Jameela Jamil Explores People's Personal Bad Places With 'The Misery Index'
Updated April 14 2020, 4:53 p.m. ET
Jameela Jamil has spent the last four years on The Good Place, but her next project is definitely more about bad places. Her next bold move is hosting TBS's new game show, The Misery Index, exploring and ranking real-life situations nobody wants to encounter.
The premise sounds rife for hilarity, but how exactly does it work? Read on for a full explainer of The Misery Index and host Jameela Jamil.
Here's what you should know about Misery Index host Jameela Jamil.
If you haven't already fallen in love with her self-absorbed character Tahani Al-Jamil on The Good Place, you may have encountered Jameela on social media, especially if you travel in activist circles. Like her Good Place character, the British actress supports a number of causes and charities. She is outspoken about diet culture and one of the leading celebrity voices in the "body neutrality" movement.
For readers unfamiliar with body neutrality, it's a bit of a measured response to the body positivity movement, which often leads people (women in particular) feeling shame about their ambivalent relationships with their bodies, and that while celebrating diverse bodies is great, another worthy goal is arriving at a neutral regard for your physical appearance.
The 33-year-old also has worked to make live entertainment venues accessible for people with disabilities and has helped raise money for various children's charities.
Jameela is a feminist and her relationship with James Blake reflects that.
Jameela has been in a relationship with fellow Brit James Blake since 2015, and the musician has proved to be a feminist ally for his partner. Recently he took to Twitter to elevate the active collaborative role musicians' partners often play during their creative process, challenging the way the word "muse" is used to downplay and romanticize the work they do. He put his money where his mouth is by crediting her as a producer on his latest album.
OK, so how does The Misery Index work?
The new game show is based on a popular party card game called S--t Happens, where players try to determine where a particular nightmare scenario — like finding a pubic hair in one's food — ranks among other cards on the 0-100 Misery Index.
On the show, two teams compete to rate real-life events on the scale, which was created by a team of therapists. Each team consists of one contestant aided by two of the prank comedy superstars from Impractical Jokers. In addition to providing comic relief, they help the contestant determine where the real-life situations would rank.
These are the Impractical Jokers on the panel.
Joining Jameela each week are the four stars of TruTV's Impractical Jokers. The improv comedians essentially dare each other to say or do things for the other jokers' amusements and, if they don't perform adequately, they are subjected to embarrassing punishments.
Since the show's inception, it has starred Brian "Q" Quinn, James "Murr" Murray, Sal Vulcano, and Joe Gatto Jr. All four of the comics are from the NYC borough of Staten Island. They've been friends since their freshman year at Monsignor Farrell High School in the Oakwood section of Staten Island. They perform together at the improv and sketch comedy troupe The Tenderloins, which was formed by Murr, Sal, and Joe with another friend, Mike Boccio, who was eventually replaced by Murr.
They gained internet fame on YouTube and MySpace and eventually won the $100,000 grand prize in an NBC competition called It's Your Show. Their successes led to a development deal with Spike TV, who eventually passed, but the boys later found a home on truTV, where their show is among the most popular programs.
