Jury Duty: Lee Eisenberg and Nicholas Hatton on Reality TV, Gentle Humanity, and Everyday Heroes
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Genre-bending reality show Jury Duty became a hit in its first season by inverting the typical reality TV formula of showing people at their worst to instead show at least one human who is an authentically good human. We sit down with creator Lee Eisenberg and executive producer Nicholas Hatton as they take us behind the scenes of the second season cast in a faux company retreat setting.
Episode Description
In this episode, we’re playing with reality as we explore what’s going on behind the scenes of the Peabody Award-winning reality TV comedy, Jury Duty. In our interview with creator Lee Eisenberg and executive producer Nicholas Hatton, we discuss this highly staged reality series where only one person, the “hero,” is their authentic selves. Everyone else is an actor, and all of the interactions are scripted and planned in service of telling a unique and uplifting story of one person determined to do the right thing. In the first season, the creators and writers took us into a courtroom to explore citizens in the jury system. The second season takes place at a company retreat, and again, a new hero shows us that authentic goodness in humans does actually exist, perhaps more than we think. Later, we examine the world of reality TV with Hunter Hargraves, author of Uncomfortable Television, and get his thoughts on how Jury Duty is shaking up reality TV.
Show Resources
- Peabody Finds Newsletter:‘Jury Duty’: A Chaotic, Hilarious, Heartwarming Take on Civic Engagement
- VIDEO: Jury Duty — Exclusive Peabody Conversation
- ‘Jury Duty’ 2023 Peabody Winning Profile