Jury Duty (2023 TV series)

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.[1][2]

On September 15, 2022, it was reported that a semi-improvised docu-style comedy series starring James Marsden and a group of up-and-coming actors with improv backgrounds had secretly been filmed for Amazon Studios.[2][4] The 17-day shoot was filmed in a real courtroom south of Los Angeles.[4][5] According to executive producer Todd Schulman, Jury Duty began as an attempt to make a sitcom like The Office about a trial, with a real person at the center of the show who doesn't know that he’s surrounded by actors.[1] Creators Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky both previously worked as writer-producers on The Office.[6]

In order to find a non-actor for the show's lead, an ad was put up on Craigslist.[7] Marsden stars as an alternate version of himself, alongside other actors including Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, and Rashida Olayiwola.[1] Cody Heller serves as showrunner and executive producer, and Jake Szymanski as director.[8] The series is also executive produced by David Bernad, Lee Eisenberg, Ruben Fleischer, Nicholas Hatton, Stupnitsky, Szymanski, and Andrew Weinberg.[1]

The first four episodes of the series premiered on Amazon Freevee on April 7, 2023, with the season finale on April 21, 2023.[1]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 70% approval rating with an average rating of 6.5/10, based on 20 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "While this courtroom comedy isn't as tedious as actual jury duty -- largely thanks to a very game James Marsden -- the verdict is still out on whether its stylistic gambit pays off."[9] Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 51 out of 100 based on 7 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[10]

Rendy Jones of RogerEbert.com called the series "a solid workplace comedy that tells a resonant story of community, delightfully unpacking how it's not just about serving in this world but who you're serving with."[11] Charles Bramesco of The Guardian gave the series 2 out of 5 stars, writing, "With the head of a hidden-camera prank show, the heart of a workplace sitcom, and the body of a true crime documentary, the boundary-blurring new comedy Jury Duty makes for an odd chimera of genres."[12]

• The Joe Schmo Show – a reality television hoax show
• Invasion Iowa – a reality television hoax show
• Living the Dream (New Zealand TV series) – a reality television hoax show

• Jury Duty at IMDb