Telemarketers: Season 1

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 13 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 6 Ratings

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8.2

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8.2	Your Score
8.2	User Score Universal acclaim based on 6 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

HBO | Season Premiere Date: August 13, 2023

Summary: The three-part documentary series features years of footage taken by Sam Lipman-Stern Pat Pespas were working at a New Jersey telemarketing call center and their later efforts to expose similar schemes by others.

Genre(s): Movie/Mini-Series, Documentary

Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E3. Part 3
Air Date: August 27, 2023
tbd
S1:E2. Part 2
Air Date: August 20, 2023
tbd
S1:E1. Part 1
Air Date: August 13, 2023

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

John Anderson

Aug 11, 2023

A pair of uncredentialed but impassioned citizen investigators tell a story that spans nearly 20 years, creating a scroungy, antic masterpiece in the process. Read full review

Judy Berman

Aug 11, 2023

Telemarketers is one of the most exciting documentaries I’ve seen in years. Effortlessly dodging, and sometimes subtly parodying, every maudlin cliché of the true-crime genre. Read full review

The Daily Beast Nick Schager

Aug 14, 2023

A jaw-dropping ride through a Wild West of unhinged ex-cons, crooked cops, dishonest businessmen, and powerless bureaucrats—at once astonishing, infuriating, and touching. Read full review

Daniel Fienberg

Aug 11, 2023

Telemarketers got me a little angry and outraged, but not as much as I might have hoped, given the topic. However, I laughed a lot and, thanks to Pat’s willingness to expose his frailties to the camera, I found an appreciation for Sam and Pat and their fellowship and their quest. Read full review

Roxana Hadadi

Aug 18, 2023

The series pairs their fish-out-of-water vibe with some structurally smart choices to keep us immersed even as Lipman-Stern hits various dead ends, including its use of episodic cliffhangers, the way it integrates Lipman-Stern’s narration and exposition, and its centering of the hyperearnest Pespas. Read full review

Joel Keller

Aug 14, 2023

Telemarketers made us laugh just as much as it made us outraged. We were eager to see just where Lipman-Stern and Pespas go with their mission to expose all charity fundraising companies. Read full review

A.A. Dowd

Aug 28, 2023

Telemarketers is gripping whenever it's focusing on the party-hard, Wolf of Wall Street culture of the call center or tracing the swindles of shady fundraising operations outward to powerful police unions and politicians with hands tied. It's much less interesting once it becomes more invested in the filmmakers' Michael Moorian quests to land interviews; they keep interrupting their exposé for scenes of them planning an exposé. Read full review

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User Score

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8.2

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User Reviews

OlivierPiel

Aug 29, 2023

It is, first, a public service, not just your average socio-economical documentary . But even better is its main character, the closest thing to a modern holy fool, living a fascinating paradoxical existence. It is really a case of life surpassing art, not just imitating it. And thatIt is, first, a public service, not just your average socio-economical documentary . But even better is its main character, the closest thing to a modern holy fool, living a fascinating paradoxical existence. It is really a case of life surpassing art, not just imitating it. And that justifies the existence of this program alone. My only issue with the program is the tedious and repetitive description of the scamming system as if we needed to go in all the nitty gritty details of this epic Quixotic quest to prove its reality.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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Seasons & Episodes

81

Series Overview
Season 1

81
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: August 13, 2023
- tbd
  S1:E3. Part 3
  Air Date: August 27, 2023
- tbd
  S1:E2. Part 2
  Air Date: August 20, 2023
- tbd
  S1:E1. Part 1
  Air Date: August 13, 2023