Jury Duty was a series that took a novel approach to hoax television, and created a deception that wasn’t mean-spirited. The show created a fake trial with actors cast as different witnesses, members of the jury, and courtroom attendants; the only person unaware that what was proceeding was fake was Ronald Gladden, a construction worker plucked from applicants to participate in what was advertised to be a documentary about the legal process. On face value, Jury Duty was an opportunity to test one man’s awareness as increasingly strange gags were pulled, and all of his co-stars kept their faces straight. The show was elevated beyond a quasi-reality program because it developed a compelling court case with jurors that felt like actual characters, and not actors hired to do their schtick. The biggest shock was that Ronald turned out to be an altruistic, likable protagonist; that sort of authenticity couldn’t be mapped out by the best producing team in the world, and it justified the elaborate ruse that the premise involved.
The popularity of Jury Duty was the biggest barrier to its continuation, given that it would be more challenging to create another fake trail without word getting out to potential jurors invited for the same opportunity. It’d be nearly impossible to find a star like Ronald who was willing to execute his juror responsibilities faithfully, despite the wacky circumstances that surrounded him; the first season also had the gimmick of actor James Marsden playing himself as one of the other jurors summoned, and the involvement of a different celebrity for the new installment would’ve attracted unwanted speculation.
The series is rebranded for its second installment as Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, an off-shoot that has the same concept in a new setting. Rather than a randomly selected juror, the unwitting protagonist of the new season is Anthony Norman, a temp worker hired to work at a fictitious manufacturer for the Rockin' Grandma's Hot Sauce product. A workplace comedy might’ve been easier to manufacture, but it would’ve been a downgrade in ambition compared to a replicated court case. The twist is that Anthony is brought by his eccentric new employers to take part in a company getaway intended to launch new ownership. Doug Womack (Jerry Hauck), the CEO of the company and Anthony’s boss, has ceded control of the family business to his incompetent son, Dougie Jr. (Alex Bonifer), whose tenure is immediately marred by blunders.
The stakes are less grave this time around. The task Ronald had been charged with wasn’t just an assessment of his personal ethics, but an open question on whether a normal person could be feasibly handed the responsibility of being asked to serve justice. That Jury Duty found an affable breakout star whose wholesomeness reflected positively on a pillar of the nation’s infrastructure wasn’t just dramatically interesting, but a suggestion that the ordeal was about more than hidden camera gags. Anthony isn’t burdened with the same expectations, but his willingness to adapt to his new employer’s policies offers its own commentary on contemporary workplace culture. There’s such a built-in belief among today’s job seekers, particularly temp workers like Anthony, that any ridiculous demands by their employer are expected because of how prominent of an issue joblessness is.
The unstable power dynamic between Anthony and his new co-workers is diffused immediately when he’s asked to aid in the failed proposal of his human resource manager, Kevin Gomez (Ryan Perez). The aftermath of an embarrassing incident involving a senior member of the staff is a sure-fire way to bond a class of employees together, and it's a smart strategic move on the show’s part to develop a repertoire of friendliness between Anthony and Kate (Erica Hernandez), Jimmy (Jim Woods), Jackie (LaNisa Frederick), PJ (Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur), and Amy (Emily Pendergast), who’d been on the opposite end of the botched marriage invitation.
There’s a more conscious effort in Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat to be a sitcom, and not just a collection of Anthony’s reactions to peculiar events. Scenes are inserted that don’t involve Anthony, and they sell the idea that this is a company that exists beyond the parameters of the show. There’s also a notable shift to incorporate the entire ensemble because there’s a limit to the humor found in the bickering between the father and son who own everything. It’s more accessible humor because the show identified the type of unusual co-workers that most people have had. Woods is a standout in the first batch of episodes because Jim’s a representation of the type of antiquated, if well-intentioned old-school company man who can’t help himself from virtue signaling; it’s a broad archetype that’s made specific because of the performance, with his reference to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as “the GOAT” one of the biggest laughs of the season.
There’s a deeper subtext to Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat in regards to the loyalty and respect that employees have for the institution that they work for. Today’s hostile economy doesn’t breed a lot of company pride, which has made it interesting that the workers at Rockin' Grandma's Hot Sauce are forced to protect their employer from a potentially hostile takeover. The premise is used for laughs more than to make a statement, but it’d be interesting to see how meta Jury Duty could get if it continued into future seasons. A series set in the midst of Amazon’s own infrastructural makeup would be revelatory.