Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal Renewed for Season 2 at HBO

Nathan Fielder in The Rehearsal (Photo: HBO)

Nathan Fielder's critically-acclaimed comedy The Rehearsal has been renewed for a second season on HBO.

The renewal comes ahead of the Season 1 finale, which airs Friday night on HBO and HBO Max.

The Rehearsal follows Fielder as he helps ordinary people prepare for life's biggest moments by "rehearsing" them in carefully crafted simulations. Fielder relies on a construction crew, a legion of actors, and a seemingly unlimited budget to reduce the uncertainties of these moments and everyday life.

Midway through Season 1, however, Fielder is drawn into the simulation himself, and the experience prompts him to question both his core identity and the "reality" of the world around him. This journey has ignited an intense discussion about whether Fielder's comedy crosses a line by manipulating its subjects.

"Nathan has sparked such a lively conversation with The Rehearsal," Amy Gravitt, executive vice president of programming at HBO, said in a statement. "We have no idea where Season 2 will take us, and that is the delight of this boundary pushing show from a truly singular talent."

Online controversy aside, The Rehearsal has been well-received by critics. In his review for Primetimer, Aaron Barnhart wrote of the comedy, "Though familiar tropes reappear throughout The Rehearsal — elaborately constructed simworlds, actors playing ordinary people — this is not just a series of episodic stunts. It's more of a dramedy in six acts."

The Rehearsal Season 1 finale airs Friday at 11:00 PM ET on HBO and HBO Max.

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Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.

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