Review | No deliberation necessary — new show ‘Jury Duty’ is a success

Creators of "The Office" strike gold once again with a new take on workplace comedies with the Amazon Freevee show, "Jury Duty." Photo collage by SIMRAH AHMAD, staff photographer

It might be hard to imagine the monstrosity of a mockumentary style series modeled like a hodgepodge between “The Office,” “American Vandal” and “The Truman Show.” And what if one of the cast members wasn't an actor and had no idea that everyone around them was acting? 

Well, that's precisely the premise of “Jury Duty,” the new show available to stream on Amazon FreeVee. 

The show centers around Ronald Gladden. He's just an ordinary guy who gets called for jury duty in Los Angeles, but little does he know, everyone else in the courthouse is an actor — from his peers to the judge and bailiff to the waitress at Margaritaville. The trial is fake, and Gladden is the only one who's kept in the dark about it. 

He thinks that he’s taking part in a documentary about jury duty with real stakes, hence his comfort around the cameras. The show is truly a combination of tropes that mesh together perfectly and the result is pure comedic gold.

James Marsden, known for his features in “Westworld," "The Notebook," "27 Dresses" and the Netflix show “Dead To Me,” plays an amplified version of himself in “Jury Duty.” He's hilarious, and his over-the-top performance of an arrogant movie star adds an extra meta layer of humor to the show. But, he's not the only standout cast member. 

There's a college-aged boy named Noah (played by Mekki Leeper), who's going through fake relationship problems with his girlfriend after missing a vacation in Cancún, an older woman named Barbara (played by Susan Berger) who repeatedly falls asleep during the trial and Todd (played by David Brown), an antisocial, awkward amateur inventor who keeps the jurors on their toes with what he may present to them next.

What sets "Jury Duty" apart from other mockumentary shows is the level of improvisation in the acting. While the main plot is scripted, the actors are encouraged to improvise their interactions with Gladden. This leads to some genuinely unpredictable moments that add to the humor of the show. You can tell that the actors are having a blast, and that energy is infectious to audience members.

The first few episodes show Gladden as he begins to form friendships with the others “jurors.” The audience gets an inside look on the side plots of individual characters and how they build rapport with each other before getting into the trial and deliberation. Even when the camera isn’t on Gladden, the actors remain in character. 

After the first episode, the jurors are sequestered, their phones are taken away and they are put into a hotel for the remainder of the trial — further integrating Gladden into the manufactured environment. Even at the hotel, secret cameras follow the group around as the shenanigans unfold.

In episode four, “Field Trip,” the jurors have the opportunity to go to Margaritaville for dinner. But the events that unfold are sidesplitting. Noah accidentally becomes “drunk” after his drinks get mixed up with Barbara’s (who is angrily sober), and he breaks up with his girlfriend over the phone. But before they even had the chance to sit down and drink, Todd is recognized by another table, also filled with actors, unbeknownst to Gladden, who compliment his “JORF” shirt, which turns out to be a made-up white supremacy reference.

“This feels like reality television,” Gladden exclaims at one point as the show progresses. And according to Marsden on KFC Radio podcast, everytime Gladden would come close to catching on that the show was all a ruse, the producers would hit them with hours of boring, courtroom procedures to throw him off their scent again.

Despite the efforts from the writers and actors to hit Gladden with curveball situations, he stands his ground. He helps Noah through a breakup, offers to practice lines with Mardsen and even proves himself worthy as foreperson of the jury, leading the group to a fair decision in the fake trial. 

At the end of the penultimate episode, the judge reveals to Gladden the whole thing is staged. But, that’s not all. Due to Gladden’s character and grace, the judge calls him a hero as the curtain is lifted.

The show currently has an 8.5/10 rating on IMDb and a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Viewers are raving about the show's original concept, hilarious writing and fantastic performances.

“I am not a reality show person but neither is Ronald,” one Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote. “His personality interacting with these Office-like characters is what made a very wholesome and comedic show.”

One of the creators of the show and former producer of "The Office," Lee Eisenberg, said in an interview with ABC News that "the show has a warmth and an optimism and feels winning, while still being hilarious and weird and surprising." He also stated in the interview that no matter how people come together, even through being jurors, "you discover that we have more in common than you realize."

But let's be real, it's not just the concept and performances that make “Jury Duty” such a hit. It's the little things too. The way Gladden's facial expressions change when he's confused or surprised. The way the other actors react to his cluelessness. The subtle jokes and puns that you might miss if you're not paying attention. It's these details that make the show so binge-worthy.

I’m not a fan of comedies. Whether it’s a television show or movie, the common equation for humor doesn’t make me laugh. It actually makes me cringe. But “Jury Duty” is the exception. This show had me audibly gasping to catch my breath after laughing so hard.

It wasn’t just the humor that made it so solid though, it was Gladden. They could not have picked a more perfect candidate for this role. He was extremely likable, which had me glued to the screen from the very beginning. Although there were definitely a couple scenes that dragged on for too long or didn’t quite hit the mark with a joke, overall, my viewing experience was positive.

"Jury Duty" is a refreshing twist on the genre of workplace comedies. The creators of "The Office" have once again delivered a hilarious concept that has captured the attention of viewers around the world that is sure to summon the verdict of a giggle.