Nathan Fielder, the comedian known for his unconventional approach to problem-solving, found himself in disagreement with a U.S. federal government agency regarding his theories presented in the second season of The Rehearsal.

The HBO show features Fielder assisting individuals in preparing for important life events by meticulously recreating environments to simulate potential outcomes.

In the second season, Fielder focused on preventing plane crashes by enhancing communication between pilots and co-pilots. His hypothesis centered on the idea that co-pilots often hesitate to voice concerns when a superior makes a questionable decision.

To validate his theory,Fielder obtained his 737 pilot certification and attempted to convey his message to the federal government. However, his efforts were not well-received.

During a CNN appearance on The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown, Brown stated that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “mandates all airline pilots and crew members to complete interpersonal communication training,” and that it “isn’t seeing the data that supports the show’s central claim, that pilot communications is to blame for airline disaster.”

Fielder responded to the FAA’s stance with bluntness, stating, “That’s dumb. they’re dumb.”

“I trained to be a pilot, and I’m a 737 pilot. I went through the training. The training is, someone shows you a PowerPoint slide saying, if you are a co-pilot and the captain does something wrong, you need to speak up about it,” Fielder explained.

“That’s all. That’s the training. And they talk about some crashes that happened, but they don’t do anything that makes it stick emotionally.”

“That’s dumb. They’re dumb.”

Reviews for The Rehearsal have been largely favorable, with the latest season achieving a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of reporting.

indiewire praised the season, suggesting that “it’s an earnest effort to improve people’s lives,” and describing it as “a sidesplitting comedy and a moving emotional odyssey for Nathan” and “a cut above the vast majority of television”.

The show previously garnered attention when Fielder drew a comparison between Paramount+ and Nazi Germany after an episode of his earlier program, Nathan for you, was removed from the streaming service.

Pilot Communication and Aviation Safety: An Explainer