Columns, Opinion

MIHACHIK: ‘Nathan for You:’ An amazing show that should end sooner rather than later

Can one desire too much of a good thing?

Comedy Central’s documentary-style series, “Nathan for You,” begs this Shakespearian question as it enters its fourth season this week. In the show, comedian Nathan Fielder offers business advice to people in the Los Angeles area. However, he does so by purposely misinterpreting the needs of his clients.

Nathan sets out to create awkward situations with the people he works with, utilizing unorthodox business strategies while managing to maintain a deadpan expression throughout each episode. This cringe-worthy humor makes “Nathan for You” one of the best shows on television. But when the show’s premise relies so heavily on Nathan’s low-profile identity, how long can it last without losing its integrity?

Maybe not that long, at least if Nathan continues to make too big a name for himself. Apart from lending his voice to Teenyverse scientist Kyle in Adult Swim’s coveted “Rick and Morty,” Fielder has also briefly appeared alongside Seth Rogen in the films “The Night Before” and “The Disaster Artist.” In fact, Fielder and Rogen even did improv comedy together in high school.

Additionally, a few of Fielder’s on-screen business ventures garnered national attention. During the show’s second season, in an episode entitled “Dumb Starbucks,” Nathan uses parody law to mock the popular coffee shop. The stunt gained attention from news outlets worldwide after the “Dumb Starbucks” store they created was mistaken for an artistic attempt by Banksy, a famously anonymous graffiti artist.

In regards to Fielder’s growing recognition, it’s worth noting that he recently donated a generous $150,000 to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre when he founded Summit Ice, an outdoor apparel company whose profits he used to make the donation.In his Season 4 kicker, “Nathan for You: A Celebration,” Nathan presents this sum in the form of a miniature check, so as not to look pretentious upon its award. This 40-minute long special aired just last Thursday.

If the show is so good, should the “Nathan for You” era really end sooner rather than later? My answer is yes.

While fans of television shows often beg for more of their favorite content, it might be wise for Comedy Central to cut Nathan’s project short before it’s ruined. The idea of the show is that Nathan approaches business owners who are unfamiliar with who he is. When Nathan becomes too popular amongst comedians (and more generally, celebrities), “Nathan for You” will transform into “Punk’d” for businesses, thus losing its appeal to viewers.

That being said, I think Nathan could squeeze a couple more seasons out of his show if he wanted to. We’ve already seen episodes where he wasn’t the face of an operation. For instance, when he impersonated a stranger and walked a tightrope, or when he recruited a bodybuilder to pose as the author of a ghost-written book which ended up making Amazon’s bestseller list. Nathan is creative and combative, always finding new ways to carry out these absurd business plans. Surely, he will be able to fight the media off for another year or two and remain under the radar.

“Nathan for You” is a show I love, and I love it too much to watch it be ran into the ground. If it stops encompassing Fielder’s vision of the show he originally set out to make, I hope it stops getting renewed. It’s like “The Office” post-Steve Carell, or “Community” once Donald Glover and Dan Harmon jumped ship — both shows should have ended earlier than they did.

I don’t want fans of “Nathan for You” to ask for more episodes once the time comes for it to be over. I know Nathan will outgrow his show because he is a uniquely talented comedian. Let him win our hearts over a second time in his future endeavors.

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One Comment

  1. The funniest show on television in my opinion. I don’t think he is mainstream enough for most people to know who he is at least for a few years. Sadly, that is what happened with Sacha Baron Cohen and Ali G.