From his hilarious and beautifully absurd show “Nathan for You” to his work as executive producer on the informative, intimate, and inimitable “How to With John Wilson,” Nathan Fielder’s imprint on comedy in the last several years is indisputable. And this imprint is set to expand with “The Rehearsal,” a new limited series debuting on HBO in July.
The synopsis is as follows:
Nathan Fielder (“Nathan For You,” HBO’s “How To with John Wilson”) returns to television for a new series that explores the lengths one man will go to reduce the uncertainties of everyday life. With a construction crew, a legion of actors, and seemingly unlimited resources, Fielder allows ordinary people to prepare for life’s biggest moments by “rehearsing” them in carefully crafted simulations of his own design. When a single misstep could shatter your entire world, why leave life to chance?
In an era in which millions of people curate their lives for the lens of social media, and the notion of the “influencer” allowing for corporations to script the lives of countless people, Fielder’s show is set to further posit questions of alienation and authenticity in an increasingly filtered world. Spanning six episodes, Fielder’s latest venture sounds like a mixture of Peter Weir’s “The Truman Show,” Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York,” with a dash of Jacques Tati’s “Playtime,” all filtered through the wacky worldview Fielder has become known for. And who can’t be excited about that?
“The Rehearsal” debuts on July 15 on HBO and will be available for streaming on HBO MAX.