How To Make a Hugely Popular, yet Seemingly Pointless TV Series (with John Wilson)

The first episode of “How To With John Wilson” opens with a straight shot of a dumpster overflowing with trash. The camera, shaking slightly, stays on this frame for a moment too long, as the monotone voice of John Wilson begins an awkward and unsure introduction to his show. The viewing experience of the rest of this TV series is encompassed in the opening scene: uncomfortable, weird, and yet impossible to look away from.

Wilson’s show, streaming exclusively on HBO Max, has taken the country by storm, receiving a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and gaining a devoted following only weeks after it premiered in October of 2020. John Wilson, the 35-year old filmmaker whose face never appears in the show except through the occasional reflection in a window, is the humble writer, director, producer, and narrator of “How To”.

In viewing “How To”, it is easy to forget that the purpose of the show is to offer advice. Wilson provides a step-by-step guide on important life lessons, ranging from “How to Make Small Talk” and “How to Put up Scaffolding” to “How to Split the Check”. Through his many pauses and stammerings, Wilson seems unclear as to why he’s even at liberty to offer such advice, but his narrations are endearing and at times profound. 

“How To With John Wilson” does not offer viewers an escape from reality like most popular TV shows, which feature plots people can disappear into and use to forget about the outside world. Instead, “How To” is deeply rooted in reality, in the moments of life when most people are on autopilot: a man surreptitiously picking his nose while waiting for the subway, a woman trying to lure a pigeon into a plastic shopping bag, an inflatable giraffe sitting in the passenger seat of an empty car.

Through the never ending B-roll footage of New York City and its eclectic inhabitants, Wilson offers viewers insight into the world through his eyes. And though it is framed as a love letter to New York City, the dysfunctional and almost sociopathic depiction of New Yorkers seems more like a warning sign.

John Wilson is the little voice in the back of your head that wonders, “What would happen if I did everything that my parents told me not to do?” He talks to strangers, buys a rug off craigslist with a bloodstain from “stress related incidents”, and purchases the building he lives in from the elderly landlady downstairs despite the fact that it is literally crumbling before his eyes. He acts on the desires you didn’t even realize you had. And reminds you why your parents advised you against those desires in the first place.

At times, viewers fear for the safety and wellbeing of the narrator, who jumps at the chance to visit a “child predator catcher’s” house in Virginia after having a minutes-long conversation with him at Wrestlemania. Yet Wilson always emerges safe from these outrageous interactions with strangers, often having gained no answers to the question the episode posed.

The show itself feels like one long tangent, so much so that you forget where you started, or why you clicked on the episode in the first place. But rest assured that John Wilson will take you right back where you began, and leave you feeling like you know less about the subject of the episode than thirty minutes prior.

So why do people love “How To With John Wilson”? All of these reasons and more. It’s real. It’s raw. It’s gross. It’s awkward. And it’s a masterpiece.