Created by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, Jury Duty is a Freevee original series that premiered in April 2023. Praised for blurring the line between fiction and non-fiction with comedic effect, the quasi-reality-TV show chronicles the ins and outs of the American jury system. All eyes focus on Ronald Gladden, a devoted juror who is unaware that the legal case he’s been assigned to is 100% fake.
Of course, Jury Duty joins a specific subset of TV shows that blend reality with amusing fictional characters and dramatic reenactments that make viewers question the veracity of events. For those looking to fill the void until Jury Duty returns for Season 2, these comedic reality-TV show spoofs and semidocumentaries are sure to suffice.
10 The Joe Schmo Show
Created by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, The Joe Schmo Show is faux reality TV comedy series that functions similarly to Jury Duty. The show follows an unwitting contestant chosen to participate in a reality TV show that they have no clue is a hoax, with many professional actors posing as competitors. The first season spoofs The Real World, the second season lampoons The Bachelor, and the third and final season pokes fun at Dog the Bounty Hunter.
With an 8.2 IMDb rating, The Joe Schmo Show is arguably the best of its kind thanks to the hilarious premise, stellar writing by Zombieland scribes Reese and Wernick, and Ralph Garman’s role as “The Pompous Host.” While it may not be as straight-faced as Jury Duty, the way in which the show satirizes the cultural trends of reality TV never fails to entertain. As such, it’s the perfect show to watch alongside Jury Duty, which clearly took inspiration from the basic conceit.
9 Bedsitcom
Bedsitcom is an entertaining British reality TV show that blurs the line between the sitcom and documentary formats. The series takes cues from shows like The Real World that place several strangers under one roof in a new city. The catch? Three of the six participants are actually professional actors who, unbeknownst to the others, take orders from writers hiding out in the garage.
No matter how authentic reality TV programs claim to be, almost everyone knows that many of them are actually scripted dramas. Bedsitcom pulls the curtain back on this reality and has a lot of fun toying with viewers’ expectations by manufacturing contrived dramatic scenarios. Like Jury Duty, the appeal of the show comes from watching the unwitting participants in the show interact with those in on the gag.
8 My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss
A clearcut parody of The Apprentice, My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss is another reality TV hoax show that pairs perfectly with Jury Duty. The series involves 12 contestants who really believe they are competing to become a top executive at the venture capital firm, IOCOR. Only, no such company exists in reality, leaving viewers to witness the players scratch and claw for a fake $250,000 prize.
It’s worth noting that My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss aired nearly one year after the similar-themed My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, a show that lampooned reality TV dating shows. Yet, for Jury Duty fans, the former show presents a fascinating chronicle of how a major corporation is run by showcasing the inner workings of the day-to-day operations. Of course, both reality TV spoofs rely on the reaction of the participants learning that their work has been all for naught.
7 Invasion Iowa
Two years after creating The Joe Schmo Show, Reese and Wernick launched Invasion Iowa. The must-see reality-TV hoax show finds William Shatner traveling to Riverside, Iowa, where he tricks the entire town into believing his there to film his new big-budget action sci-fi film. Riverside is the birthplace of Shatner’s iconic Star Trek character, the eminently quotable Captain Kirk, making locals doubly invested in the fake movie production.
After establishing such an entertaining faux reality TV show premise two years earlier, Reese and Wernick pulled an even more ambitious charade that lives and dies with Shatner’s immense charm and believability. Invasion Iowa skewers egotistical Hollywood producers and celebrity culture very much like Jury Duty does the American legal system, doing so with a deft comedic touch.
6 Space Cadets
Space Cadets is a highly amusing British reality TV show parody hosted by Johnny Vaughan. The premise involves 12 contestants sent to Russia to train to become astronauts before being launched into outer space to demonstrate their knowledge. Alas, the participants had no clue that they neither went to Russia nor into outer space, as the whole endeavor was one elaborate ruse filmed in England.
Billed as the greatest TV hoax on record at the time, Space Cadets went to downright cruel lengths to trick its players. Those who took the challenge seriously underwent grueling physical demands and mental challenges that were meant to prepare them for travel among the cosmos. Three of the cadets were professional actors hired to help sell the hoax, but in the end, the outlandish directions become too silly to believe. Still, the schadenfreude Space Cadets offers is through the roof.
5 An Idiot Abroad
Co-created by British comedian Ricky Gervais, An Idiot Abroad is a comedic travel mockumentary series that also does a wonderful job of blurring fact and fiction. The premise involves Gervais’ bumbling friend Karl Pilkington, who is sent to various destinations around the world to experience new cultures.
However, the comic situations Karl encounters are designed and manipulated by Gervais and Stephan Merchant from behind the scenes back in England. Karl has no clue that he’s being set up and the juxtaposition of his bright-eyed innocence with Gervais and Merhcant’s tomfoolery back home provides viewers with immense good-natured humor. As such, it’s easy to see why the show boasts a stellar 8.3 IMDb rating and 77% Rotten Tomatoes score.
4 Nathan For You
Comedy Central’s Nathan For You is another faux reality TV show that blends fact and fiction with entertaining results. Nathan Fielder plays a quasi-fictional version of himself as a TV host who uses his business expertise to assist struggling businesses in Southern California.
The show scathingly satirizes the format of reality TV shows while keeping the real-life businesses in the dark regarding Nathan’s true motives. With an impressive 8.9 IMDb rating and 97% Rotten Tomato score, fans and critics alike have expressed admiration for Nathan’s ability to fabricate painfully awkward, cringe-worthy social situations by staying in character and keeping a straight face throughout the acclaimed Comedy Central original show.
3 Insiders
Insiders is a Spanish Netflix original reality TV series that relies on deception and duplicity. The premise follows 13 contestants who believe they are competing in the final round of a high-profile reality show. What the players don’t know is that they’re already part of a hidden camera show that has been secretly monitoring their activity behind the scenes.
The idea is to catch the players acting differently in private than they do in public, with the most honest and genuine contestant earning the cash prize at the end. While quite a bit different from Jury Duty, the way Insiders tricks its cast members into thinking they’re in one show, only to reveal they’re in an entirely different one, has the same comedic results.
2 The Rehearsal
Nearly a decade after creating Nathan For You, Nathan Fiedler got back to his old tricks in The Rehearsal. The brilliant blend of fact and fiction comes to life when Nathan invites various real-life people to work out the issues in their lives by creating dramatic reenactments of them with the use of fake sets and hired actors.
Essentially Nathan For You with a personal therapy touch rather than a business formula, The Rehearsal proves that Fielder has found a comedic niche and only improved on it over the past 10 years. One of the best-reviewed new shows of 2022, The Rehearsal has drawn comparisons to Charlie Kaufman’s acclaimed movie, Synecdoche, New York, for the way it recreates the real world and uses keen observational humor to make profound statements about humanity’s need for connection.
1 Paul T. Goldman
In Jury Duty, a phony workplace dispute launches the central crime. In the new Peacock comedic crime mockumentary Paul T. Goldman, a man named Paul Finkleman plays a heightened version of himself who investigates various crimes committed by his wife Audrey, played by Melinda McGraw. In fact, the real people in Paul’s life are portrayed by hired actors on the show, which has been hailed for blurring reality with scripted drama.
According to Vulture, Paul T. Goldman is “an inscrutable blend of true crime and true-crime satire, documentary storytelling, and dramatized reenactments” of Finkelman’s life.” The show may not be as tightly constructed or pre-planned as well as Jury Duty, but the way in which the viewers are left slapping their knees and scratching their heads at once makes the intriguing Paul T. Goldman appointment viewing.
