‘Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat’ review: Prank show’s return is comedy magic

In 2023, Jury duty burst onto our screens as a surprisingly wholesome prank show, in which the subject Ronald Gladden was treated not as the butt of the joke, but rather as the hero of a bizarre story. From its ultra-committed cast (including a stellar James Marsden) to Gladden’s impeccable work, the series felt like lightning in a bottle.

That is, until now.

Jury duty is back for its second season, titled Jury duty presents: Company retirement. And thanks to its larger scale and an endearing new track, it’s proof that lightning can actually strike twice.

What is this Jury duty presents: Company retirement about?

Alex Bonifer, Jerry Hauck and Anthony Norman in “Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat.”
Credit: Prime Video

Corporate retirement remixes Jury dutyThe original premise of, trading a court case for an annual week-long trip to bond with a company. That company is the small business Rockin’ Grandma’s Hot Sauce, and all but one of its employees are actors.

The only non-actor is Anthony Norman, who was hired as a temporary assistant to help with the company’s retirement. This year’s retirement is a big one: Rockin’ Grandma’s CEO (Jerry Hauck) officially passes the reins to his son, Dougie Jr. (Alex Bonifer). Dougie has spent the last few years living in Jamaica as part of a Rastafarian group, and he returns with questionable accent choices and almost no business experience. Will he be able to make a good first impression on the rest of the Rockin’ Grandma employees?

The entire team is full of remarkable characters, including Claire (Rachel Kaly), a remote IT worker, whose efforts to avoid the sun become increasingly outlandish; receptionist PJ (Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur), who plans to become a snack fluencer; and warehouse manager Jimmy (Jim Woods), whose relentless virtue signaling is what cringe comedy dreams are made of. The entire cast delivers memorable moments, with a body of work akin to the quirks of The office. Much of the fun of this season is seeing them fully commit to their roles over the course of a week. It’s truly an Olympic feat of comedy.

Another attraction of the season is its scale. Aside from a trip to Margaritaville, Jury duty most stayed at the courthouse or hotel where their actors were sequestered, giving the crew a small, controlled space in which to operate. In Corporate retirementthe show takes place on a larger outdoor campus. There are a lot more moving parts, which means more ways for Anthony to discover that the jig is in place. In addition to representing an exciting technical challenge, it also helps define Corporate retirement apart from the original Jury duty and proves that this format has potential as a larger anthology series, provided it can find the right track.

Jury duty presents: Company retirementAnthony’s star is a delight.

Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur and Anthony Norman in “Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat”.
Credit: Prime Video

Fortunately, Corporate retirement found the right lead in Anthony. Like Ronald, he does not reject the strange people he meets. Instead, he befriends them and guides them through even the craziest situations. One of the highlights of the season is the budding friendship between him and Dougie. While Bonifer often pushes Dougie to annoying extremes, there is an endearing quality to his desire to excel as a CEO. Anthony clings to her in hopes of helping her achieve that goal, creating a sweet bromance.

Like the cast, Anthony commits hard – not at the performance, since he doesn’t know it’s all fake, but at Rockin’ Grandma’s itself. Even though he has only been working there for a few days, he is fully prepared to do everything possible to keep the “family” at the heart of the company. When a shady venture capital firm comes forward to potentially acquire Rockin’ Grandma’s, Anthony is ready to throw down for his colleagues.

It’s a testament to his character, but also to the immersive quality of Corporate retirementIt’s an elaborate ruse. At times, this immersion means the season can feel more manipulative than the original. Jury dutyparticularly with an emphasis on (false) team relationships. As with Ronald, the final revelation proves more heartwarming than anything else, but one has to wonder what impacts Truman Show-ing a guy will get it.

However, it helps that Anthony is constantly ready to roll with the punches. More than that, he’s the perfect audience stand-in, unafraid to laugh in disbelief at some of the craziest lines of the season. I have rarely laughed harder in front of someone who was laughing.

“Honestly, you couldn’t even make that up for a TV show,” Ronald said during a speaking confessional. “It’s so authentic and real. No one could sit down and write a script like this.”

Well, it turns out it does, and it makes for great television – but just like with Ronald and Jury dutyit’s Anthony who takes the upper hand.

The first three episodes of Jury duty presents: Company retirement premieres March 20 on Prime Video, with new episodes every week.