''Jury Duty'' is an American reality show hoax sitcom television series created by

Lee Eisenberg Lee Eisenberg (born April 5, 1977) is an American film and television writer and producer. He usually works with Gene Stupnitsky, with whom he founded Quantity Entertainment. Life and career Eisenberg was born in Needham, Massachusetts. His fath ...

and Gene Stupnitsky, and starring James Marsden and Ronald Gladden. It premiered on Amazon Freevee on April 7, 2023.

Synopsis

The series chronicles the inner workings of a jury trial in the US through the eyes of juror Ronald Gladden, a solar contractor from San Diego, who is unaware that his jury duty summons was not official, and that everyone in the courtroom aside from him is an actor. Everything that happens, inside and outside the courtroom, is planned.

Cast

Jurors

* Ronald Gladden as himself (Juror #6). Ronald is the only juror who is unaware the entire case is fake * James Marsden as himself (Juror #14), portraying a parody of himself as an alternate juror * Mekki Leeper as Noah Price (Juror #11), a rideshare driver who misses his vacation with his girlfriend due to jury duty * Edy Modica as Jeannie Abruzzo (Juror #4), a promiscuous juror with an attraction to Noah * Ishmel Sahid as Lonnie Coleman (Juror #13), an alternate that takes over Tim's spot when he gets injured * David Brown as Todd Gregory (Juror #2), a socially awkward inventor * Cassandra Blair as Vanessa Jenkins (Juror #8) * Maria Russell as Inez De Leon (Juror #10), a juror who has ambitions to be the foreperson * Kirk Fox as Pat McCurdy (Juror #1) * Susan Berger as Barbara Goldstein (Juror #5), a juror that keeps sleeping during the trial * Ross Kimball as Ross Kubiak (Juror #12), a teacher who is having marital troubles * Pramode Kumar as Ravi Chattapodhyay (Juror #3) * Ron Song as Ken Hyun (Juror #9), a candy machine business owner * Brandon Loeser as Tim Smith (Juror #7), a juror who gets injured and released from the trial

Other

* Alan Barinholtz as Judge Alan Rosen * Rashida Olayiwola as Officer Nikki Wilder, the bailiff * Whitney Rice as Jacquiline Hilgrove, the wealthy plaintiff who owns the business Cinnamon and Sparrow * Ben Seaward as Trevor Morris, the defendant, an employee of Cinnamon and Sparrow, who is accused of harming the business * Trisha LaFache as Debra LaSeur, the plaintiff's attorney * Evan Williams as Shaun Sanders, Trevor's defense attorney * Kerry O'Neill as Officer Christine Sugalski, who becomes friends with the jurors and helps Noah check on his girlfriend's Instagram

Episodes

Production

On September 15, 2022, it was reported that a semi-improvised docu-style comedy series starring James Marsden and a group of up-and-coming actors with improv backgrounds had secretly been filmed for Amazon Studios. The 17-day shoot was filmed in a real courtroom south of Los Angeles. According to executive producer Todd Schulman, ''Jury Duty'' began as an attempt to make a sitcom like '' The Office'' about a trial, with a real person at the center of the show who doesn't know that he’s surrounded by actors. Creators

and Gene Stupnitsky both previously worked as writer-producers on ''The Office''. In order to find a non-actor for the show's lead, an ad was put up on Craigslist. Marsden stars as an alternate version of himself, alongside other actors including Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, and Rashida Olayiwola. Cody Heller serves as showrunner and executive producer, and Jake Szymanski as director. The series is also executive produced by David Bernad, Lee Eisenberg, Ruben Fleischer, Nicholas Hatton, Stupnitsky, Szymanski, and

Andrew Weinberg Andrew Weinberg (born 1976) is an American television writer, known for his work on '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien''. He is also a co-creator and co-writer of the television series ''Eagleheart (TV s ...

Release

The first four episodes of the series premiered on Amazon Freevee on April 7, 2023, with the season finale on April 21, 2023.

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 75% approval rating with an average rating of 6.5/10, based on 24 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "While this courtroom comedy isn't as tedious as actual jury duty -- largely thanks to a very game James Marsden -- the verdict is still out on whether its stylistic gambit pays off." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 51 out of 100 based on 7 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Rendy Jones of

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...

called the series "a solid workplace comedy that tells a resonant story of community, delightfully unpacking how it's not just about serving in this world but who you're serving with." Charles Bramesco of '' The Guardian'' gave the series 2 out of 5 stars, writing, "With the head of a hidden-camera prank show, the heart of a workplace sitcom, and the body of a true crime documentary, the boundary-blurring new comedy ''Jury Duty'' makes for an odd chimera of genres."

References

External links

* {{Amazon Freevee original programming English-language television shows 2020s American sitcoms 2020s American mockumentary television series 2023 American television series debuts Television series by Amazon Studios Amazon Freevee original programming