The internet has been raving over the new Amazon Prime Video Freevee series Jury Duty, a mockumentary from the makers of The Office with a surprising twist and a loveable hero. So what is the show all about, and why are people loving it online? Find out here…
What is Amazon Freevee's Jury Duty about?
Jury Duty is a mockumentary-style show which follows a group of jurors - including Westworld's very own James Marsden - as they take part in a trial in California. While one juror, Ronald, believes that the cameras are there for a documentary is being made about the judicial system, the truth is that everyone except him is actually an actor, and he is involved in an elaborate 'The Truman Show' style situation where all of the actors are improvising around his responses to the increasingly bizarre trial - and the results are priceless.
Does Ronald Gladden know he’s on a prank show?
Ronald, a contractor, responded to a CraigsList ad looking for participants for a paid documentary about the judicial process and got involved while between jobs, not realising that he had actually signed up for a TV show. Fans have been full of praise for how he carried himself during the bizarre show, with one tweeting: "On episode 2 of Jury Duty. This is now a Ronald stan account. I love him so much. He’s adorable."
Another person added: "Right I think it’s fairly safe to say that Ronald Gladden from #JuryDuty is one of life's truly nice, genuine people. The way that he treats all of the weird characters with so much respect and kindness is so heartwarming to watch."
Ronald has also confirmed that he had no idea that he was in TV show. Replying to a fan on Instagram who asked if he was in on it, he wrote: "I wish I could say I was but I'm not even an actor, let alone a talented one."
What is James Marsden doing in Jury Duty?
James Marsden is a famous face who has starred in Sonic the Hedgehog, Hairspray and Westworld - but how does that work when Ronald was bound to recognise him? The star actually plays himself in the series, an A-list star who has been called for jury duty and is not best pleased about it.
Chatting to Access Hollywood about it, James explained: "It’s the wildest experience I’ve ever done, I’ve been doing this for 30 years. It’s a Truman Show concept where you have myself playing myself, or a version of myself. A lot of actors and one person who doesn’t know that it’s all fake. It’s a fake jury duty and over the course of three to four weeks, we show up to do jury duty every day.
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"[Ronald] thinks it’s a documentary, and basically, the way it was proposed to me was, I didn't want to do a prank show, we're not pranking him. We created a hero's journey for this guy, we've surrounded him with a group of weirdos and hopefully by the end of the show, he becomes the leader and unites us all. And he did that because he's a great guy."
Where can you watch Jury Duty 2023?
Jury Duty is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video, even if you don’t have a subscription, on the platform’s 'Freevee' service - so tune in and enjoy! The first four episodes have already been released, with two more to land on the platform on 14 April - so stay tuned!
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