More than 20 years ago, the writers behind The Simpsons had an episode plot so unlikely that its unlikeliness became a plot point. The episode, “The Great Money Caper,” saw the entire population of Springfield conspire to stage a fake trial to teach Homer and Bart a lesson about honesty.

Like so many episodes of the seminal show, the premise was more prophetic than preposterous. Meet Jury Duty, the funniest TV show of the year.

Part Truman show, part Parks and Rec and part Candid Camera, Duty takes one dupe — in this case a bewildered Ronald Gladden — and drops him into a fictitious jury sitting on a fictitious trial for a fictitious crime (it involves urine and t-shirt printing gone awry). It’s far-fetched just enough to be real.

Duty’s beauty is its singular premise: A ‘gotcha’ gag that, unlike so many new series, cannot get bogged down in side stories aimed at generating spinoffs and stand-alone characters. Here, the joke sits deliriously over Gladden’s head as he’s “voted” jury foreman — and thus entrusted with keeping in line a motley crew of don’t wannabes and James Marsden, who plays himself as an actor looking to weasel out of communal duty. It’s his best work since 30 Rock.

The show twists us through unforeseeable turns as the jury is sequestered and taken through the “crime” scene. The actors here are all terrific. A 70-something keeps nodding off. A juror discovers his girlfriend is cheating on him while he’s empaneled. Another brings “crutchpants” for long stands.

Absurd? Quite. But given what we’ve seen in the modern court era, from camera-hungry judges to grandstanding attorneys to dim-witted jurors, the case is utterly plausible.

There are a couple objections. The acting between actors, without Gladden, is simply schtick (though good schtick). And its foray into sexuality is a bit forced.

But given the arid worldview rendered by a writer’s strike that shows no sign of slowing, this is welcome originality and, sometimes, sheer delirium. This is what binge-worthy TV looks like.

So all rise, because Jury Duty has entered the courtroom of reality television.