Parents' Guide to

Nathan for You

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Hilariously deadpan spoof with some sexual and racial humor.

TV Comedy Central Comedy 2013
Nathan for You Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 4 parent reviews

SkippyTheVirgin
SkippyTheVirgin Adult
April 1, 2022
age 12+
The topics of the show here range from silly to more mature, but the more mature segments are done tastefully and appropriately. I think it is a great introduction to more “taboo” issues because Nathan is straightforward yet sensitive, while still maintaining great humor. I think Nathan’s demeanor is also great for kids and adults to see because his persona has been influenced by the autistic community, and I think it is important for people to see people on the spectrum as normal and successful.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
BillyFatherOf3
BillyFatherOf3 Adult
July 19, 2018
age 10+

Some Episodes Fine some not

Okay, this is probably one of my favorite shows I have seen in a while. He created something called dumb Starbucks. He copied everything from Star bucks but put “Dumb” in front of it so it’s a Parody. There is a invention for a hotel called a “Sex box”. It’s for if you want to have sex but you have a kid with you. So he made a box that’s sound proof. He put toys and themed it like a rocket ship. So he hired porn stars to have sex next to it as hard as they could. The kid couldn’t hear anything. So he hired 7 porn stars to test it. They sensor everything. Don’t listen to that 18 plus garbage. It’s the character of Nathan that makes it funny.
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

As the opening sequence tells us, Nathan Fielder graduated from a Canadian business school with \"really good grades\" (as the camera shows us a transcript riddled with Bs and Cs), and now he's taking his business acumen and using it to inject success into struggling businesses helmed by real people. Nathan's \"help\" often takes odd shapes (such as when he advises a gas station owner to launch a rebate program with a form that must be dropped off atop a remote mountaintop), but everyone's laughing by the time the end credits roll.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4):
Kids say (5):

If the deadpan absurdity of shows like The Colbert Report is what cracks you up, Nathan For You is, well, for you. Fielder has a killingly dry delivery and is fearless about presenting ridiculous and bizarre business ideas to company owners, who aren't quite sure how to react. Customers are similarly nonplussed: Fielder advises a pizza shop to advertise "free pizza" with every late delivery and then sets an impossibly short delivery window of eight minutes. So every customer gets a free pizza...that's a couple of inches in size. Annoyed customers curse Fielder out; we all laugh.

It's all uncomfortable laughter, of course, as we're essentially watching people who aren't in on the joke. But some of the gags are so silly that it's impossible not to find them childishly amusing. Fielder decides to conduct a series of job interviews in which he wears an earpiece and says only what various consultants advise him to say. His consultants: a seven-year-old boy, a "jerk," and a turtle. "Do you like skateboarding?" the seven-year-old instructs Fielder to ask, interrupting a serious interview question about his job experience. Funny stuff.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Why doesn't Nathan Fielder smile when he makes jokes? Is it hard to tell when he's joking and when he's not? Do you know any other comics or shows that take this tack of remaining completely deadpan while making jokes?

  • Watch the kind of show Nathan for You is mocking: Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, for example, or Tabatha Takes Over. How is Nathan for You like these shows in pacing, characterization, dialogue, etc.? How are these shows different?

  • Why do you think business owners agree to appear on this show? Are they in on the joke? Is it OK to laugh at people who are being pranked? When does a prank go too far?

  • Is the viewer supposed to sympathize with the business owners who are "helped" on Nathan For You? What in the way owners are presented brings you to this conclusion?

TV Details

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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