How To with John Wilson is one of the more improbable and hard-to-describe TV successes of the modern age: a show that’s nothing but a guy and his small camera tooling about New York City (and occasionally other places, like Florida, Vegas, Cancún or Pennsylvania), shooting strange stuff. Sometimes it’s a weird sign; sometimes it’s a woman placing a live pigeon in a Duane Reade bag like it was produce. Whatever it is, it’s likely never been on television before. And now even more of it will be coming to TV in the future.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, HBO has greenlit a third season of the show, which purports to be tutorial — episode titles include “How to Make Small Talk” and “How to Cook the Perfect Risotto” — but wind up snaking in strange and philosophical directions. Last season found our host learning about real estate, wine, and what to do with dead batteries. But those were just jumping-off points for what amounted to half-hour long essay films that veered into deep and often strange directions. (One episode featured a most unexpected cameo from future convicted cult leader Keith Raniere.)
In the meantime, Wilson has another several months to wander around the city in which he lives and who knows where else, miraculously stumbling upon the unexpected and inexplicable, and gifting us with TV’s best awkward voice that doesn’t belong to Joe Pera.