''How To with John Wilson'' is an American television comedy

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

created by filmmaker John Wilson. The series, executive produced by

Nathan Fielder Nathan Joseph Fielder (born May 12, 1983) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, producer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for co-creating, directing, and starring in the Comedy Central parody reality show '' Nathan for You'' (2013� ...

, Michael Koman and Clark Reinking, was ordered by

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. It premiered on October 23, 2020. On December 9, 2020, HBO renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on November 26, 2021. In February 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.

Premise

John Wilson attempts to give advice while dealing with his own personal issues. The 25-minute episodes, framed as

tutorial A tutorial, in education, is a method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of a learning process. More interactive and specific than a book or a lecture, a tutorial seeks to teach by example and supply the information to complete ...

s and filmed mainly on the streets of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, cover topics from

small talk Small talk is an informal type of discourse that does not cover any functional topics of conversation or any transactions that need to be addressed. In essence, it is polite and standard conversation about unimportant things. The phenomenon ...

scaffolding Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other man-made structures. Scaffolds are widely use ...

. While each episode initially focuses on its title topic, in the course of his investigation, Wilson meets people and strikes up conversations that lead in unpredictable and diverse directions. For example, the episode "How to Improve Your Memory" ends up featuring a conference on the

Mandela effect In psychology, a false memory is a phenomenon where someone recalls something that did not happen or recalls it differently from the way it actually happened. Suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation of misinformat ...

Ketchum, Idaho Ketchum is a city in Blaine County, Idaho, located in the central part of the state. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census, up from 2,689 in 2010. Located in the Wood River Valley, Ketchum is adjacent to Sun Valley and the communities sh ...

Production

John Wilson explained to ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' about his process of making the show:

Episodes

Season 1 (2020)

Season 2 (2021)

Reception

Critical response

''How To with John Wilson'' has received critical acclaim. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the first season has a score of 100% with an average rating of 7.8/10 based on 26 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Surprising, thoughtful, and superbly strange, ''How To with John Wilson''s blend of documentary styles comes together to create a singularly delightful experience." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the first season has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 7 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Daniel Fienberg of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote ''How To with John Wilson'' is "funny, sad, and, in the end, shockingly profound." Steve Greene of ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' gave the series a positive review of an A−, saying it has "a hint of darkness and a wealth of empathy." The second season received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a score of 100% with an average rating of 9/10 based on 6 reviews. On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 92 out of 100, based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{HBO documentaries English-language television shows 2020s American documentary television series 2020 American television series debuts HBO original programming Television shows filmed in New York City