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Season 1 – Telemarketers

Play trailer 2:00 Poster for Season 1 – Telemarketers Aug 2023 Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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96% Tomatometer 26 Reviews 91% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
The unexpected 20-year journey of two unlikely office buddies, who stumble upon the truth behind the work they've been doing at a seedy call center, persuading people to give money to charities, and vow to expose the American telemarketing industry.
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Telemarketers — Season 1

Telemarketers — Season 1

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Hold the phone! A truly stranger than fiction scandal is recounted with addictive aplomb in this gritty and farcical docuseries.

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Critics Reviews

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Melanie McFarland Salon.com 08/31/2023
Telemarketers scroungy realism makes it stand out in a popular mainstream genre that's been buffed to a shine. Go to Full Review A.A. Dowd IGN Movies 08/29/2023
6/10
It's been stretched out across three hour-long episodes of television with a little too much navel-gazing in them. Still, so long as Telemarketers is diving into the seedy realities of the biz, it's engrossing. Go to Full Review Roxana Hadadi New York Magazine/Vulture 08/18/2023
“They’re keeping tabs on you, America!” Pespas says in the early-aughts footage, and Telemarketers leaves us with the directive that we should be keeping tabs on the America around us, too. Go to Full Review Carla Renata The Curvy Film Critic 05/29/2024
AI and Robo calls have changed the game, but those OG telemarketers had game and criminal backgrounds. Worth the watch and the education for yourself and others Go to Full Review Steve Murray ArtsATL 10/03/2023
The friends’ sloppy, do-it-yourself chutzpah carries the day and keeps you watching... Go to Full Review Eileen Jones The Jacobin 09/08/2023
A must-see docuseries of rare, roughhouse quality. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Julius K. @noah-1 Dec 15 Fascinating and full of life See more Tech F @markiemark94 Sep 2 A documentary about an unlikely couple of buddies on a 20 year mission to expose the crooked telemarketing industry that they worked in. The real delight is in following their journey. They eventually get to Oz but the Wizard is a letdown (again). A must watch in all its flawed reality. See more Charlie E @Charliecho 09/11/2023 Absolutely outstanding work. Respect to these amateur film makers & their 20+ years of investment in pursuing & exposing this disgusting fraud. Michael Moore would be proud!! VERY. WELL. DONE. See more made4change @Jaheeeem 09/11/2023 really showed how bureaucratic non sense lead people no where and end up just getting referred to a different agency that refers you back to the other. See more Diane B @BklynWriter 09/06/2023 Had Pro Publica or some other traditional media company tackled this topic, it could have uncovered similar facts. But you wouldn't have had this Diane Arbus-meets-PT Barnum-meets-Edward R. Murrow hilarious sh*tshow that gives you a view of this corrupt lunacy from the trenches. It's poignant and funny and makes you root for the filmmaker and his sidekick/interviewer/"telemarketing legend" Pat. It's outrageous. Scams are universal but this one could only be made in America. See more Brian S @RT46679039 09/01/2023 The first episode was good. The second and third episode aren't particularly interesting and, the show really doesn't go anywhere. See more Read all reviews
Telemarketers — Season 1

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Sam Lipman-Stern

Actor

Richard Blumenthal

Self

Pat Pespas

Actor

Sarah Kleiner

Self

Roberto Lozano

Self

Ann Ravel

Self

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Aug 13, 2023 Part 1 Sam joins Civic Development Group in 2001 as a telemarketer raising money for charity; Sam and his colleague Pat closely examine their dubious fundraising practices and the players behind this seemingly large-scale fraud. Details Episode 2 Aired Aug 20, 2023 Part 2 In the wake of the FTC shutting down CDG, other copy-cat telemarketing companies pop up and evade regulation by taking advantage of loopholes; Sam and Pat learn that the industry's corrupt ways run much deeper than just CDG; Pat disappears suddenly. Details Episode 3 Aired Aug 27, 2023 Part 3 Sam and Pat reunite in present day to continue their investigation only to learn that telemarketing schemes are now even more opportunistic with robocalling, PACs and AI; they travel across the country, gathering evidence to bring to Capitol Hill. Details

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Telemarketers — Season 1

Telemarketers: Documentary Series Trailer Telemarketers: Documentary Series Trailer 2:00 View more videos
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Telemarketers — Season 1

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Season Info

Director
Sam Lipman-Stern, Adam Bhala Lough
Executive Producer
Nancy Abraham, Dani Bernfeld, David Gordon Green, Lisa Heller, Jody Hill, Brandon James, Sam Lipman-Stern, Adam Bhala Lough, Danny McBride, Tina Nguyen, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Greg Stewart
Network
HBO
Rating
TV-MA
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date
Aug 13, 2023