The Rehearsal series two: Nathan Fielder's docu-comedy is 'laugh-out-loud funny'
Television's 'great illusionist' has turned his attention to commercial airline safety

The first season of Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder's "The Rehearsal" was "an entrancing experiment", said Esther Zuckerman in The New York Times. Released in 2022, the satirical docu-comedy had a simple but "absurd" premise: what if you could rehearse for events in your everyday life, from having a conversation with a friend to raising a child?
For the second series, he has turned his attention to commercial airline safety: having researched the subject extensively, he has concluded that most air disasters occur owing to failures of communication between subservient seconds-in-command and their captains. His solution is to get pilots to "open up, through his rehearsal methods involving professional actors". But, as ever with Fielder, nothing is straightforward.
This time, Fielder is "deadly serious", said Dan Einav in the Financial Times. His findings "are no laughing matter" and his motives seem sincere; but the aviation industry isn't much interested in the advice of a deadpan comedian. So, over six episodes, he goes to bizarre lengths to prove his point, building a full-scale replica of an airport terminal, setting up "a pilot-judged singing contest", and re-enacting the entire life of aviation hero Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The series is a dazzling, head-spinning, "laugh-out-loud funny" tour de force by television's "great illusionist", said Chris Bennion in The Daily Telegraph. If it is hard to describe, that is partly because, in Fielder's surreal world, "everything is real and nothing is real".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What are blue slips and why does Trump want to end them?
Today's Big Question The practice lets senators block a president's judge and prosecutor nominees
-
What are 'freakosystems' and how are they affecting the planet?
The explainer Ecosystems are changing permanently
-
'The question is what it does for the ecosystem'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Ford Ranger Plug-in Hybrid: 'more than just a novelty'
The Week Recommends Europe's first plug-in hybrid pickup is 'surprisingly agile'
-
6 lush homes in the trees
Feature Featuring a glass house in Texas and a home built for a Broncos quarterback in Colorado
-
Brooklyn vs. the Beckhams: trouble in paradise
In the Spotlight Scion of the Beckham clan and billionaire heiress wife Nicola Peltz staged an elaborate vow renewal – and none of his family were on the guest list
-
Alien: Earth – a 'bold' prequel to the space horror classic
The Week Recommends Set two years before Alien, new Disney show pays 'homage' to the original
-
Music reviews: Ethel Cain, Amaarae, and The Black Keys
Feature "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," "Black Star," and "No Rain, No Flowers"
-
Film reviews: Highest 2 Lowest and Weapons
Feature A kidnapping threatens a mogul's legacy and a town spins into madness after 17 children disappear
-
Book reviews: 'King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution' and 'Gwyneth: The Biography'
Feature How the Iranian Revolution began and Gwyneth Paltrow's life in the spotlight
-
Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War II
Feature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more