In a world with tens of streaming services, with thousands and thousands of TV shows and movies accessible to us at any time, Nathan For You does something that is hard for a comedy to do. It stands out. The show introduces us to Nathan Fielder, a graduate of the University of British Columbia in (insert degree here). He helps people. He finds struggling businesses, and gives them solutions in order to improve their business.
But Nathan is not a regular consultant. His suggestions are comical at their mildest, and insane at their best. Whether it is hiding one dollar TVs in a room guarded by an alligator or creating a sleeper cell of hundreds of taxi drivers within Uber, there aren’t many ideas off the table to give the business he is helping the edge over their competitors.
What makes Nathan For You so incredible isn’t the ideas, as creative as they are. It is actually the people. The show is so brilliant because of how Nathan can manipulate and shape real-life circumstances in a way that even seasoned writers have trouble doing. This is not a scripted show. These are real businesses, and they think Nathan is a real consultant. All of the interactions and emotions you see on the show are real. And that’s what makes it so special.
In essence, there are three aspects that make Nathan For You so compelling and unique. Those aspects are the shock, the interactions, and surprisingly, the emotion. The show is so entertaining, first and foremost, because of how absolutely ridiculous the ideas are. In one episode, Nathan wanted to trick people into thinking his coffee shop was Starbucks. So, taking advantage of parody law, he made a Starbucks carbon copy, and named it Dumb Starbucks. It received attention from all over the world, had merchandise selling for hundreds of dollars, and some even thought it was a Banksy piece. Knowing that these are all real people, and that this is actually happening, makes it difficult to look away. You want to know how this plays out because the resolution is not predetermined.
Nathan is a master of manipulating real life conversations for comedic effect. Part of the brilliance of the Nathan we see on screen is how he makes nearly every interaction awkward and uncomfortable. Awkwardness might get a chuckle in a sitcom, but that’s because it’s fake. On Nathan For You, it really is that awkward. You can feel the discomfort pour out of the screen, and it is the only show I’ve seen that makes me cringe in such a delightful way.
Finally, and arguably what is most impressive, there is the level of emotion that you find in the show. Nathan Fielder, the host of the show, is really Nathan Fielder in real life. He’s not just a character. What is hard to discern is where the real Nathan stops and the awkward character begins. Because the viewer truly can’t tell if this is the real Nathan, it becomes easier to truly empathize. Like how the scenarios and awkwardness are more entertaining because they’re real, so is the emotion that comes from Nathan. The character is awkward, looking for love and friendship. While the scenarios are funny, these sentiments increase from Nathan as the show progresses. The hilarity of the context is blurred by the sadness and melancholy of Nathan, who is really doing all this to find companionship. The audience doesn’t know how true this really is, and that’s why it feels so much more real than any other program.
The show, wrapped up in an unconventional premise, hits everything scripted programs try and often fail to do. The realness of the situations makes the stakes something worth investing in. The way Nathan and others communicate brings a unique comedic aspect that sets this show apart from any other. And finally, the relatability and believability of Nathan brings a level of human emotion that, because you genuinely are unsure of its authenticity, is impossible to replicate.
This show is, and should be considered as being, a piece of art.