The Rehearsal - General Discussion

[BetterButter]

[BetterButter]

[OutOfTheQuestion]

Cool first episode.  As the trailers sort of imply, this show...

Spoiler

expands on the "make-believe" elements of Nathan For You, by having elaborate stagings and recreations of scenarios so real people can make decisions.  There's plenty of comedy in seeing just how far the show goes with its recreations, the interaction between Nathan and the regular people, plus how Nathan still seems to be playing the "lonely" version of himself from the previous show.

[Mr. R0b0t]

Intriguing premise.  After watching the first show I have a few questions.

1. What do Tricia's roommates think after watching this?

2. Was Kor's real reaction to the confession edited out?

3. How cool would it have been if they could have gotten Tricia inside the mock-up for the final showdown if only to see her reaction when walking back "outside"?  (not sure how they could execute this)

[Ms Blue Jay]

Thanks for starting the topic.  Last time I did a search, nothing came up.

I loved the pilot.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Good second episode!  It felt soooooo short!  Looks like we get a cliffhanger.

[hatchetgirl]

On 7/18/2022 at 11:23 PM, Mr. R0b0t said:

Was Kor's real reaction to the confession edited out?

I think Nathan didn't confess it. I think he decided to go with one of his rehearsed options with the actor and didn't like the result so went with his you're a good guy option. 

I'm still trying to figure it out. I believe it's real, I believe Kor and Tricia are those people, but I don't think Nathan programmed those answers. I think the bar and the trivia host were in on it. 

I liked that Kor and Tricia weren't made fun of or embarrassed (I don't think) but rather appeared to be just a normal couple of humans, with Kor being torn up over a lie and anxious about trivia. Tricia, well, I think she was just an odd but endearing person. 

I'll try another episode. :)

[calliope1975]

I was in tears during the second episode. I would like an entire miniseries about Robin and his roommate. 3 mattresses. The random fight. 22! Hope he realizes his NBA dreams. Bailing in the middle of the night. Did you know he crashed his Scion at 100 mph? 

Poor Nathan is still trying to find love and belonging. I cannot wait until the next episode. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Robbin's brother started tweeting after the show and somebody asked him, I need to know how old your brother is that he still dreams of being in the NBA and the brother answered "30" hahahaha.

Edited to add the extra "b" back to Robbin's name because I was right the first time.

Edited July 30, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

@calliope1975

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkgpng/the-most-fascinating-guest-on-the-rehearsal-who-crashed-a-scion-tc-at-100-mph-did-not-enjoy-his-time-on-the-show

[calliope1975]

@Ms Blue Jay Robbin really is the gift that keeps on giving! I'm curious how many number mentions were edited out of that article. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

21 hours ago, calliope1975 said:

@Ms Blue Jay Robbin really is the gift that keeps on giving! I'm curious how many number mentions were edited out of that article. 

His Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/beloved_of_the_almighty_god/

[calliope1975]

27 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

His Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/beloved_of_the_almighty_god/

There's...a lot going on there. I was actually on the stretch of road he crashed his Scion tC at 100 mph last Saturday and I can see how he crashed. That's not a stretch of highway to race on. I cannot wait until Friday.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Anyone watch?  I hate that the shows are only 30 minutes.  The premiere had to have been an hour right?  I mean that felt like a lifetime with Kor - not complaining.  These episodes feel so tiny now.

[nb360]

This show has grown on me. It's a kinda subversive reality show.

Is Angela a little strange?

Next week:

Spoiler

... looks like a behind-the-scenes episode. I'm very interested to see how they recruit actors for this.

[nb360]

I wonder how much the similarities between his real grandpa and the fake grandpa contributed to Patrick's disappearance? I hope that he's okay, psychologically.

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 hours ago, nb360 said:

Is Angela a little strange?

More than a little.

[applecrisp]

12 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

More than a little.

Agree and has some strange ideas. How long will this family thing go on?

[nb360]

21 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

More than a little.

Yes but... I do have to wonder how much editing contributes to that sense.

[nb360]

Ok. This 15-year-old Adam episode completely stressed me out.

[Mr. R0b0t]

Well that took a dark turn.  Nathan single-white-femaled that actors life (impressive set of stuffed animals btw) and then the sad destruction of the rural Oregon nuclear family.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 8/7/2022 at 1:15 AM, nb360 said:

Ok. This 15-year-old Adam episode completely stressed me out.

The actor was so good.

[nb360]

OMG, his father is Maurice Benard, the actor who played Sonny on General Hospital! 😮

[nb360]

So... we all saw this coming:

Spoiler

Nathan and Angela "divorce."

I think I will get flamed for this, but:

The actress playing Angela said something that I thought was spot on, that people may watch this show and "laugh" at Angela, or at least look askance at her lifestyle. That's why I wondered earlier if the editing may have been skewed to show Angela as kind of weird.

The show started with an very interesting premise... and then became all about Nathan. I think that's "okay," but it wasn't "honest," as Angela pointed out. "Nathan has a problem with lying."

But the "eat the poo" scene was really funny -- and I wish Angela had a better sense of humor. Also, I wish she was more accepting of other religions.

Edited August 13, 2022 by nb360

[Ms Blue Jay]

I can't believe next week is the finale.    I like  this show so much better than Nathan for You.

[heatherchandler]

I’m just loving this weird show.  It is so intriguing and I want more.  I am so sad next week is the final ep.  Will there be another season?  Does anyone know if the ratings are good?

[Ms Blue Jay]

Ratings and reviews are listed on the show's wiki page. Reviews certainly seem positive. I don't know how bad or good this viewer amount is for a little known, little advertised HBO show.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rehearsal_(TV_series)

[nb360]

I wonder how a second season would play out. It seems like some of the "charm" (for lack of a better word) of the show this season was that the participants (and the viewers) didn't really know what to expect. There was always this element of surprise when we learned that Nathan was rehearsing some aspect of the show.

For example, when the actress playing Angela first speaks in episode 5, the camera is on Nathan. The actress and Angela sound so much alike that it's a complete surprise when the next shot shows the actress and not Angela.

[Badlands]

This show is brilliant! The line about not going to synagogue in years because it is boring cracked me up, as did the part where he dumped the nativity pieces and launched the Christmas tree into the woods. It was an interesting ending with Nathan seeming to trade one religious zealot for another.

55,000-117,000 viewers per episode is crazy low, but that's just live and same day viewing, so it's hard to know how many people watch it in total.  Since HBO doesn't sell advertising, they're not as concerned with numbers as commercial TV. Sometimes, they'll renew low performing shows if they are critically acclaimed, as this one is  On the negative side, shows like this are usually cheap to produce, but building the replica bar alone had to have cost a fortune.

[racked]

This is the strangest little show I’ve ever watched. When it comes to Nathan I can’t quite tell what’s real and what’s acting or him writing lines for himself. But I thoroughly enjoy it. 

Angela should never ever have children. I love how whenever something important js happening with the kid, the camera cuts to her signing and dancing alone, oblivious. 

[Nellise]

The last scene felt like Nathan realizing the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.

It's hard for me to get invested in the show because there's no way to know how much is scripted. Like I didn't believe those were Nathan's parents. They very well may be, but he's conditioned us to not trust that anything is real.

[enchantingmonkey]

Angela is definitely Out There, and whether I agree with her belief system or not, I was proud of her for leaving Nathan.  He was openly mocking her with his comment about making a list of everything she deemed satanic, and he sabotaged her rehearsal by de-aging Adam because he didn't like the result of being away for the fake 9 years.  

It's funny how Nathan toys with the audience right from the start by saying he's trying to make everything as realistic as possible, while directing the mother handing off the baby to Angela, then giving Angela a champagne bottle when he shouldn't even be in the room if it's realistic.  

I loved angry teenage Adam, the awful OD scene in the bedroom, then how he jumped off the stretcher and went running off into the night. Hilarious!

On 8/15/2022 at 11:01 PM, Nellise said:

Like I didn't believe those were Nathan's parents. They very well may be, but he's conditioned us to not trust that anything is real.

I hadn't thought of that at first but I did think it was curious how his mother seemed like she was taking it rather seriously.  I could see them being Actor Parents and Nathan not showing that to us.  

Actress Angela was good.  I loved how she went off on Nathan in the one angry scene.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 8/17/2022 at 5:38 PM, enchantingmonkey said:

  He was openly mocking her with his comment about making a list of everything she deemed satanic,

She called Halloween and making jokes about eating poop with a kid satanic.   

They are certainly Nathan's real parents.  They have appeared on Nathan for You and in this most recent episode's photos of his bar mitzvah.

Edited August 19, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

[ExMathMajor]

I saw the first episode and it bothered me enough (I think Kor felt manipulated and I felt bad for him feeling that way) such that I’d decided I wasn’t going to watch the rest of the show.

Then I read the New Yorker review and found myself agreeing with a lot of it. THEN I read the FB comments on the review and nearly every one was like: it’s a COMEDY, it’s supposed to be funny, get the stick out of your ass. So I decided: okay, let me try the second episode…and I ended up binge-watching the rest.

I’m not familiar with Nathan Fielder or his work so maybe this is just his style but I did appreciate the layers of meta. By the last episode I wasn’t sure if any of the people on the screen weren’t actors. (I really hoped Angela was…speaking from experience, people like her are why I’m not Christian.) The scene where Nathan’s explaining to the kid how he’s going to hell because he’s Jewish did make me laugh out loud, but that was pretty much it.

So do I need to make an appointment with a proctologist or what?

Edited August 21, 2022 by ExMathMajor

[ExMathMajor]

13 hours ago, ExMathMajor said:

I saw the first episode and it bothered me enough (I think Kor felt manipulated and I felt bad for him feeling that way) such that I’d decided I wasn’t going to watch the rest of the show.

Then I read the New Yorker review and found myself agreeing with a lot of it. THEN I read the FB comments on the review and nearly every one was like: it’s a COMEDY, it’s supposed to be funny, get the stick out of your ass. So I decided: okay, let me try the second episode…and I ended up binge-watching the rest.

I’m not familiar with Nathan Fielder or his work so maybe this is just his style but I did appreciate the layers of meta. By the last episode I wasn’t sure if any of the people on the screen were actors. (I really hoped Angela was…speaking from experience, people like her are why I’m not Christian.) The scene where Nathan’s explaining to the kid how he’s going to hell because he’s Jewish did make me laugh out loud, but that was pretty much it.

So do I need to make an appointment with a proctologist or what?

[Mr. R0b0t]

Perhaps the strangest show I've ever felt so invested in.  Bring on Season 2!

[EdnasEdibles]

On 8/21/2022 at 12:37 PM, Mr. R0b0t said:

Perhaps the strangest show I've ever felt so invested in.  Bring on Season 2!

I watched ep 1 and was like "OK this is interesting" but it wasn't riveting enough to keep going. Then I heard the rest of it has a weird fake family arc so I gave it a chance again and ended up binging the entire rest of the season. I adore this show. This show is the kind of show I would have wanted to work on if I worked in TV. 

I'm now telling everyone they need to watch it. 

[aghst]

Just watched the pilot.  Was screaming when they’re walking around and people were dropping random trivia so that Kor would win the trivia contest.

Then the fake bar with the fake pizza oven, they’d put in raw dough with toppings which someone on the other side of the “oven” would throw away and then put a baked pizza which they ordered from a real pizzeria on the pan.😄