Nathan for You

Garthgou81

Anyone check this show out? I know comedy is incredibly subjective, but it has scratched the awkward reality TV itch for me lately. It is a Comedy Central show where a socially awkward Canadian guy, Nathan, goes about "helping" businesses that are asking for assistance.

For example a taxi cab company that is struggling, so he suggests that they give free rides to women in their third trimester of pregnancy hoping that they will give birth in the cab and thereby getting free publicity for the cab company. It is a super silly and ridiculous and beyond awkward, so it certainly isn't for everyone. And based upon the first episode I didn't think it was for me either. But there are some pretty outstanding episodes.

It is available on Hulu. Episodes of note: S1E2: Santa/Petting Zoo, S1E4: Gas Station/Caricature Artist, S1E7: Claw of Shame, S2E1: Mechanic/Realtor, S2E5: Dumb Starbucks, S2E7: Taxi service/Hot Dog Stand, S3E2: Horseback Riding/Man Zone, S3E3: The Movement, S3E4: Sports Goods Store/Antique Shop

Hatorian

yea its a pretty interesting show. Dumb Starbucks is a really good one. 

Shum

Love this show! Nathan is the perfect mix of awkward and convincing. I love all the episides mentioned above. The current season has been just as good. A couple episodes ago he found a loop hole that let people smoke in a bar by pretending it was all a stage play. Good stuff!!

Garthgou81

Yeah, I am not up to date on this season yet. But I have no reason to think they are any less fun. It hasn't wavered yet. And you are right, Shum, Nathan's character is so convincing. I try to keep a close eye on him to see if he cracks up with some of the craziness (because let's be honest the people he tries to help are pretty fucking nuts as is) but I haven't seen any fault in his exterior. Its amazing.

JayTee67

My coworker and I love this show and think it is hilarious.  I don't know how Nathan can stay so serious and straight all the time.

Garthgou81

I really love the recurring characters he has that come back from previous episodes. The Santa and the private investigator are always golden. He had the lawyer that he used a few times, but after the Dumb Starbucks stuff, I don't think he will be returning.

aberry89

Sounds intresting, is there any shows/movies you can compare it to in comedy or tone?

Garthgou81

aberry89 said:

Sounds intresting, is there any shows/movies you can compare it to in comedy or tone?

Thats a great question. I spent some time thinking about this and I really have a hard time comparing it to much. The tone is incredibly dry and sarcastic, but also has a biting commentary which could be construed as mean-spirited. However I think its intended to be much more subversive than that. Here I tried to find a few youtube videos that could showcase that. They are probably considered NSFW, by the way. Nothing too explicit, but just to be safe.

Garthgou81

Holy shit--the last couple of minutes of the season 3 finale? Man, what a shift in tone. Knowing Nathan, I could tell something like that was coming, but that brought out some unexpected feels.