I've scrolled past "Nathan for You," and "The Rehersal" many times--they looked like same old reality TV shows, and these things--brats, housewives, naked people, etc.--are, IMO, just vast wasteland lowest common denominator junk. And worse: boring. But I did see a trailer, for Nathan, on some other show, and it caught my eye, a bit from the sully thing, and . . . WTF? So I've dipped into Nathan and am now kind of a fan. One you tube guy described him as deconstructing reality TV, going too far, and deconstructing reality itself. Cool, and genuinely funny.
Another vast wasteland of junk, for me, IMO, are stand-up comedy specials. The A-list guys and gals, are, IMO, just not funny. Same for the B and C listers as well. And I've thought that the genre might be, finally, worn out. And then another surprise: Alex Edelman's "Just for Us," on HBO (fine MAX). So yea, comedy can still be cool, creative, and funny after all.
t's an incredibly singular show, they took some huge swings with this one, especially in the final episode. It was a very divisive ending to say the least, but I loved it. Big swings.
Re. The Curse:
Yup, I agree--big swings. I've done the first few episodes, and am still kind of knocked out by Nathan and Co., for doing something that is well-made, smart, interesting, entertaining, and, again, different. I'll probably have more to say once I'm through the whole thing.
As far as Nathan for You, a lot of them are really funny, frequently just for the idea: (like helping the guy find employees for his moving business by getting people to think it's an exercise program, which includes finding a charismatic exercise guru, which includes having said guru write a book, to get local news attention, which includes hiring a ghost-writer off Craig's List to write the book, which includes inspiring stories like the guru being childhood friends with Steve Jobs, and doing chartable work with "Jungle Children."--LOL WTF ETC.
The Nathan for You shows are sometimes closer to Sasha Baron Cohen, sometimes finding ridiculous people and making them look ridiculous, But still, funny and I think not mean spirited.