Prepare yourselves: HBO renews Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal for a second season

Now, we know you did not have time to rehearse your reaction to this bit of news prior to its release in the absolutely perfectly replicated setting, but we’re gonna have to go off the cuff. HBO has officially renewed Nathan Fielder’s surrealist series The Rehearsal for a second season ahead of the season one finale, which airs tonight.

“Nathan has sparked such a lively conversation with The Rehearsal. 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,” says HBO’s executive vice president of programming, Amy Gravitt.

The conversation has been lively, indeed, with viewers diving into long Twitter rants on the ethics of Fielder’s simulations, and as with Nathan For You, the effects on the ordinary people in front of the camera. This season, Fielder’s gone to great lengths to perfectly recreate and meticulously rehearse a variety of experiences, including helping a woman through the process of child-rearing, a man seeking his inheritance from his brother, and a trivia fanatic who needs to confess to his friend that his academic status is a fraud. All the while, Fielder finds himself more and more involved in his own experiments.

Fielder serves as executive producer, writer, director, and star of the series. The season one finale of The Rehearsal airs tonight, August 19, on HBO and HBO Max.