Jury Duty: 5 Reasons You Should Watch Most Underrated 2023 Comedy Show ASAP

While comedy shows aren't the brightest stars on the TV sky in 2023, there have been a good deal of memorable offerings — from Unstable to Beef and Animal Control. However, one of this year's best new comedy series appears to remain almost unnoticed, or at least heavily underrated so far.

We're talking about Jury Duty — and to be fair, there are reasons why it's remaining below the radar. You see, the show's cast features no stars and it's on Freevee, the ad-supported little brother of Amazon Prime Video.

But here are a few reasons why Jury Duty is actually pretty great.

5. It has a simple but interesting premise

The series' tagline is, '12 jurors. 11 actors' — and it really sums it up.

Jury Duty is a combination of reality TV and a hidden-camera prank show. The main 'character,' Ronald Gladden, thinks he has been called for jury duty, but he actually isn't. Ronald is the only person unaware of the fact that everyone else involved in the trial are actors whose job is to deceive him into thinking that the case is real, even as their roles require them to act in rather absurd ways.

4. The best straight man ever

Ronald's stone-faced 'acting' is hilarious because he actually isn't acting. He's just a normal man trying to remain sensible and keep his emotions even in the face of outlandish behavior. His attempts to deal with the actors' antics while trying to remain calm and polite become the core of the show's humor.

3. The supporting cast is great

The nature of the show required that the showrunners cast no-name actors who wouldn't be recognized. However, these actors still gave amazing performances, in part because the script for the show was so great. The cast had to walk the tightrope, being funny while remaining believable — and they succeeded at that.

2. James Marsden plays James Marsden

The one exception to the 'no-names only' rule is James Mardsen, who plays himself — or perhaps a comically exaggerated version of himself. And he pulled off his role quite well because (unlike the character) the actor is not afraid of joking about his B-list status.

1. It is sweet and heartwarming

Small moments when Ronald does his best to bear with irritating character schticks of fellow jurors, from Todd's weirdness to Barbara's inability to stay awake, and treats them as kindly and politely as he can reinforce your faith in humanity better than any scripted, engineered drama.

And if these five reasons to watch Jury Duty aren't enough, consider also the fact that it's free!