3 out of 5

Created by: Nathan Fielder, Michael Koman

covers seasons 1 and 2

Tim and Eric’s “Abso Lutley” productions bumper that appears after episodes of “Nathan For You” should give you an idea of the ballpark in which the show hangs out, as well as a suggestion as to the difference between this and other similar odd man out faux reality shows like Ali G: host, writer, director, co-creator Nathan Fielder is weird, and while – like Tim and Eric – we’re sure that the completely deadpan, willingness-to-state-the-outlandish persona isn’t all there is to the real Fielder, it’s undoubtedly a deep-seated aspect of his personality.  The series – which has “Canadian business school graduate” Fielder attempting to “help” small businesses with his schemes – isn’t quite the embrasure of outre culture Awesome Show! was, but the repeated appearances of certain people (a Bill Gates impersonator, a breast-obsessed security guard) and the relative respect it offers them is right in line with Awesome’s setup.  Meanwhile, there are plenty of seemingly unsuspecting “regular” folks whom forehead-slappingly agree to Nathan’s suggestions – which over time has you assuming there’s plenty going on off screen to make the on screen antics seem that much more absurd – as well as occasional highlight episodes that try to break up the routine by focusing on some self-improvement tasks, like an amusing fake reality dating show to help Nathan combat his shyness.  At times ‘For You’ does push over the line to the point where you feel bad for the marks.  It’s a tricky balance, and Nathan manages it mostly, but especially as the series wanes on and the initial premise has run through its primary variations, our host has to force things a bit more.  But: any given episode has at least one belly laugh, as well as one peek-through-your-fingers-this-is-so-embarassing moment, which speaks to the creativity of its host and writers, since you pretty much get the gist of how things are going to go after a few examples.

Potty and uncomfortable humor in tow, ‘Nathan For You’ is limited in scope but definitely meets a requisite hilarity to viewtime ratio.  The moments that shine, though, are the ones that sort of build out a sense of personality and community – as Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show! did – and so it will / it would be interesting to see how Fielder can expand on this concept in time, or with future shows.