing his character and proving him to be a genuinely good person.
The best episode of the series was, hands down, the finale. In this episode, the cast reveals the truth to Ronald. Everything around him is fake. Part of the magic of this episode was seeing Ronald’s shock and awe at everything that was going on without his knowledge. He reacted surprisingly well to all the information; he seemed to be in shock and disbelief the entire episode.
However, Ronald talked about how he was paranoid for weeks after the show and constantly believed cameras were on him. And that information certainly sours the show for me. Entertainment shouldn’t be at the cost of someone’s mental state, and finding out how disturbed it left Ronald puts the show into an entirely new perspective.
However, some of this show’s greatest strengths are also its weaknesses. Because the show had such a unique premise, they should have leaned into it more. For the most part, the show allows the audience to forget that Ronald alone is unaware. I think it would have benefited the show to show the audience more of the behind-the-scenes or let the actors give confessionals out of character. It would have allowed the show to flex its impressive feat more. It sometimes feels like it’s just a normal reality TV show when it’s so much more.
Nonetheless, the show was a good time. It was easily digestible and with eight episodes, each with around a 25-minute run time, and didn’t take long to finish. At the very least, it’s good to know that everyone came out as friends at the end of “Jury Duty.”