When Nathan for You premiered on February 28, 2013, on Comedy Central, it was an instant hit. Reception for the docu-reality cringe comedy was highly rated across several popular review aggregation websites. Unsurprisingly, Nathan for You was critically acclaimed and often regarded as one of the best TV shows of the 2010s.
The series’ selling point lies in its simple, yet absurdly funny premise. A business school graduate and consultant, Nathan Fielder, attempts to help struggling businesses become successful. While this is a common TV show theme, Fielder brings his social awkwardness and outlandish ideas. Nothing prepares viewers for Fielder’s straightface delivery of his ideas and execution plans. Here are the 13 funniest Nathan for You episodes.
1. “Yogurt Shop/Pizzeria” – Season 1, Episode 1
A good place to start with Nathan for You funniest episodes is with its premiere. Nathan Fielder proposes a plan to help push sales at a frozen yogurt shop. His idea is to create a rare and unique yogurt flavor that’ll attract customers. However, he has a “Poo” flavored frozen yogurt in mind. The episode’s highlight is his conversation with L.A.’s PR, Tyler Barnett. He gives Fielder sarcastic advice for a better marketing campaign. “You could fill a bucket full of frozen [poo] yogurt and then put it on your head and then stand outside of the store with a sign that says, ‘I don’t know how to market a business,’ and see if people come.”
2. “Private Investigator/Taxi Company” – Season 1, Episode 8
Nathan Fielder finds a Private Investigator with no reviews on Yelp. To help give him five stars, Fielder hires the Private Investigator. However, Fielder doesn’t plan to make things easy for the PI, so he hires nine other “lookalikes” to make it hard for the investigator to find him.
3. “Haunted House/The Hunk” – Season 1, Episode 5
In this episode, Fielder decides to make a trip to a Haunted House a lot scarier by adding exposure to a deadly disease. Most people who walk into haunted houses already know what to expect. Things quickly turn sour for the unsuspecting visitors.
4. “The Claw of Shame” – Season 1, Episode 7
“The Claw of Shame” episode is one of five episodes that deviate from Nathan Fielder’s mission to help businesses. In this episode, he tries to prove the importance of taking risks by putting his life on the line. Cuffed, Fielder is given 90 seconds to free himself or get his pants pulled down by a robot. With his audience being kids/minors, Fielder faces criminal charges and becomes a registered sex offender. One of the most hilarious conversations was a question asked by a kid after Fielder tries to give a motivational talk of following one’s dreams, “You dreamed of doing that?”
5. “The Movement” – Season 3, Episode 3
In one of Nathan for You’s funniest episodes, Fielder tries to help a moving company improve its business. He hires a bodybuilder, Jack, to claim he lost weight and toned his muscles by simply moving things around the house. Fielder also hires a ghostwriter to create a make-believe background story about the bodybuilder. It’s hard to tell who’s crazier, from Fielder, the bodybuilder, the ghostwriter, or the news channels believing the story.
Fielder hands the published autobiography to Jack and tells him, “You might want to read it over to get a sense of what your life is like before tomorrow.” For what’s worth, Jack did sell on his story of being best friends with Steve Jobs when he was younger and working with jungle children.
6. “Santa/Petting Zoo” – Season 1, Episode 2
Nathan Fielder tries to help Santa get a job at the mall in the summer. The only problem is that Santa has a criminal record, and the mall won’t let him near kids. But leave it to Fielder’s never-say-never attitude, “Even though James had a criminal record and a closet full of guns, I could still tell he was a good guy.” His plan didn’t exactly work as planned but trust Fielder to improvise.
Fielder also tried to help a Petting Zoo go viral by faking a video of a pig rescuing a goat. Things take a turn when several news and media channels pick the video. Surprisingly, Fielder decided not to include the name of the Petting Zoo in the viral post.
7. “Smokers Allowed” – Season 3, Episode 5
“Smokers Allowed” is one of Nathan For You‘s funniest episodes, and serves as proof people will believe and enjoy something if their mind is programmed to receive it in a certain way. Nathan Fielder finds a loophole allowing indoor smoking at a bar. He stages a play and invites two audiences who sit and watch people enjoy themselves at a bar while smoking. Apparently, indoor smoking is only allowed if it’s seen as a performance in a play. Surprisingly, the two viewers left positive reviews about the play, “It’s so nothing in a way… but incredibly profound.”
8. “Andy vs. Uber” – Season 4, Episode 4
Nathan Fielder joins forces with Andy against Uber and their drivers. In trying to find the worst Uber driver turnoffs, they set out to incorporate some of the customers’ negative reviews. Everything is hilarious from the get-go, as Fielder goes the extra length to ensure he gets untraceable burner phones. In his words, “There’s no way it could be traced back to us,” on a show watched by millions of viewers all over the world!
9. “Gas Station/Caricature Artist” – Season 1, Episode 4
Although the “Gas Station/Caricature Artist” episode is an earlier episode in the entire series, audiences know Nathan Fielder rarely meets someone that leaves him speechless – more like looking in the mirror. Fielder is gobsmacked to find out the gas station owner drinks his grandson’s (or any other kid’s) urine. He walks off the shop in utter disbelief.
Fielder then helped the caricature artist portray a darker side as the “King of Sting.” With many of his customers laughing at their caricatures, Fielder thought it was best to have a caricature of himself drawn again. Although the artist went hard on the sting like he was instructed to, Fielder not finding it funny is the glorious icing on the cake.
10. “Souvenir Shop/E.L.A.I.F.F.” – Season 2, Episode 2
Nathan Fielder tries to help a Hollywood souvenir shop improve sales by setting up a fake film shoot. He hired a Johnny Depp lookalike to attract customers to the scene. Fielder then offers them a chance to be in the movie by buying something in the shop. He says to one of the customers, “Your character is a customer who loves to spend money.” Although it is a success, he later finds out he could be sued for fraud. To make it legit, he goes on to make the movie and create a film festival, Eastern Los Angeles International Film Festival (ELAIFF).
11. “Electronics Store” – Season 3, Episode 1
Most of the time, Nathan Fielder can be a little over the edge with his ideas, but the “Electronics Store” episode idea was genius. Fielder and the store owner take Best Buy’s price-matching policy to the extreme. Fielder wants the electronics store owner to offer his TVs for $1, hoping Best Buy will match their offer and reduce the price of their TVs also. However, buying the TV isn’t as easy as it is advertised, making this one of Nathan For You’s funniest episodes.
12. “The Hero” – Season 3, Episode 8
“The Hero” episode is probably one of the more serious episodes on Nathan for You. However, Nathan Fielder doesn’t make it any less funny for the audience. To become a hero, Fielder walks on a wire between two buildings. The seven months of buildup, preparation and sex abstinence paid off.
13. “Dumb Starbucks” – Season 2, Episode 5
In another of Nathan Fielder’s outlandish ideas to help a business, he parodied Starbucks. He wants to add the word “dumb” to Starbucks and have customers come into the coffee shop thinking it’s Starbucks. However, the idea didn’t fly with the lawyer he hired. Before going on with their plan, the episode shows Nathan Fielder’s hilarious schemes to retrieve the lawyer’s already signed document.
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