One of the biggest and most surprising stories in television this year continues to be part of the conversation, even months after it premiered on Amazon’s Freevee streaming service. Jury Duty is a very unique kind of show, a scripted “reality” premise in which everyone involved was an actor with a part to play, save for one unsuspecting man named Ronald Gladden. The cameras stayed on Gladden through a fake, and very insane, sequestered jury experience, with each writing decision made to see how Gladden might react. What would’ve happened if Ronald Gladden found out about the big twist?
Videos by ComicBook.com
As things got more ridiculous, the producers had to consider what they could do if Gladden were discover that he was actually in the middle of a scripted TV show. While speaking to Collider, showrunner Cody Heller revealed that there was an idea being floated to use Gladden to turn the tables on the actors.
“There were several things that we floated around,” Heller said. “There was one version that Nick Hatton, one of the amazing executive producers came up with, which was, if Ronald [Gladden] found out, we would pull him aside and turn the tables and be like, ‘Look, okay, you’re right. This is what it is. Can you play along, and now we’re gonna turn it onto the actors?’ It was just constantly evolving and fluid and we had to be open to making changes constantly throughout the whole process. That’s what made it so exciting.”
What Is Jury Duty About?
“Jury Duty originated with a question: Was it possible to make a sitcom like The Office about a trial, populate it with brilliant comedic performers, and put a real person at the center of the show who doesn’t realize he’s surrounded by actors?” executive producer Todd Schulman said when Freevee premiered the free-to-stream series. “We honestly had no idea but when we pitched it to Freevee we pretended like it was a sure thing. Thank God we pulled it off.”
Jury Duty Season 2
Jury Duty snagged some Emmy Award nominations this year, including Outstanding Comedy Series and a supporting actor nod for James Marsden. Given its widespread acclaim, and immense popularity, fans have wondered if there will be a second installment of the series in the future.
“Yeah, who knows? When the WGA strike is over, it’s something we can sit down and think about as it’s something we may try and do,” executive producer David Bernad told Deadline. “But right now, we’re celebrating Jury Duty and everyone who played a role in its success like the entire team at Freevee who deserve a lot of credit for taking a shot on this.”
