Lee Eisenberg Does It Again
The Hollywood writer-producer had his best year yet, with two wildly different hit shows. He has no intention of taking a break.
It isn鈥檛 as though Lee Eisenberg 鈥�99 was unfamiliar with success before 2023. He was already penning episodes of arguably the most influential U.S. sitcom of the past two decades, The Office, at 28 years old. Before 2023, he had won a Writers Guild Award and scored six Emmy nominations. He produced and co-wrote, alongside frequent collaborator Gene Stupnitsky, the hit Cameron Diaz film Bad Teacher, which made more than 10 times its budget at the box office. In other words, he had already drunk of the cup of success.
Still, it鈥檚 impossible not to look at 2023 as a banner year for the writer-producer.
His headline-grabbing project, Jury Duty, followed everyman Ronald Gladden as he attempted to perform his civic duty as jury foreman of a civil case. Or at least, that鈥檚 what he thought was going on. For everyone else鈥攖he attorneys, the witnesses, the judge, even the fellow jurors鈥攊ncluding actor James Marsden playing an especially self-involved version of himself鈥攖he series was an intensive exercise in long-form improv. That鈥檚 because there was no true case, no real trial. Gladden thought he was just one person in a documentary about serving on a jury. Everyone else knew they were putting on quite the high-wire comedy act.
While not unprecedented鈥�2003鈥檚 The Joe Schmo similarly surrounded one unaware man with performers in on the hoax鈥�Jury Duty took the structure further with more dexterity and considerably more laughs. Gladden was an immediate standout, a genuinely decent guy who navigated an increasingly bizarre situation with empathy, intelligence and an impressive level of unflappability. The show debuted in April on Amazon鈥檚 Freevee streaming platform, to little fanfare at first. But word of mouth鈥攐r, perhaps more accurately, word on TikTok鈥攕pread quickly, and the show became the surprise hit of the year, racking up considerable critical huzzahs and award nominations. To date, it has converted those noms to wins for Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series, Comedy for Marsden from the Hollywood Critics Association; Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series from the Independent Spirit Awards; and Television Program of the Year from the American Film Institute.
鈥淚 think鈥擨 think none of us could鈥檝e expected it,鈥� Eisenberg confesses.
Despite the series鈥� reliance on improvisation, Jury Duty did not happen overnight.
鈥淲e鈥擥ene and I鈥攈ad been kicking around ideas for something like Jury Duty for a while,鈥� Eisenberg says. 鈥淲e really wanted to do something in the spirit of The Office, you know, a big ensemble comedy in a very familiar environment.
