“Nathan For You” is unbelievably uncomfortable, and I mean that in the best way possible. Nathan Fielder’s Comedy Central series, which ran on the network from 2013 to 2017, centers around Fielder himself going to businesses in need of help and pitching increasingly absurd ideas. (An example: in the fourth-ever episode, Fielder offers people a mail-in rebate at a gas station but presents a series of truly out-of-control steps people must follow in order to get said rebate, including going on a camping trip with him, a total stranger.) So, is the series scripted?
Not really, no; the very nature of “Nathan For You” depends entirely on the reaction from the very real business owners and entrepreneurs that Fielder interacts with. In a profile with GQ in 2015, Fielder explained that he and his crew essentially flew by the seat of their pants when they made the series.
“Really good ideas come from weird places,” Fielder replied when interviewer Alex Wong asked about the show’s creative process. “There’s no formula.” The actor, writer, and producer continued:
“Sometimes, we’ll think of an interesting scene or concept that doesn’t relate to a business and think, ‘How can we use this to market a business?’ Other times, we start by thinking of a certain business and then we’ll try to think of problems that we can solve for them. We have several segments this year that have nothing to do with businesses in any way: I perform a life transformation for someone, and I set out to prove scientifically that I’m a fun person to hang out with. They more draw from things in my personal life or ideas or stuff that we encounter in making the show. We’re giving people a little behind-the-scenes look.”
Still, Fielder also revealed that not every idea he and his collaborators had behind the scenes ended up working out. “Sometimes, we have to throw out really great concepts that are really interesting, funny ideas or unique ways to help businesses, or put them to the side, because we can’t think of a way to execute it on the show that would be interesting to watch,” he admitted. After saying that the series’ priority was still entertainment and what reaction Fielder himself could elicit from the people he featured, he revealed, “A lot of the process is just coming up with something, trying it in the real world, seeing what happens, and adjusting and rewriting the story based on what happened. It’s probably unlike how other shows are made in that way. It’s constantly being rewritten depending on almost each interaction. It’s a very weird process.”
