Highlights
- Jury Duty became a surprise hit for Amazon Prime, garnering dedicated viewers and surpassing the popularity of other shows.
- The success of Jury Duty can be compared to that of The Joe Schmo Show, which also relied on a fake reality show concept.
- Ronald Gladden, the star of Jury Duty, rose to fame after responding to a Craigslist ad, and his life has since changed dramatically.
Since Amazon decided to introduce a streaming service, several of its shows have garnered dedicated viewers. Still, it definitely could be argued that Jury Duty became a bigger viral hit for Amazon Prime than almost anything else the company has produced.
Since Jury Duty was so popular, fans want to know what series actor Whitney Rice thought about its first season and the advice she would give young actors. Of course, most Jury Duty viewers were fascinated by Ronald Gladden which left them wondering who he is and how the show changed his life.
Why Was Jury Duty A Surprise Hit For Amazon?
In the year 2003, the cable network then known as Spike had a lot of unique programming that did decent numbers. Then, Spike took everyone by surprise when a new quasi-reality show debuted on the network titled The Joe Schmo Show.
During The Joe Schmo Show's first season, a group of performers came together to convince one person they were all starring in a reality show. In reality, however, that one person was the only one who really believed that everything that happened on the show was real.
One of the keys to The Joe Schmo Show's success was that the one real person seemed so genuine and kind. On top of that, the cast and crew that knew everything was fake grew to love him so much that the show never felt mean-spirited. That allowed The Joe Schmo Show viewers to relish in the ruse and look forward to the final reveal.
After The Joe Schmo Show became a surprise hit for Spike, it seemed like other networks may soon follow suit by trying to pull off a similar ruse. However, that didn't really happen which left the door open for the people behind Jury Duty.
In April 2023, viewers got their first chance to watch Jury Duty, and it initially seemed like the show wasn't going anywhere. However, as The New York Times chronicled in their article about the show, Jury Duty's popularity began to grow organically.
Thanks to the few viewers that initially gave Jury Duty a chance praising it on social media, more and more people decided to start watching. Whether the people behind Jury Duty were inspired by The Joe Schmo Show in any way, they recreated the elements that made the previous series so popular for Spike.
Who Is Ronald Gladden From Jury Duty?
After Jury Duty came out and became a huge hit, Women's Health published an article looking at the show's initially unsuspecting star. Thanks to that piece, it is pretty easy to learn who Ronald Gladden was before he rose to fame.
Before Ronald Gladden joined the cast of Jury Duty, he was about to turn 30 years old and was looking for new job opportunities. Fortunately for Gladden, he decided to look at job listings on Craigslist and found someone who claimed they were looking to hire someone to appear in a documentary about jury duty. Gladden later revealed what attracted him to the listing.
"The advertisement was saying 'we're gonna pay you money for a couple weeks [of work].' The work was to participate on a jury duty. In my eyes, they were going to pay me for this experience I had never had, I was going to get to participate in something I had never done before, plus I was going to get to be in a documentary."
Before Gladden joined Jury Duty's cast, he still wasn't able to blend into crowds the way that most anonymous people can. The reason for that is simple, Gladden who stands at six foot six inches tall was far too tall to not stand out in every crowd.
Aside from Gladden's height, however, he was leading a pretty normal life before answering that fateful Craigslist ad.
According to a Women's Health article about him, Gladden may have been looking for a new job, but he worked before starring in Jury Duty. Women's Health cited a since-deleted LinkedIn page that appeared to be Gladden's which claimed he'd been working at Home Depot as a project manager.
Before Amazon made Gladden famous, the only way that he was putting himself out there for the world to see was through his Instagram account. Thanks to that Instagram account, it is clear that Gladden also is a dog owner since he seems to adore his pet Corgi Meatball.
How Has Ronald Gladden's Life Changed Since Jury Duty?
As part of Women's Health's article about Gladden, they revealed some things about what happened to his life after Jury Duty was filmed. After Jury Duty became a hit, the series' star was interviewed by an outlet called KFC Radio.
During that interview, Gladden stated that his life hadn't changed much initially after Jury Duty came out and became successful. "Even to this day, I haven't really changed my daily life because I didn't even know [Jury Duty] was even going to be anything, so I've kept my day job."
However, Gladden would go on to speak to GQ and reveal he was open to new opportunities. "I don’t know where my life is gonna go. I’m not opposed to pursuing opportunities that come from this. I just never would’ve imagined that it would’ve gotten the attention it did."
Unfortunately for Gladden, he told TV Guide that Jury Duty had left him feeling on edge in his day-to-day life for a while. "[I'd] catch myself looking over my shoulder and I was just feeling paranoid, because I just thought that they were still filming me. Ultimately I was just kind of freaking out in the sense that I thought, I'm still being followed."
Since then, it has become very clear that Gladden's life has changed pretty dramatically because of Jury Duty's success. A perfect example of that is Gladden has been working to create a show for him to star in.
"I am working on an unscripted show right now. I'm obviously not an actor, so I'm not pursuing acting gigs. Maybe that's a conversation we have years down the road. But I am living in the unscripted world and we're trying to get a television show that would be authentic towards me."
While Gladden was looking for his next show, he did make it clear that despite some rumors, he wouldn't be joining a hugely popular reality franchise. "I do not have any intention of being on The Bachelor. I truthfully have never seen it, but the premise alone is enough to turn me off. Why would you want to date people on camera when they are more than likely not even being their true selves? That does not sound fun to me."
Based on Gladden's Instagram account, his Jury Duty fame has allowed him to rub shoulders with several celebrities, and he is loving it. Gladden has uploaded images of himself with stars like Kendall Jenner, Jennifer Lawrence, Kelly Ripa, Ken Jeong, Aaron Paul, and Bryan Cranston.
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