The Rehearsal - Nathan Fielder's new HBO series

[PlanktonSideburns]

Yeah, I think this is about right. I think it was the same with NFY, at least after the first season, and they were very clever to adapt the premise somewhat and make more of a "story" out of each episode. By the finale, Nathan is basically just himself, and even acknowledges that NFY is a comedy show. It sort of worked regardless because of how great he was at pinpointing and extracting the inherent strangeness of some people, so it didn't really matter how authentic they thought it all was, whereas something like Borat would completely fall apart in the same situation. Him using his own name and not playing a character a million miles away from his true personality was an incredibly wise decision from the outset.

I think Fielder himself mentioned that most of the businesses they worked with were actually doing alright, just looking for some extra publicity. I at least know this to be true of Reign of Terror (the haunted house where pussies go to relax), which is considered one of the best in the industry and has no trouble selling out during the Halloween season. Pink's Hot Dogs, likewise, is an LA staple, with the problem in the episode focusing on their lines being too long! Again, this is a smart decision because nobody involved seems that desperate. It could've easily crossed over into exploitative grubbiness if they had been.

That's exactly what I thought as well. I think the idea that

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this is, itself, a Rehearsal for Nathan

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is a fairly safe bet. Maybe too safe, though.

Was he definatley married, or has that been made up for this show?

[PlanktonSideburns]

If you're talking about the kid/dead dog one, if it makes you feel any better I think there's some clever production going on there. I don't think the kid was ever shown that video, or even had a dead pet.

I'd not seen that one before, and fuck me, the dead dog video shouldn't  have made me laugh that much. I really am a shit

[Noodle Lizard]

Was he definatley married, or has that been made up for this show?

I'm pretty sure it's true. At the very least he's talked about it in interviews as if it is, dating back as far as 2015, and it's on his Wikipedia page.

[PlanktonSideburns]

I'm pretty sure it's true. At the very least he's talked about it in interviews as if it is, dating back as far as 2015, and it's on his Wikipedia page.

Would be hilarious if he's seeded the idea of being married since then, for later use

Very unsettling and bleak episode two - I kind of enjoyed how grim it was, hopefully it's either going to lean towards either something outrageously funny or really strange and unnerving

[g0m]

This is the best tv show I've seen in years

[Mobius]

I dunno, didn't find that episode all that funny outside of laughing at the two idiot weirdos for being stupid

[Ferris]

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Yeah I feel I'm being charitable as a result of my goodwill towards NFY, to be honest.

If this was an entirely new show by a writer/director I'd never heard of, I think I'd make a mental note of the inventiveness and stop watching it. As it is, I'll watch the whole thing but it's not clicking for me right now.

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[ImmaculateClump]

This is the best tv show I've seen in years

yeah, episode was great. Looking forward to seeing this pan out.
Big laugh at, what was it "government organised sasquatch liaisons"?

[Chollis]

so i loved the first episode unlike that grotesquely ugly freak Ferris but

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not sold on ep2 at all. maybe a mindset thing, i was pretty drunk, so i'll give it a watch with a clearer head but my initial feeling is nah. i just felt sorry for the woman mainly, the guy was obviously a weird cunt (argument with his housemate pretty funny) but not particularly interesting. if it's not funny then it's gotta be something else, i'm not even sure what i mean by that but...weirdly surreal? profound? touching? emotionally engaging?  many things i guess, but it wasn't any of those to me. i get the ongoing theme of Nathan's loneliness "arc" but it's been something very secondary/tertiary to whatever else was going on in NFY. an unspoken joke.  ep2 hinted that that may become more explicit, i don't know if i want that to become a driving theme behind these absurd constructions.

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[colacentral]

It was obviously more of a set up episode so didn't have that big payoff like the previous one and NFY. It felt like the first half of an hour long episode that abruptly ended as it was about to get good.

I'm excited to see

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the older child actors thrown in the mix

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and was disappointed we never got to that point in this episode.

This episode seemed a bit more cruel than usual too, seemed to be mostly just laughing at these mentally ill people being dickheads. There's always been a bit of that in all of Nathan's stuff but it's usually balanced by the absurd ideas and the laughing at himself. This was all tipped towards Nathan being the smart, sensible one surrounded by fools.

The unlikeability of the people could be a factor too. Not sure I want to spend any more time with this woman, though as I said,

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it will be interesting to see how she reacts to the older children coming in.

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[Ferris]

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Sorry for being dense - are we actually going to see the rest of that storyline with older kids? I thought it was part of the intended plan which just ended so never came to fruition or at least was never shown.

Not sure I want to spend another episode with these people, and if we're only getting 6 episodes of something, it feels a shame to repeat the premise in two of them with the twist being slightly older child actors.

The biggest laugh was the casual mention of transporting the entire bar set from NY to OR for no reason - it felt like the kind of throwaway madness that NFY was built around.

Still enjoying it and looking forward to it, but I was hoping for more. Probably just being spoiled.

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[Timothy]

Yeah, I think

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this episode will continue in the next one. Although I hope you are right and it won't happen.

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There's always been a bit of that in all of Nathan's stuff but it's usually balanced by the absurd ideas and the laughing at himself.

There was quite a lot of this in this episode as well.

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Hiring the guy who fell asleep and staying there for every shift to help him do his job instead of hiring someone else, babysitting the child actors so she could go on a date,  transporting the bar, weirdly drinking that coke in the bar and eventually asking her if he could do the rehearsal with her.

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[colacentral]

I'd have to watch it again but I thought

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the only change to the plan is that Nathan is taking the role of the father. Wasn't he calling all the parents to notify them of this at the end?

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[elliszeroed]

I don't know what to think about this, after only watching the first episode. The main question I had afterwards was "how much was real?" and then "is this just a different form of The Jerry Springer Show where a guest reveals something to their partner" and all shit breaks loose?

[Ferris]

I'd have to watch it again but I thought

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the only change to the plan is that Nathan is taking the role of the father. Wasn't he calling all the parents to notify them of this at the end?

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I thought he was doing that as a short term measure so that what's her name could go on a date because she straight up told our man that she'd need more time to make arrangements in future (LMAO) and Nathan was too non-confrontational to tell her what the fuck pal, so he agreed.

Part of that agreement meant getting new waivers agreed. I might have that completely wrong though.

I would have hoped if this one was going to continue, they could have packed it into one episode rather than cutting it into two, especially as this one was quite a bit shorter than the pilot/opener.

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[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Apparently, episodes are supposed to be half-hours. The pilot was just extra long.

In retrospect, it was pretty obvious this was all a set-up for an arc involving multiple episodes with Nathan in the foreground.

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The experiment is supposed to last something like two months, with a crew and a bunch of extras (the children) being there 24/7. It must cost much more than the budget allowed for a single episode.
Additionally, the woman involved in the experiment is quite unlikable. Picking her and showing how much irritating she is right off the bat was a sign that she wouldn't make a great story in herself.
And with such a character, it's pretty sure that there won't be any romantic tension, given that she's a born-again Christian, and that Nathan is Jewish.

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That said, I was mistaken as I originally assumed that Robin (the double digits guy) would be exposed as a paid actor. So it was a relief to realize that even Nathan couldn't make up such a character to make things go great with her.

Among the great little touches I loved...

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– the champaign and the "realistic" approach, when the actual mother is asked to explain how she would be a terrible mom, during the fake adoption
– the roommate being fed up with Robin's bullshit about numbers
– Robin checking his smartphone (then drinking from a can) while driving, and his carelessness about it
– Introducing Nathan's cats

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[PlanktonSideburns]

Been laughing at that dog angel with the voice of haruomi hosono all day long

[neov1974]

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I don't think I laughed (unlike the first episode) and I'm not sure the set-up was as clean as the first episode (as in explaining the "why?") but bottom line is I will happily spend time every week in whatever world Nathan Fielder contrives to build. Definite Synedoche, New York vibes with the bar, and I think he earned enough kudos from Finding Frances that he can basically just explore stuff and not worry about whether he's making comedy, drama or something else entirely. Either way it's basically fresh.

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[selectivememory]

Yeah, I'm still on board, and I did quite enjoy that episode. Though I was mostly laughing at the oddballs Nathan was using (and he does have a knack for finding these bizarre characters) rather than his concept or the finer details of his plans for the episode. Though I did laugh a lot at the constant switching up of the children, especially the one in the parking lot.

[The Mollusk]

My prediction based off the first two episodes is that

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elements of each one are going to overlap as the season progresses to form a larger narrative, which almost certainly will be regarding Fielder's loneliness or processing his divorce or both. The bar has (literally) carried over from the first episode to the second, and in episode three I think the parenting rehearsal will continue in the background whilst another one is set up. This will go on to create a larger narrative which is wrapped up at the end.

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I think this is brilliant so far. Riveting viewing, has me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I sort of realised from the early scenes of the first episode that this wasn't going to be a total laff fest but I am nonetheless delighted when something funny happens. There are tons of tiny foibles that make it so engaging on a basic human level, like

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Nathan's face in the latest episode after he takes the awkward sip of coke, Robin picking the banana skin and sardine can from the footwell of his car, the state of the clothes the sasquatch conspiracy guy is wearing.

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Anyway sticking with my prediction here and feel like once the season is wrapped we'll all be tumbling into the thread mouths agape and amazed at what we witnessed.

[Goldentony]

Been laughing at that dog angel with the voice of haruomi hosono all day long

SO SORRY I DIED

[PlanktonSideburns]

SO SORRY I DIED

Lost it again fucks sake

[Mobius]

Anyway sticking with my prediction here and feel like once the season is wrapped we'll all be tumbling into the thread mouths agape and amazed at what we witnessed.

Yeah I am sure it will turn into something brilliant.

I'm not too keen on Nathan just hanging out with this woman and raising variously aged kids as a concept, but am sure it'll go in mad directions and turn into something unique and hopefully hilarious.

[Ron Superior]

OK, I've just rewatched the trailer and the raising children thread seems to feature quite heavily in it, with the first episode taking up a fair bit of the rest. Plus the poster for the show is Nathan at a dining table with the fake baby.

I feel like the baby storyline is going to be pretty central to the rest of the season. Unless they've purposely left out a lot of stuff from the trailer to avoid spoiling anything.

I enjoyed this second episode, and laughed a fair amount. Nathan looked absolutely fucked throughout the episode. Bless him!

[Ferris]

I'd have to watch it again but I thought

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the only change to the plan is that Nathan is taking the role of the father. Wasn't he calling all the parents to notify them of this at the end?

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I just watched it again, you're absolutely right. No idea what I was on about.

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Separately:

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it's a funny old show this - I watched the second episode again and thought it was a work of weird brilliance. I noticed a lot more subtle stuff and while it still isn't a panoply of gags, I laughed a few times and am mainly agog at the uniqueness of it all.

Nathan: I'm back on board!

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[The Mollusk]

Good lad

[thugler]

Wow, this show is phenomenal i think. The ambition is quite impressive. Funny enough and also strangely moving at times

[elliszeroed]

In these type of shows, for me, the safety of everyone involved supersedes the comedy, so while I always find myself laughing, I do so with tentative nervousness. Especially when it comes to children.

[PlanktonSideburns]

In these type of shows, for me, the safety of everyone involved supersedes the comedy, so while I always find myself laughing, I do so with tentative nervousness. Especially when it comes to children.

Yea same  - hoying all these babies up and down ladders was stressing me out

[elliszeroed]

Episode 3 - was not prepared for the anti-semitism! Amazing how he finds the oddest people!

I wonder how many failed projects this show, and Nathan 4 You had.