I had to double check to make sure that Ronald Gladden was not an actor but a guy off the street. He was a solar contractor who answered an advert about a documentary about the inside workings of a jury trial.
Little did he know that this documentary on the legal system was actually a comedy show. Everyone else was an actor. The judge, the court staff, the other jurors, the lawyers and the defendant. It was all fake.
They even had actor James Marsden show up as James Marsden who tried his utmost best to escape jury duty.
Getting Marsden in was a masterstroke. He was nominated for an Emmy for this role. In the first episode he becomes the audience identification figure more than Ronald.
The opener is all about jury selection and few of the potential jurors are let got with weak excuses. It gives Marden hope but later the judge plays tough.
Unfortunate for the juror Noah who said he was a racist as he saw it on a television show. It did not work here and then Noah had to deny being racist to the others.
This is a high concept vehicle that should had failed. With the producers of the US version of The Office behind it. I actually found it refreshingly funny.