It didn’t seem like a difficult question: How would John Wilson describe “How to With John Wilson”? But after a long pause, the 37-year-old filmmaker chuckles sheepishly, defeated. “This continues to be a challenge for me,” he admits over Zoom. “I still don’t know how to pitch this show, even after a decade of making this work.
” Let me give it a try: Over three terrific seasons, “How to” forged its own inimitable path in the nonfiction space, each episode initially promising to provide viewers with practical advice — “How to Make Small Talk,” “How to Split the Check” — before host John Wilson’s investigation into the topic invariably leads him into funny, uncharted new territory. Buttressed by B-roll of odd sights on the streets of New York, ironically juxtaposed with Wilson’s amusingly low-key voice-over, “How to” never mocked the bizarre subjects who entered its orbit — whether UFO eyewitnesses or vacuum-cleaner collectors — instead crafting movingly humane snapshots of proudly peculiar individuals. Wilson knew this season would be the last, and he wanted to end on a high note.
He succeeded, earning Emmy nominations for writing and hosting a nonfiction program. Actually, “How to” had been part of Wilson’s life long before it premiered on HBO in October 2020: In the early 2010s, he began making independent short films in a similar vein with such titles as “How to Keep Smoking.” As he puts it, “It would take me a year to.