HBO has announced that it has renewed Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal for season 2. A buzzy combination of documentary, comedy, and reality television, The Rehearsal has been making headlines since it debuted in July. The show’s premise sees series creator Nathan Fielder staging elaborate rehearsals — complete with replica sets of actual buildings and settings — to help participants practice for real-life confrontations that they’re nervous about. In the premiere episode, for example, Fielder recreates the setting and feel of a trivia night to help an anxious participant come clean to a friend about a lie.
HBO has confirmed that they’ve renewed The Rehearsal for season 2. The news comes ahead of the anticipated season 1 finale, which picks up after breakout star Angela left The Rehearsal due to creative differences with Fielder. In a statement, the executive vice-president of HBO programming Amy Gravitt acknowledged the show’s strange premise by noting in part “we have no idea where season two will take us.“
Gravitt also praised Fielder for how The Rehearsal has sparked lively conversations online. As he’s done before with Comedy Central’s Nathan For You, Fielder seems interested in blurring the lines between scripted and reality television. In doing so, he’s created something that runs the gamut from intimately confessional to singularly strange.
But on a simpler level, The Rehearsal has just been frequently hilarious thanks to Fielder’s perfectly-delivered asides and the efforts that he and his team put into recreating the most insignificant things. Thankfully, this news assures viewers that TV’s most delightfully strange show will be back for another round.
