What if “Shark Tank” took place in a world where none of the sharks had ethics, none of the ideas made sense, and the host had no idea how to smile?
Season 3 Trailer for “Nathan For You”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Nathan created a fake coffee shop called “Dumb Starbucks” to parody Starbucks—and it worked. People lined up around the block, thinking it was a secret marketing stunt. It ended up making national news before getting shut down by health inspectors.
- He staged a fake viral video of a pig rescuing a baby goat from drowning at a petting zoo. Millions believed it was real, including major news outlets.
- Nathan got a gas station to offer a rebate—but to claim it, customers had to go on a multi-day hike through the mountains and sleep in a tent. Only one person ever finished it.
- “Finding Frances” (S4, E8) starts as an attempt to help a Bill Gates impersonator reconnect with a long-lost love—but turns into a full-blown meditation on regret, loneliness, and the blurred line between reality and performance. It’s 90 minutes and could’ve been its own film.
Watch “Nathan For You”
You can watch “Nathan For You” on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 97/100
- IMDB Rating: 8.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 95/100 (Users); 92/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note
Nathan Fielder co-created the show and also stars as its painfully awkward host. He plays a slightly off version of himself—an earnest business school grad with wild ideas. It’s produced by “Daily Show” veteran Michael Koman. The humor is dry, cringe-inducing, and meticulously planned, often involving months-long setups. Fielder also took part in “The Rehearsal” and “How To with John Wilson“.
Release Date: February 28, 2013 (Comedy Central); Final episode aired November 9, 2017
My Review of “Nathan For You”
The Setup
Each episode starts the same: Nathan visits a struggling business and pitches a bizarre fix. Want to boost yogurt sales? Offer poop-flavored yogurt. Want to beat Best Buy prices? Offer a TV deal so good it requires customers to find a mountain trail, then crawl through a small hole to redeem it. The premise is parody—but the businesses and reactions are all real. That’s what makes it magic.
The longer you watch, the more the show shifts. It moves from business satire into human behavior studies, pranks within pranks, and social experiments that walk a legal and ethical tightrope.
More Highlights from the Doc
- “The Movement”: Nathan helps a moving company by creating a fake viral fitness trend where people unknowingly lift furniture as part of a workout. He even writes a fake book and does morning show interviews.
- He convinces a realtor to become “ghost-proof” certified to appeal to buyers scared of haunted houses. She takes it seriously.
- One of the most emotional arcs is the Bill Heath storyline (“Finding Frances”), which reveals just how blurred the line between comedy and documentary can get. It’s funny, yes—but also unexpectedly heartbreaking.
- Nathan fakes a relationship for a segment and ends up on an actual date…then accidentally bonds with the woman in real life. It’s one of the most uncomfortable but genuine scenes in the entire series.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- Nathan’s real background is in business—he graduated from the University of Victoria with a commerce degree before studying comedy in Toronto.
- The show’s “reality” often took months of setup. For the gas rebate episode, Nathan and the crew actually completed the hike themselves before filming to make sure it was possible.
- In the “Dumb Starbucks” episode, they consulted real lawyers on parody laws—and even printed fake album covers (“Dumb Norah Jones”) to protect themselves legally.
- Several small businesses saw real traffic spikes after their segments aired—even if the ideas themselves were bizarre or short-lived.
- The show has been called a blend of “Punk’d,” “The Office,” and “Black Mirror”—except weirder, and usually with more heart.
Wrap Up: “Nathan For You” is one of the most original docuseries ever made. If you love your comedy with real stakes, real people, and moments of genuine humanity hiding under layers of absurdity, don’t miss it.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc