Station:
HBO (US)
Status:
Ended
Start:
2023-08-13
Rating:
4/10 from 1 users
Telemarketers chronicles the darkly comedic, unexpected 20-year journey of two unlikely office buddies, who stumble upon the murky truth behind the work they've been doing at a seedy New Jersey call center – persuading people to give money to charities – and vow to expose the crooked American telemarketing industry from within. As amateur sleuths looking to shine a light on the billion-dollar scam, with raucous insider access, raw eyewitness footage, and a comedic cast of call center characters, the film is a madcap story of an unruly, low-wage environment and two long-time office buddies who find themselves hot on the trail of a sobering look at the dark side of American capitalism and the misuse of consumer trust.
TV Show Ended.
S1E1 - Episode 1
Sam Lipman-Stern, a 14-year-old high school dropout, joins Civic Development Group ("CDG") in 2001 as a telemarketer raising money for various charities. What starts off as horseplay, filming the outrageous office antics, leads Sam and his colleague Pat Pespas (a legendary salesman at the office who is also struggling with addiction) to closely examine their dubious fundraising practices and the players behind this seemingly large-scale fraud.
Air Date: 13 Aug 2023 21:00 (CDT)
S1E2 - Episode 2
In the wake of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shutting down CDG in 2009, other copy-cat telemarketing companies pop up and evade regulation by taking advantage of loopholes. Undeterred, Sam and Pat continue down a wild and twisted path. Through industry sources and obsessive muckraking, they learn that the industry's corrupt ways run much deeper than just CDG. Just as they are gaining ground in their investigation, Pat unexpectedly disappears bringing their mission to a screeching halt.
Air Date: 20 Aug 2023 21:00 (CDT)
S1E3 - Episode 3
Years later, Sam and Pat reunite in present day to continue their investigation only to learn that telemarketing schemes are now even more brazen and opportunistic with the advent of robocalling, political action committees (PACs), and new technologies such as AI. They travel across the country, gathering compelling evidence from a range of sources, and find themselves on Capitol Hill in a meeting with a US Senator to bring their findings to, but the solutions prove to be more elusive than they imagined.
Air Date: 27 Aug 2023 21:00 (CDT)