| Dirty John | |
|---|---|
 Season 1 intertitle | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Alexandra Cunningham |
| Based on | Dirty John byChristopher Goffard |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Mark Mothersbaugh |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Cinematography |
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| Editors |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 42–50 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Bravo |
| Release | November 25, 2018 (2018-11-25) – January 13, 2019 (2019-01-13) |
| Network | USA Network |
| Release | May 31 (2020-05-31) – July 14, 2020 (2020-07-14) |
Dirty John is an Americantrue crimeanthology television series, based on thepodcast of the same name byChristopher Goffard, that premiered on November 25, 2018, onBravo. Outside the United States, it was made available throughNetflix on February 14, 2019. The series was created byAlexandra Cunningham also an executive producer alongsideRichard Suckle,Charles Roven, Mark Herzog, Christopher G. Cowen, and Chris Argentieri. The series was initially given an order for two seasons. In May 2019, it was announced that the series will be moving from Bravo toUSA Network, ahead of the premiere of the second season.[1] The second season is titledDirty John: The Betty Broderick Story. A trailer for the season was released on March 25, 2020, featuringChristian Slater andAmanda Peet in the role ofBetty Broderick.[2] In April 2020, it was announced that the second season would premiere on June 2, 2020, with a sneak peek of the first episode of the second season airing on May 31, 2020.[3][4]
The first season was met with a mixed to positive response from critics upon its premiere and managed to garner recognition at various award ceremonies.Connie Britton earned nominations for awards including theGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film and theCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television and Garner earned a nomination for theCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television.
Season 1 of tells the story of "how a romance with the charismatic John Meehan spiraled into secrets, denial, manipulation, and ultimately, survival – with horrific consequences for an entire family."[5]
Season 2 follows the breakdown of Betty Broderick's marriage to childhood sweetheart Dan Broderick and the devastating effects of the emotional toll it took on Betty.
| Season | Title | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | ||||
| 1 | The John Meehan Story | 8 | November 15, 2018 (2018-11-15) | January 13, 2019 (2019-01-13) | Bravo | |
| 2 | The Betty Broderick Story | 8 | May 31, 2020 (2020-05-31) | July 14, 2020 (2020-07-14) | USA Network | |
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Approachable Dreams" | Jeffrey Reiner | Alexandra Cunningham | November 15, 2018 (2018-11-15)[a] | 1.22[9] |
| 2 | 2 | "Red Flags and Parades" | Jeffrey Reiner | Evan Wright | December 2, 2018 (2018-12-02) | 1.24[10] |
| 3 | 3 | "Remember It Was Me" | Jeffrey Reiner | Diana Son | December 9, 2018 (2018-12-09) | 1.28[11] |
| 4 | 4 | "Shrapnel" | Jeffrey Reiner | Alexandra Cunningham & Sinead Daly | December 16, 2018 (2018-12-16) | 1.14[12] |
| 5 | 5 | "Lord High Executioner" | Jeffrey Reiner | Christopher Goffard | December 23, 2018 (2018-12-23) | 1.04[13] |
| 6 | 6 | "One Shoe" | Jeffrey Reiner | Alexandra Cunningham & Kevin J. Hynes | December 30, 2018 (2018-12-30) | 1.37[14] |
| 7 | 7 | "Chivalry" | Jeffrey Reiner | Alexandra Cunningham & Lex Edness | January 6, 2019 (2019-01-06) | 1.49[15] |
| 8 | 8 | "This Young Woman Fought Like Hell" | Jeffrey Reiner | Alexandra Cunningham | January 13, 2019 (2019-01-13) | 1.84[16] |
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "No Fault" | Maggie Kiley | Alexandra Cunningham | May 31, 2020 (2020-05-31)[b] | 0.55[18] |
| 10 | 2 | "The Turtle and the Alligator" | Meera Menon | Stacy A. Littlejohn | June 2, 2020 (2020-06-02) | 0.89[17] |
| 11 | 3 | "Marriage Encounter" | Kat Candler | Juliet Lashinsky-Revene | June 9, 2020 (2020-06-09) | 0.91[19] |
| 12 | 4 | "More to It Than Fun" | Maggie Kiley | Alexandra Cunningham & Katherine B. McKenna | June 16, 2020 (2020-06-16) | 0.81[20] |
| 13 | 5 | "Scream Therapy" | Maggie Kiley | Aaron Carew | June 23, 2020 (2020-06-23) | 0.80[21] |
| 14 | 6 | "The Twelfth of Never" | Shannon Kohli | Kevin J. Hynes | June 30, 2020 (2020-06-30) | 0.67[22] |
| 15 | 7 | "The Shillelagh" | Alexandra Cunningham | Lex Edness | July 7, 2020 (2020-07-07) | 0.75[23] |
| 16 | 8 | "Perception is Reality" | Maggie Kiley | Alexandra Cunningham | July 14, 2020 (2020-07-14) | 0.84[24] |
On January 28, 2018, it was announced thatBravo had given a series order toDirty John, a new television series created and written byAlexandra Cunningham. The series order was reportedly for two seasons in which Cunningham would executive produce alongsideRichard Suckle,Charles Roven, Mark Herzog, Christopher G. Cowen and Christopher Argentieri. Production companies involved in the series were slated to includeUniversal Cable Productions, Los Angeles Times Studios, andAtlas Entertainment.[5][25][26] On October 8, 2018, it was announced that the series would premiere on November 25, 2018.[27] On May 17, 2019, it was reported that the series will be moving from Bravo toUSA Network, ahead of the premiere of the second season.[1] On September 9, 2019, it was reported that series is ananthology series and the second season is titledDirty John: The Betty Broderick Story which premiered on June 2, 2020.[28][3]
On March 26, 2018, it was announced thatConnie Britton had been cast in the series' lead role.[29][30] On April 3, 2018, it was reported thatEric Bana had joined the main cast as the eponymous John Meehan.[31] On June 14, 2018, it was announced thatJean Smart had been cast in a recurring role.[32] In July 2018, it was reported thatJuno Temple,Julia Garner,Kevin Zegers,Keiko Agena,John Karna,Sprague Grayden, Cliff Chamberlain,Jake Abel, andDavid Barrera had joined the cast. Temple and Garner were cast in starring roles and Zegers, Abel, and Barrera were set to appear in a recurring capacity.[33][34][35][36] On August 16, 2018, it was announced that Lindsey Kraft had been cast in a guest starring role.[37] On September 9, 2019,Amanda Peet andChristian Slater were cast in starring roles for the second season.[28] On October 18, 2019,Missi Pyle andHolley Fain were cast in recurring roles for the second season.[7] On November 8, 2019,Rachel Keller joined the main cast whileEmily Bergl, Lena Georgas,Tiera Skovbye, and Chris Mason joined the cast in recurring capacities.[6]
On August 24, 2018, a "first look" still image from the series was released featuringConnie Britton andEric Bana as Debra Newell and John Meehan.[38] On September 17, 2018, a teaser trailer for the series was released.[39] On October 8, 2018, the official trailer for the series was released.[27] On December 20, 2018, an exclusive preview clip from the series was released.[40]
On November 13, 2018, the series held its official premiere at NeueHouse Hollywood inLos Angeles,California featuring a screening of the series. A red carpet arrival was originally scheduled to take place before the screening but it was canceled out of respect for the victims of theWoolsey Fire which was still burning in the Los Angeles and Ventura counties.[41] The first season became available to stream on Netflix worldwide on February 14, 2019 and later added to Netflix in the US in November 2019.[42][43]Dirty John premiered in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2021 on5Star.[citation needed]
On January 28, 2018, it was announced thatOxygen had ordered a companion docuseries to air alongside the main series which would investigate the real John Meehan through the eyes of those he deceived. The project was set to be executive produced by Mark Herzog and Christopher G. Cowen with production companies includingHerzog & Co. and Los Angeles Times Studios.[5] On November 14, 2018, it was reported that the docuseries was actually a documentary, that it had been titledDirty John: The Dirty Truth, and that it would air in January 2019.[44] On December 16, 2018, it was announced that documentary would premiere on January 14, 2019.[45]
The series has been met with a mixed to positive response from critics upon its premiere. On the review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 71% approval rating with an average rating of 5.51/10 based on 34 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Dirty John might not live up to the thrills of its source material, but Connie Britton puts on a clinic with her interpretation of true crime treachery."[46]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the first season a score of 58 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[47]
In a positive review,Entertainment Weekly's Kristen Baldwin gave the first season a grade of "A−" and directed particular praise at the performances in it describing Britton as "perfectly cast" and saying of Bana that he "may benefit the most fromDirty John; as Meehan, the actor pivots from charming to chilling and back again with astonishing ease."[48] In a similarly favorable analysis, theLos Angeles Times's Mike Mack commended the first season declaring, "Glossy and well-acted, its transfer from your daily commute's most suspenseful listening stretch ever to serviceable wine-and-laundry-folding companion show feels, all in all, a smooth one."[49]
In a more mixed assessment,RogerEbert.com's Brian Tallerico gave the first season qualified praise saying, "Dirty John is very entertaining, though it's not without faults. It doesn't dig very deep, or present Debra's daughters as full characters (their main roles are to look confused or upset, which is a waste of big talent), and its storytelling can be a little convoluted. But it never claims to be high art."[50] In an outright negative appraisal,TVLine's Dave Nemetz gave the first season a grade of "D" and criticized it saying, "Britton and her talented co-stars are wasted here on a warmed-over Lifetime movie masquerading as a prestige TV miniseries — one that's, sadly, not even trashy enough to qualify as a guilty pleasure."[51] In another unfavorable evaluation,IndieWire's Ben Travers was very critical of the series' first season giving it a grade of "C−" and saying that, "Decidedly not ambitious 'prestige' television, the first three episodes make perfectly clear this isn't a nuanced series, or one interested in exploring abuse or manipulation in serious fashion. It's trying to be a juicy nighttime soap that uses the 'true story' tag to drive viewers' mouths further and further agape."[52]
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 90% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.15/10 for the second season. The website's critics consensus states, "AlthoughThe Betty Broderick Story's sensational story is at times scattershot, Amanda Peet's incredible embodiment of a woman scorned is a sight to behold."[53]Metacritic gave the second season a score of 73 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[54]
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Approachable Dreams" | November 25, 2018 | 0.4 | 1.22[9] | 0.3 | 0.86 | 0.7 | 2.08[55] |
| 2 | "Red Flags and Parades" | December 2, 2018 | 0.4 | 1.24[10] | 0.4 | 1.26 | 0.8 | 2.50[56] |
| 3 | "Remember It Was Me" | December 9, 2018 | 0.4 | 1.28[11] | 0.4 | 1.39 | 0.8 | 2.67[57] |
| 4 | "Shrapnel" | December 16, 2018 | 0.3 | 1.14[12] | 0.5 | 1.55 | 0.8 | 2.69[58] |
| 5 | "Lord High Executioner" | December 23, 2018 | 0.3 | 1.04[13] | 0.4 | 1.40 | 0.7 | 2.44[59] |
| 6 | "One Shoe" | December 30, 2018 | 0.4 | 1.37[14] | 0.5 | 1.54 | 0.9 | 2.91[60] |
| 7 | "Chivalry" | January 6, 2019 | 0.4 | 1.49[15] | 0.5 | 1.46 | 0.9 | 2.95[61] |
| 8 | "This Young Woman Fought Like Hell" | January 13, 2019 | 0.6 | 1.84[16] | 0.4 | 1.41 | 1.0 | 3.25[62] |
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "No Fault" | May 31, 2020 | 0.1 | 0.55[18] | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | "The Turtle and the Alligator" | June 2, 2020 | 0.2 | 0.89[17] | 0.2 | 0.79 | 0.4 | 1.68[63] |
| 3 | "Marriage Encounter" | June 9, 2020 | 0.2 | 0.91[19] | 0.3 | 0.94 | 0.5 | 1.84[64] |
| 4 | "More to It Than Fun" | June 16, 2020 | 0.2 | 0.81[20] | 0.2 | 0.95 | 0.4 | 1.76[65] |
| 5 | "Scream Therapy" | June 23, 2020 | 0.2 | 0.80[21] | 0.2 | 0.92 | 0.4 | 1.71[66] |
| 6 | "The Twelfth of Never" | June 30, 2020 | 0.1 | 0.67[22] | 0.3 | 0.97 | 0.4 | 1.64[67] |
| 7 | "The Shillelagh" | July 7, 2020 | 0.2 | 0.75[23] | 0.2 | 0.83 | 0.4 | 1.58[68] |
| 8 | "Perception is Reality" | July 14, 2020 | 0.2 | 0.84[24] | 0.2 | 0.81 | 0.4 | 1.65[69] |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film | Connie Britton | Nominated | [70] |
| Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television | Nominated | [71] | ||
| Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television | Julia Garner | Nominated | |||
| 2021 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Long Form – Original | Aaron Carew,Alexandra Cunningham, Lex Edness, Kevin J. Hynes, Juliet Lashinsky-Revene,Stacy A. Littlejohn and Katherine B. McKenna | Nominated | [72] |