Telemarketers

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.

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.

“Telemarketers” crafts a pivotal examination of a profession most people actively try to ignore. That it does so this thoroughly, and with high entertainment value, only goes to show that while hanging up is good advice, it isn’t the ultimate solution.

In traditional media, Pespas’s history of addiction would be a credibility killer. Here it’s a sign of his authenticity. .... The wobbly final episode only glancingly acknowledges the ways that telemarketing tactics have evolved since C.D.G.’s day, now that A.I. has rendered flesh-and-blood employees largely obsolete and call scripts capitalize on political strife by framing donations as protests against police reform. But, when it becomes clear that there’s no real conclusion to this story, the lack of closure feels right.

But whether purely by accident or as a byproduct of Lipman-Stern and Pespas growing into their role, "Telemarketers" successfully shows us the structural and psychological reasons enabling this wide-reaching industry to thrive, and it in the main it all circles back to our societies tangled relationship with the cops.

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.

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.

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.

As much as you want "Telemarketers" to have a more direct focus for its David v. Goliath exposé, it's not about that, and sometimes that is frustrating. But because we see it all with such humanizing honesty, Lipman-Stern's intricate care for this world and its greatest injustices becomes our own.

Kinetic and raw and eye-opening three-part HBO documentary. .... At times Pespas in particular seems more like Don Quixote than investigative journalist, but he and Lipman-Stern are to be applauded for their continuing efforts to warn us about telemarketing scams.

Ultimately, “Telemarketers” succeeds more as a character study of a passel of shady individuals who don’t normally turn up on TV than it does as any sort of expose.