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Season 1 – This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy

Play trailer Poster for Season 1 – This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy Feb 2019 Documentary Special Interest Play Trailer Watchlist
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43% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Actor Kal Penn hosts this docuseries from Oscar winner Adam McKay that takes a look at the global economy. Penn, a former White House associate during the Obama administration, takes viewers around the world to meet key players behind some of the more serious and bizarre movements in today's economy. Each episode focuses on a central question about the global economy -- such as how to launder a bag of dirty cash -- as the show looks to discover surprising ways the economy interconnects and impacts the lives of people worldwide. The series features in-depth access to unique specialists, including extreme preparedness experts, and has cameos by such celebrities as Ted Danson, Zach Galifianakis, Joel McHale, Ed O'Neill, Rob Riggle and Meghan Trainor.
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This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy — Season 1

Critics Reviews

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Hettie O'Brien New Statesman 03/06/2019
McKay's new series is replete with vignettes that mock rent seeking and financial corruption. Depending on your tolerance for smugness, this is either entertaining or irritating. Go to Full Review Melanie McFarland Salon.com 03/05/2019
The subject rides shotgun to the star here at times, and if you're not on board with his staged gags, his presence can rob attention away from the central purpose of a given episode. Go to Full Review Judy Berman TIME Magazine 02/27/2019
There's a fine line between keeping your viewers entertained and condescending to them, and like most of the well-intentioned projects that constitute McKay's second act... Giant Beast too often ends up on the wrong side of it. Go to Full Review Joanne Laurier World Socialist Web Site 08/05/2020
This Giant Beast's very unconvincing quality, rooted in the unstable and politically inconsistent social milieu that produced it, is unlikely to have the desired effect. Go to Full Review Peter Coy Bloomberg News 03/08/2019
The upside of this crowd-pleasing approach is that there's never a dull moment. The episodes are packed with intelligent, thought-provoking material, even for the finance nerds. Go to Full Review Joel Keller Decider 02/26/2019
This Giant Beast That Is The Global Economy is one of those shows where you're more likely to watch whatever episodes that interest you and leave others alone. And that's OK. You'll get an entertaining 45 minutes no matter what. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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David O @DavidO11 Sep 2 I chain watched about five episodes back to back. Have to say it's very entertaining, and very thought-provoking. We really need more documentaries and approaches to educational items that are entertaining, but factual and spurring debate. See more 06/05/2020 Interesting, educational, and informative! See more 12/15/2019 Impresionante trabajo de Kal Penn y su equipo para mostrar, de forma un tanto graciosa, la tragedia de mundo en que vivimos actualmente y de la cual muy pocos se enteran. Grandiosa serie. See more 05/02/2019 It's like the people making the show (or 'documentary' even) are misguided and misinformed, leading to partial or not very helpful or not completely relevant and maybe not 100% true information being shared with viewers. It's not adding value in any way where they make it sound like they really are trying (just like in any documentary), but it's futile. Only positive is that they apparently are somehow able to reach the interesting people in various spaces/industries for potentially insightful conversations in the show but it seems they aren't able to make good enough use of the time they were given by the respective people. Expected so much more, it could have been great - a metaphor might be being when served flat champagne. You expect something fizzy and bright and amazing, but receive stale and dirty and lifeless. See more 02/22/2019 Hilarious and insightful. It's perfect for those who liked director McKay's film THE BIG SHORT or "Schoolhouse Rock". See more Read all reviews
This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy — Season 1

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Cast & Crew

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Kal Penn

Host

Will Ferrell

Executive Producer

Adam McKay

Executive Producer

Kevin J. Messick

Executive Producer

Eli Holzman

Executive Producer

Aaron Saidman

Executive Producer

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Feb 22, 2019 Money Laundering: A How To Guide Kal Penn travels across the globe to discover how to turn a suitcase full of dirty money into cash that can actually be spent; he learns from former cops and criminals about how to gain access to a worldwide underground money-laundering system. Details Episode 2 Aired Feb 22, 2019 Are Rich People Dicks or Do Dicks Get Rich Exploring if there is a correlation between wealth and a snobby attitude; Kal meets with unapologetic one-percenters and travels to a country that has rigged the financial game in favor of its citizens. Details Episode 3 Aired Feb 22, 2019 The Rubber Episode Without rubber, the economy as it is currently known ceases to exist; Kal traces the path of rubber -- from trees to tires and the tip of his pencil, and he uncovers a fundamental blind spot in the free market economy that's putting people at risk. Details Episode 4 Aired Feb 22, 2019 A.I. Is the Future. Will it Keep Us Around to Enjoy it? Kal meets artificial intelligence face-to-interface and gets a glimpse of how A.I. is learning -- on its own -- how to self-drive the global economy straight into the next industrial revolution. Details Episode 5 Aired Feb 22, 2019 Counterfeiting Kills Economies (And Helps Them Too) A counterfeit $100 bill might ruin one's weekend, but it could also disrupt a nation's economy; Kal meets the folks in the fight against fakes, trying to save industries from the threat of bogus goods and terrorism. Details Episode 6 Aired Feb 22, 2019 The Death Episode Death is everyone's final destination -- and a real moneymaker; Kal takes a deep dive into the death economy to learn the true value of a human life; hit men and judges, funeral directors and football fans all help him lay his questions to rest. Details Episode 7 Aired Feb 22, 2019 Is Money Bulls...? Kal navigates a modern return to the barter system, the political highs and lows of the gold standard and the "because I said so" logic of flat currency; untangling the complexities of cryptocurrency; how to survive an economic apocalypse. Details Episode 8 Aired Feb 22, 2019 A Global Corruption Tour Kal uncovers the hidden world of bribery, extortion, nepotism and embezzlement; he meets brave people who have risked everything to stop corruption and learns how a country's attempts to appear corruption-free are tied to mandatory toilet flushing. Details

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This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy — Season 1

This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy View more photos

Season Info

Executive Producer
Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Kevin J. Messick, Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Aliyah Silverstein
Network
Prime Video
Rating
TV-MA
Genre
Documentary, Special Interest
Original Language
English
Release Date
Feb 22, 2019