How ‘Jury Duty’ Orchestrated the Trial of a Lifetime

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( backstories [How Jury Duty Orchestrated the Trial of a Lifetime]( Producers Lee Eisenberg and Todd Schulman discuss getting James Marsden to play himself and casting TikTok’s new favorite star, Ronald Gladden. Photo: Freevee/Courtesy of Amazon Freevee There was one key fact that 30-year-old Ronald Gladden didn’t realize when he responded to a Craigslist ad in 2021: the “documentary” he signed up to be a volunteer juror for was completely staged. Every person he met — his fellow jurors, the judge, the plaintiff, the defense, the security guard, even his waiter at Margaritaville — were actors on the Amazon Freevee docuseries Jury Duty, orchestrated by producers of Bad Trip and The Office. Throughout the experiment, the goal was to follow Gladden’s reactions to crazy situations — like when a juror played by comedian Mekki Leeper tries to get out of court by saying he’s racist, or when a rude James Marsden, played by James Marsden, gets stuck in jury duty alongside everyone else and isn’t happy about it — instead of making him the butt of the joke. The season ends with Gladden being given $100,000 and a tour of how the whole experiment was orchestrated. [read more]( [Exclusive Anniversary Offer](: Get a limited-edition tote plus save up to 60% on unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. The Latest TV Recaps • Succession: [Raised by Wolves]( • Barry: [Stage Fever]( • Somebody Somewhere: [Pound It or Pass]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [The Rachel Weisz Gay Index Five performances that show the actress’s decades-long ascent to queer perfection.]( By Rachel Handler [The Official Succession Merch Sucks And the influencers got all the good stuff.]( [Ed Sheeran’s Copyright Trial, Explained Did he steal the “heart” of a Marvin Gaye song?]( By Victoria Bekiempis [Heartstopper Season Two Is Coming (of Age) This Summer Breaking hearts on August 3.]( By Charu Sinha [Succession Fans Have a Replacement for Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson Have the folks at CNN and Fox News seen her tape?]( By Zoe Guy [Skrillex, Four Tet, and Fred again.. Close Down Coachella For sale: ice rink, never used.]( By Charu Sinha [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 9-Across, Five Letters: Title character of The Great Mouse Detective. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty, Everette Vulture Recommends We consume it all so you don’t have to. Photo: Joss Barratt/ PBS/Red Planet (Sanditon 3) Ltd/Joss To think it all started with [an unfinished Jane Austen manuscript](, and here we are, three seasons later, finally getting answers to how the story ends for Charlotte Heywood, Georgiana Lambe, and the rest of the Sanditon crew. Catch up on the show if you haven’t already, then [check out Vulture’s ranking]( of the couples by “happily ever after.” [Read more from Vulture]( A newsletter of TV and movie recommendations. [Sign up]( to get it every week. [Get the Newsletter]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](link.nymag.com/manage/588/optout-vulture?email={EMAIL}&hash=39357a76f6d08b16239fd2ffa65e9c6f¶m=vulture-daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2023, All rights reserved