Jury Duty Show 2023 Hit the Jackpot with Ronald Gladden

The success of Jury Duty Show 2023 relied solely on Gladden’s reactions, his participation, and his cooperation. This easily could’ve been a trainwreck failure of an experiment but Gladden’s’ contributions to the show were so seamless that it often didn’t even feel like he was out of place. It felt like he was scripted to be the “straight man.” If you enjoy The Office and Superstore then Jury Duty is the series for you. 

Jury Duty Show 2023 Review

Jury Duty is a comedy, mockumentary series about a fake trial where all of the jurors and court employees are actors except for one person (Ronald Gladden) who believes that this is a real documentary about Jury Duty.

**Heads Up There WILL be spoilers in this review.

The Risk Worth Taking

Ronald Gladden has the kindest, most genuine puppy dog eyes and gave every person he encountered the benefit of the doubt. Unlike his straight-man equivalent, Jim from The Office, rather than resort to sarcasm and annoyed stares at the camera, Gladden had a lot of compassion for each and every odd personality and situation he was thrown into.

Yes, he acknowledged the strangeness of it all, but regardless, he was kind, open, and understanding of even the most unorthodox of characters.

In the final episode of the show, they reveal to Gladden that everything he was put through was fake and he’s the only person who didn’t know that.

They reward him with $100,000 and title him a hero. But the big question we’re left with here is, what if Gladden wasn’t kind?

What if he was rude, uncooperative, and catty? Would they still reward him for his participation and crown him with such noble titles?

The whole success of this show relied solely on Gladden’s response to these staged circumstances. It was a huge risk indeed but good on the casting directors for picking the perfect candidate to put this stellar show on the map.

How About Season 2?

The issue with shows like this one is that once season 1 goes so well and becomes popular, it’s much harder to do a second season without people becoming suspicious.

Take the reality show, Too Hot to Handle, for example. Contestants who are terrible at dating and commitment are brought onto a dating showing but unexpectedly forced to abstain from any sexual activity.

After the first season, contestants kept being brought under false pretenses (like partying or a survivor-like show) in order to hide the secret intention of the show. However, because contestants are already not there with the intention to date or build deeper connections, the following seasons become messier and less effective.

Now that people are aware of this formula of being the only “real” person in a room full of actors, how are producers going to pull off a believable season 2?

I’m personally really excited for more of this show because it is hilarious, refreshing, and new.

I hope a season 2 is coming soon and I hope it can match the energy of this first season as well.

I Just Have to Talk About This Golden Scene

There’s a moment in episode three that I’m pretty sure added 5 years to my life.

The defendant’s lawyer finally pulls up the animation to illustrate the incident that occurred and it is the most janky, ill-prepared, mess of a video that I’ve ever seen in my life.

I couldn’t breathe, it was so funny how incompetent the lawyer was and how terrible that animation held up to the professional-looking animation of the accuser.

Criticisms

Some bits dragged on for a bit too long. For example, when Gladden was helping James Marsden with his lines, the improv was a bit too drawn out.

The second half of the season was also not as funny and engaging as the first half.

In Conclusion…

Jury Duty Show 2023 is awesome but mostly because Ronald Gladden is awesome. Hopefully, in the future, the showrunners are able to further create more magically synergetic casts such as this one so we can get some more superb content like season 1 of Jury Duty.

Rating 8/10

What did you think of Jury Duty? Let me know in the comments below!

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Peace, love, and lots of popcorn,

IMO