Jury Duty

When Ronald Gladden showed up for jury duty, he thought little of the cameras around him. The entire process, he was told, was being filmed for a documentary. And so, even as his fellow jurors (which included, improbably, X-Men and Sonic the Hedgehog star James Marsden) thrust him into confoundingly hilarious situations, Gladden remained a calming, dignified presence at the courthouse—and in front of the cameras, too. To watch all eight episodes of Jury Duty, which was, it turns out, a wholly fabricated improv-fueled hoax where only Gladden was none the wiser, is to witness the trappings of reality TV and prank shows being upended. Rather than such a format being used to mock or denigrate its participants, the conceit here nurtured a sunny approach to life where serving one’s community, in ways big and small, is presented as a humble but necessary goal. For wrapping up a lesson of civic responsibility within a warmhearted comedic tale, and for creating a bold feat of nonfiction storytelling that proves reality television can, surprisingly, bring out the best in all of us, Jury Duty wins a Peabody Award.