How To with John Wilson

How To with John Wilson is an American television comedy docuseries created by filmmaker John Wilson. The series, executive produced by Nathan Fielder, Michael Koman and Clark Reinking, was ordered by HBO. It premiered on October 23, 2020.

On December 9, 2020, HBO renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on November 26, 2021. In February 2022, the series was renewed for a third season. In May 2023, HBO announced it would premiere on July 28 and be the final season. Wilson said he had decided it would be the last one.

Premise
John Wilson attempts to give advice while dealing with his own personal issues. The 25-minute episodes, framed as tutorials and filmed mainly on the streets of New York City, cover topics from small talk to scaffolding.

Each episode is narrated in a second-person perspective, and features numerous shots edited together from hours of B-roll. There is often a road trip, convention or memoir component.

While each episode initially focuses on its title topic, in the course of his investigation, Wilson meets people and strikes up conversations that lead in unpredictable and diverse directions. For example, the episode "How to Improve Your Memory" ends up featuring a conference on the Mandela effect in Ketchum, Idaho.

Production
Wilson explained to Variety his process of making the show: "I try to draft very rough scripts of what might happen in an episode, and then we give it to production and put a plan in action to shoot it—and every single script is rewritten from the ground up by the time we're done in the edit. So much of the rewriting has to happen in the edit, because we're now writing to these shots that we never could have predicted that we would have, and they're always so much better than the stuff that we roughly conceived."

Critical response
How To with John Wilson has received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a score of 100% with an average rating of 7.8/10 based on 26 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Surprising, thoughtful, and superbly strange, How To with John Wilson's blend of documentary styles comes together to create a singularly delightful experience." On Metacritic, the first season has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 7 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter wrote How To with John Wilson is "funny, sad, and, in the end, shockingly profound." Steve Greene of IndieWire gave the series a positive review of an A−, saying it has "a hint of darkness and a wealth of empathy."

The second season received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a score of 100% with an average rating of 9/10 based on 7 reviews. On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 92 out of 100, based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

The third season received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a score of 100% with an average rating of 9.4/10 based on 14 reviews. On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 93 out of 100, based on 9 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".