The Comedy Central series Nathan For You is a tongue-in-cheek docu-series starring comedian Nathan Fielder. In the show Fielder plays a version of himself—a Canadian business school graduate who uses his knowledge to help struggling small business owners implement very unorthodox (and sometimes questionably legal) new business and marketing models in order to improve their profits. These ideas always lead to some hilarious situations, and Fielder’s deadpan, monotone and socially awkward delivery just heightens the comedy.
When watching the series, I found it a unclear as to how much of it is real and how much of it is scripted—and how much of Nathan the character is actually Nathan the actor. However, none of this really matters because every episode had me squirming in my seat as Nathan presents his ludicrous plans to the business owners, and then laughing out loud as these plans are put into action. Nathan’s business plans, while seemingly simple on paper, often involve evil genius style planning and execution. While not every plan is a complete success, his heart is always in it and his focus is always towards helping these business owners.
Most episodes contains 2-3 of these unique business plans being put into action, but one episode each season is devoted to an epic plan that takes the entire episode. In the first season’s “The Claw of Shame”, Nathan tries to prove that he’s willing to take big risks, so he sets up this elaborate spectacle where he is handcuffed and must pick the lock within 90 seconds or else a mechanical claw will pull down his pants in front of a crowd of children, and he could be arrested for indecent exposure and become a registered sex offender. And the second season’s “Dumb Starbucks” is what really put this show on the map for many people as this one went viral and hit many major news outlets. In this episode, Nathan decides to open his own coffee shop called Dumb Starbucks. He calls the shop an art gallery and refers to parody law in order to able to use the Starbucks logo and store design. Each of these episodes explores all of the preparation, investigation, planning and building involved in putting these stunts together.
This 2-disc DVD set contains all 16 episodes of the show’s first two seasons, with one disc devoted to each season’s episodes and extras. The episodes are as follows:
Season 1:
- “Yogurt Shop / Pizzeria”
Nathan helps a small yogurt shop by having them introduce poo-flavored yogurt; Nathan establishes a designed-to-fail “8 minute delivery or free pizza” policy at a small pizza shop, but customers don’t know the free pizza is only 1 inch big; and Nathan sets out to prove confidence is all that matters by allowing a 7-year-old, Jon Benjamin, and a turtle feed him lines for job interviews. - “Santa / Petting Zoo”
Nathan helps a mall Santa Claus by setting up a “beat the rush” discount summer photos with Santa promotion; Nathan stages a viral video of a hero pig saving a baby goat from drowning in order to promote a petting zoo; and Nathan hopes to prevent youths from going into a life of crime by utilizing provocative promotional photos of himself in order to catch a young graffiti artist in the act, so he can turn him in to his parents. - “Clothing Store / Restaurant”
Nathan wants to allow attractive people to shoplift in order to promote a clothing store; Nathan explains his elaborate method of observing small businesses—which involves hiding out in a Librarian’s Quest video game; and Nathan asks one small restaurant to establish an open restroom policy and then films the patron’s reactions to the in-stall advertising. - “Gas Station / Caricature Artist”
Nathan has a gas station charge less than half the going rate for its gas—the catch is that patrons need to make a 90 minute hike up a mountain in order to claim the rebate; and Nathan has a beachside caricature artist distinguish himself by only drawing racially and stereotypically offensive photos. - “Haunted House / The Hunk”
Nathon sets out to get a Haunted House sued for being too scary so that they can use this fact in the promotional material; and Nathan tries to overcome his fear of the opposite sex by dating 10 women at once, so naturally he establishes a The Bachelor like TV show with himself as the leading man. - “Funeral Home / Burger Joint / Skydiving”
Nathan has a funeral home offer an add-on service of buying additional friends for the funeral; Nathan has a small burger joint offer $100 to people who don’t agree with their slogan of “The Best Burger in LA”; and Nathan wimps out at skydving and then desperately tries to prove to the owner that he really did have a lunch date with a friend that he forgot about. - “The Claw of Shame”
In order to prove that he is willing to take big risks, Nathan sets up an elaborate event where he will be handcuffed to a metal frame and has 90 seconds to pick the lock and free himself, otherwise a mechanical claw will undo his pants and expose himself to the crowd, which includes many young children. So if he fails, he will go to jail for indecent exposure and become a registered sex offender. - “Private Investigator / Taxi Company”
Nathan hires a PI to track him so he can review his services on Yelp—he also hires a dozen body doubles to make the job more difficult; Nathan implements a system where taxi passengers can specify whether or not they want to have a conversation with the driver; and Salomon goes on a date that involves product placement for Quiznos. - “Mechanic / Realtor”
Nathan has an auto mechanic prove his honesty by only giving estimates while hooked up to a lie detector; and Nathan has a realtor re-brand herself as The Ghost Realtor, assuring all of the homes she sells are ghost-free. - “Souvenir Shop / E.L.A.I.F.F.”
Nathan turns a souvenir shop into a fake movie set—including Johnny Depp and Bill Gates impersonators—and tricks tourists into buying souvenirs by casting them as paying customers. Once the customers start asking when the film is coming out, Nathan creates the Eastern Los Angeles International Film Festival in order to legitimize the short film. - “Pet Store / Maid Service”
Nathan wants a pet store to target mourners by advertising on a gravestone in a pet cemetery—so he buys a gravestone for his pet fly buzz; Nathan hires a focus group to evaluate his performance so he can become a more likeable host; and Nathan convinces a maid service to change from sending 2 maids for 2 hours to 40 maids cleaning a house in 6 minutes. - “Liquor Store / Exterminator / Car Wash”
Nathan convinces a liquor store owner to allow minors to purchase alcohol—but the products will be placed in a storage locker until the teens turn 21; Nathan helps a pest control company land a contract with a hotel by going through elaborate methods to disguise the fact that they are exterminating bugs; and Nathan helps a car wash by attracting more birds to the area in order to increase business. - “Dumb Starbucks”
In his most elaborate undertaking yet (and the first to go viral), Nathan decides to open his own coffee shop using the Starbucks logo and store design under the protection of parody law. - “Daddy’s Watching / Party Planner”
Nathan helps a dating service attract more female customers by allowing women to request someone to secretly watch over their first dates; Nathan uses the fear of embarrassment to give folks the motivation to lose weight; and Nathan helps a Beverly Hills party planner set up a service where email invites for undesired guests would automatically be sent to SPAM. - “Taxi Service / Hot Dog Stand”
Nathan has a taxi company offer free rides to pregnant women in hopes of a backseat birth that would give them free publicity in the press; and a hot dog shop implements a new policy of line cutting for those in a hurry, but Nathan finds a customer exploiting the new rules. - “Toy Company / Movie Theatre”
Nathan helps a toy company sell their Doink It toy by marketing it to kids as the only way to prove you’re not a baby; Nathan decides to help security guard Simon (from the first season) create his own reality show; and Nathan helps a movie theater double its profits by implementing a No Sharing policy on concessions. - All 16 Episodes of the first and second seasons:
Season 1: “Yogurt Shop / Pizzeria”, “Santa / Petting Zoo”, “Clothing Store / Restaurant”, “Gas Station / Caricature Artist”, “Haunted House / The Hunk”, “Funeral Home / Burger Joint / Skydiving”, “The Claw of Shame”, “Private Investigator / Taxi Company”
Season 2: “Mechanic / Realtor”, “Souvenir Shop / E.L.A.I.F.F.”, “Pet Store / Maid Service”, “Liquor Store / Exterminator / Car Wash”, “Dumb Starbucks”, “Daddy’s Watching / Party Planner”, “Taxi Service / Hot Dog Stand”, “Toy Company / Movie Theatre” - 480p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
- Subtitles: None
- Closed Captioned
Season 2:
This show is so entertaining—Nathan’s numerous completely awkward interactions with the opposite sex are painfully delightful to watch. I also couldn’t stop laughing as Nathan tries to blame a faulty lie detector when it states he was lying when asked if he pleasures himself to internet porn, and similarly when he stages an elaborate cover-up to chickening out of sky diving. Nathan also devolves into amusing childish antics as he argues with a private investigator, and a lawyer he’s literally trying to grab a contract back from.
I have been watching the series since it first aired, and it was so much fun to revisit these first 16 episodes of the show. It is a highly-rewatchable series!
While the series airs in HD on Comedy Central, Shout! has only released the series on DVD. However the picture quality still looks excellent, and the audio track is more than sufficient for a dialogue-heavy show like this. Each of the discs also contains some fun bonus features for that season’s episodes. There are two episode commentaries, however, much like the series, these devolve quickly into completely awkward situations that ultimately have nothing to do with the episodes. The bonus material also includes about 12 minutes of deleted/extended scenes, the full, hilariously bad “award winning” short film “The Web”, an extended version of the “Simon Sees” pilot footage, and the full Dumb Starbucks press conference.
The DVD will hit retail stores on November 10, but Shout Factory! has a special offer for those who order directly from ShoutFactory.com. Those purchasers will get one of three randomly selected, limited-edition 18″ x 24″ posters (like the ones Nathan uses to tempt vandal Kyle in season one) for FREE (while supplies last) and get it shipped TWO WEEKS EARLY!
What’s Included:
Episodes: (5.6 hours)
Extras:
- Audio Commentaries
- “Private Investigator / Taxi Company” (20:35)
Nathan Fielder, executive producer Michael Koman and episode guest star Salomon Flores provide a fun and entertaining discussion. The commentary starts off in true fashion with Nathan Fielder spending the first minute just figuring out the proper sound level. The guys don’t really discuss the show for most of the commentary, until Salomon’s date scene comes on 15 minutes in. Instead, they spend most of the time sharing awkward dating stories and romantic advice, and talking about crushes, love poems and the movie Click. Overall, this audio track reminded me of the Ricky Gervais Show podcast, with Salomon in the Karl Pilkington role. - “Souvenir Shop / E.L.A.I.F.F.” (21:06)
Nathan Fielder and executive producer Michael Koman provide another totally awkward commentary, this time with episode guest star William Heath (Bill Gates impersonator). Just as we start to get some behind-the-scenes details, William takes a phone call and starts arguing with AT&T customer service while Nathan and Michael try to continue on. Once the phone call is over, William seems confused, talking about Windows and his own computer/medical issues, rather than his appearance on the show. Michael and Nathan constantly try and fail to get William back on track, but he just keeps going off on random tangents. Overall, it’s an entertaining listen, but once again doesn’t really give any behind-the-scenes information.
- “Private Investigator / Taxi Company” (20:35)
- Deleted/Extended Scenes
- “Teen Street” – Extended First Cut (1:20)
Extended intro for the fake Teen Street show with the young man who was caught defacing Nathan’s promotional posters in the “Santa / Petting Zoo” episode. - “The Web” – Director’s Cut (3:57)
Watch the epic, uncut, E.L.A.I.F.F. 2014 Best Short Film winner starring “Johnny Depp”, “Bill Gates” and Nathan Fielder. - “The Hunk” – Deleted Date (1:10)
A cut scene from the The Bachelor-like episode “The Hunk” in which Nathan goes on a date with actress Emily, 22, of Toledo, OH. On the date, Nathan asks her to do a scene where he plays her mailman and she plays a woman with brain cancer. - “Souvenir Shop” – Deleted Johnny Depp Trailer Scene (3:12)
Deleted scene in which customer Michael meets Johnny Depp in his trailer, where the actor propositions him. - “Simon Sees” – Extended Cut (8:24)
Watch the full, extended cut of the fake reality show about professional security guard Simon Kellogg and his crippling obsession with large breasts. - William Heath (Bill Gates impersonator) – Party Extras (2:23)
Additional footage of Bill Gates impersonator William Heath giving a “lively” speech about Windows XP, and having some awkward one-sided conversations with a party planner. - “Dumb Starbucks” – Extended Parody Songs (3:58)
An extended version of Nathan taking the stage to perform an awkward medley of parody songs, including “Grab My Balls” by Eminem, “Shave Tonight” by Eagle Eye Cherry, “All Boxed Up” by Elvi, “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera and “You Gotta Be” by Des’ree. - “Dumb Starbucks” – Full Press Conference (14:17)
The full Dumb Starbucks press conference with company founder Nathan Fielder. After Nathan gives an opening statement, he takes questions from reporters. He gets hecklers, laughter and a few serious questions. The conference is brought to a close when the health inspectors arrive.
- “Teen Street” – Extended First Cut (1:20)
Final Thoughts:
Shout! Factory has put together an excellent DVD set for the hilarious Comedy Central series Nathan For You. The show is currently airing its third season, but this DVD set collects all 16 episodes of the painfully awkward, laugh-out loud first two seasons, along with a host of fun bonus material. If you have never seen this show, I highly recommend picking this DVD up—it will provide hours of fun. And for those who have already seen the episodes, the technical presentation of the DVD is excellent, the bonus material is very entertaining, and episodes can be enjoyed over and over again. This set comes Highly Recommended for all.
