REVIEW: Jury Duty – Season One [2023]

Rating: TV-14 | Episodes: 8 | Runtime: 30 minutes
Release Date: April 7th, 2023 (USA)
Studio: Amazon Freevee
Creator(s): Lee Eisenberg & Gene Stupnitsky

This literally feels like reality TV.

I’d love to see a behind the scenes documentary about Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky’s “Jury Duty” for one simple reason: the vetting process that went into choosing Ronald Gladden out of over 2,500 applicants to the project. Because it’s not just about finding someone who seems genuine and likely to go along with the escalating gags. You must also anticipate the person’s morality to know how far you can push the envelope both in terms of the court case’s verisimilitude (it needs to feel as believable, interesting, and tedious as possible) and the hijinks of numerous weirdos doing all they can to improvise good, quality television under the constraints of an admittedly difficult assignment.

Will Ronald have a hidden mean streak? Will he get frustrated and question the authenticity of what’s happening? Will he offer himself up to help Noah (Mekki Leeper) and Jeannie (Edy Modica) in their pursuit of a “soak”?

It’s a fascinating study because the real trial on-screen is one where Ronald becomes the unsuspecting defendant thrust into chaos without a safety net insofar as defaming his own character. Yes, he’s under the impression that he’s partaking in a “documentary” about the jury duty process and therefore acknowledges the existence of cameras. He can therefore intellectualize the need for being on his best behavior when he sees them, but what about the hidden cameras of which he’s unaware?

He doesn’t know private scenes in his hotel are being filmed. He doesn’t know that an audience will be able to pick apart his lies with full awareness of the truth. So, the fact that Ronald proves a stand-up guy who tries his hardest not to rock the boat in a compassionate way is a testament to who he is as a person since the show gives him ample opportunity to prove the opposite. He could have mocked Todd (David Brown) or embraced Marsden’s ego as permission to be an ass himself. This exercise could have destroyed him.

You do then wonder if “Jury Duty” would have been released had things gone that direction. Would the creators have risked crossing this ethical line of exposing someone who didn’t consent to the breadth of access (at least not in good faith) received if he hung himself rather than lifted himself up? I would have loved an extra episode dealing with these more philosophical issues as a counterpoint to the finale’s otherwise joyous revelation and clip show. Push the envelope a little further by explaining the thought process too.

Because it’s one thing to pull the curtain and point out the crazy happy accidents and almost slip-ups. It’s another to expound on the logistics of maintaining a safe environment for all involved since we’re talking three straight weeks of artificial sequestering sans cellphones and internet access. The chance of something bad happening had to have been exponentially higher than that of something good.

I don’t want to discount Ronald’s altruism, though. Nor do I want to diminish the skill of the actors and writers surrounding him to steer his actions and make him feel welcome despite the fabrication. Because they all have to be “on” every second they’re in the same room as Ronald. They must be in character, trying not to break, while doing things that are objectively insane from an outsider’s perspective.

That they were able to achieve that goal and submerse their mark in this world so deeply that his mind went to “it too crazy to not be true” instead of the opposite was ultimately the real draw for me since an appreciation of the game was much easier to maintain than an enjoyment of it over seven episodes. What’s superficially a repetitive game of chicken set within a series of skits that alternate between funny and stupid is actually a tense affair orchestrated by actors constantly wondering when/if they’ll be exposed. And they somehow pulled it off.