Three years ago Jury Duty (2023) was a sitcom on Amazon's Freevee but now Prime Video. It was nominated for three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Supporting Actor and Outstanding Comedy Series. Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky were the creators. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky frequently work together. They got their big break 20 years ago when they joined the writing staff of The Office (2005), which is the now most iconic example of television mockumentary. A mockumentary is basically a fake documentary, done for comedic effect, or it's a comedy series in the style of a documentary where the characters are aware that cameras are filming them but they take it seriously. Jury Duty was not that much different from this mockumentary concept. Jury Duty is a mockumentary but it isn't technically a fake documentary. It's a real documentary but what's being documented is essentially fake. Some might think that it's semantics or a distinction without a difference. However, what separates this from The Office, Parks and Recreation (2009), or Abbott Elementary (2021) is that all of those shows consists of nothing but actors in every on-screen role. This show is different because not everyone is an actor. There is in fact one person who isn't a scripted performer but instead a real person who is basically being pranked or fooled because he's not told that everyone around him is actors. Some of compared this program to The Truman Show (1998) and saying this series is people trying to do The Truman Show for real, or a reverse of Impractical Jokers (2011).
Jury Duty was about a fake jury trial and the real person was a guy who thought he was picked to be an actual juror. Every one in the courtroom was an actor. Instead of repeating this scenario and doing another fake trial, the series decided to change the scenario completely. This season is about a fake, food business that's doing what the title suggests. That real person is Anthony Norman, a 25-year-old from Nashville, Tennessee. He now lives in California and he's hired as an assistant, a temporary one, at a hot sauce company called Rockin' Grandma's, which is fake. After he's hired, the principal staff of that business goes on a trip together in the mountains west of Los Angeles to a place called Oak Canyon Ranch, which is a real place that's being used for this fake retreat.
What's different about this series aside from the location and overall scenario is that this season doesn't have a celebrity in the cast. Last season featured James Marsden (Sonic the Hedgehog and X-Men) as one of the jurors in the fake trial who was part of the gag trying to fool the real person. This season, there isn't an actor who has that level of celebrity interacting with the real person consistently. There is a celebrity who pops up for one episode, pop star Sia, but no one on the level of Marsden. Marsden was absolutely great in the first season, but the cast here, which are all different actors, is great just as they were in the first season. Yet, this season has some real standout actors. One of whom is Alex Bonifer (Kevin Can F**K Himself and Superstore) who plays Doug Womack Jr or Dougie, the son of the CEO and founder of Rockin' Grandma's Hot Sauce. Dougie comes across as an overgrown frat boy, probably not as bright, but a good guy who's eager to takeover his father's business when he retires.
Because the scenario is different, it actually allows for more physical activities. The fake trial had everyone mainly sitting in a jury box and having to listen. This scenario allows them more moments to do activities and even more stunts that require a little bit more logistical ingenuity. Normally, in a typical, Hollywood production, the actors can stop and re-shoot scenes, as well as have multiple takes. They can take breaks from their characters. For this production, the actors can't stop or ever break character. Actors doing live television like Saturday Night Live have trouble not breaking character, but their skits usually only last a few minutes. Here, the actors have to keep up the charade for hours on end. Anthony is around them for hours during the day and sometimes night, which means these actors have to not break character for that whole time. It's impressive the dedication on all of the actors' parts, especially when they're doing silly stunts and maintain their characters through it all.
I also have to give credit to the writers and the production crew. The first season again took place mainly in a courtroom and the actors are mostly sitting in one place, so from a production standpoint, the camera shots are relatively easy. This season, the actors can walk and roam all around the Oak Canyon Ranch. The real person is told that cameras will be present for certain events, but having active camera crews follow him around would give a lot of the tricks away or make the overall prank more obvious. This makes capturing all the things that happen more difficult. It also keeps the actors on their toes because the real person could go anywhere and do or say anything. There's a script that the cast follows, but a good amount of improvisation is involved and again, they have to do that improv sometimes for hours.
Almost every episode has comedic setups that do involve the cast and the real person having to sit for an extended period of time and endure some awkward situation or bit in which they have to stew or bear whatever ridiculousness is thrown at them. They're called seminars and often it involves some person coming to talk to the employees of Rockin' Grandma's and that seminar speaker saying the most ridiculous things or some people in the cast reacting to a normal speaker with ridiculous responses. All of the responses were funny and often hilarious, but the cast-member who takes the cake in that regard is Jim Woods (Reno 911! and The Office) who plays Jim Weber, the warehouse manager at Rockin' Grandma's, a burly guy who is surprisingly the most sensitive and perhaps overly cautious when it comes to offending people.
As the episodes progress, some cast-members pop more than others. I was a fan of Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur (Home Economics and The Good Place) who plays PJ Green, the receptionist at Rockin' Grandma's and an aspiring snack influencer. He makes social media videos commenting on various snack foods, including the hot sauce being developed by Dougie. Rob Lathan (Inside Amy Schumer and UCB Comedy Originals) plays the other Anthony, another manager at Rockin' Grandma's. He's literally called the "other Anthony" as to distinguish him from the real person named Anthony. However, the true scene stealer this season is Rachel Kaly (Universal Basic Man and Digman!) who plays Claire Coleman, the IT person at Rockin' Grandma's. She has such amazing deadpan and almost every line she drops is gold.
Ultimately, the true standout is Anthony Norman, the real person in the center of it all. In the first season, Ronald Gladden was a really great guy and seeing his reactions in that crazy scenario was funny. His scenario was dictating that he be more serious though. Anthony's scenario dictates he be more more fun. In fact, one of his monikers was "Captain Fun." It was a title that Anthony certainly embraced and his almost unwavering positivity was the most powerful thing ever. Watching Ronald's reactions was great, just as watching Anthony's reactions was great, but Anthony felt more proactive and not just simply reactive to the scenario presented here, which is a lot by design this season.
Rated TV-14.
Running Time: 30 mins. / 8 eps.
Available on Prime Video.
