'The Rehearsal' Trailer: Nathan Fielder Practices Being A Person In Weird New Comedy

Squeaky comedy titan Nathan Fielder is back and he's been practicing.

On Wednesday, HBO released the first trailer for "The Rehearsal," a new unscripted series starring Fielder, who also serves as writer, director and executive producer. Like Comedy Central's cult hit "Nathan for You," which garnered a loyal following over its four seasons, the show encounters Fielder at the intersection of good intentions and grossly awkward missteps. In each episode, Fielder will help his subjects rehearse for the big moments in their lives - a scary decision, a tough conversation, and so on. - using trained actors and elaborate replicas of real locations.

"It was a very expensive pilot," Fielder said in a The first episode features a re-enactment of Brooklyn's Alligator Lounge, where a participant plans to have a difficult conversation with a friend. "I was told by one of the team members that the cost of replicating this bar was probably more than building the real bar."

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The concept of the series is marked as an examination of the "efforts a man can make to reduce the uncertainties of everyday life". But the trailer hints at a powerful emotional experience closer to "This American Life" than "Kitchen Nightmares." "It's kind of universal that people want to be in control of their lives," Fielder continued. "There's something really funny about this compulsion."

The comedian is said to have conceived of 'The Rehearsal' while trying to plan contingencies on 'Nathan for You'. IndieWire named “Nathan for You,” which aired from 2013 to 2017, “the greatest reality TV show ever made.”

Steve Greene of IndieWire writes of Fielder's specialty: "The lifeblood of reality shows and unscripted programming is a populace willing to throw themselves at the mercy of television production in exchange for a possible beneficial outcome.Whether it's social media stars who risk being categorized as a cultural hero or villain, an ordinary schmuck with a stamp collection that might be worth a few years of college tuition, or a pair of would-be owners hoping to land the right fix-upper, beyond the waiver participants sign for any show to use their likeness, there's an unspoken contract that being on TV means never really being in control of your own story.

“The Rehearsal” premieres July 15 on HBO Max. Check out the trailer below.

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