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| Family Tree | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | Christopher Guest |
| Starring | Chris O'Dowd |
| Country of origin |
|
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Camera setup | Single |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | 12 May (2013-05-12) – 8 July 2013 (2013-07-08) |
Family Tree is amockumentarytelevision comedy created byChristopher Guest andJim Piddock. Theseries premiered on 12 May 2013, on the Americanpay television networkHBO, and appeared on the British channelBBC Two in July 2013.[1] Guest, Piddock, Karen Murphy, Deborah Oppenheimer, and Mario Stylianides serve as the show's executive producers.[2]
On 23 January 2014, it was announced that HBO had cancelled the series.[3]
Chadwick Family
Other Characters
The series is written by Guest and Piddock and directed by Guest.[4] The dialogue is improvised by the actors.[4] The show's first series consisted of 8 episodes.[1] Filming took place in London and Los Angeles.[2]
The closing credits song "I'm Alone But That's OK" is performed byRon Sexsmith and was written for the series byChristopher Guest andHarlan Collins.
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Oddball inventions: Tom's father has invented a shoe tree that can cool or heat up a shoe; a woman whom Tom and Pete meet has invented a glass, attached around her aged mother's neck, that allows her to see if she's still breathing. Kitty Chadwick has invented flavoured enemas.
Awkward dates: Pete sets up Tom on bad first dates. One woman declares that dinosaurs still exist; another is obsessed with bones.
Eccentric hobbies, quirks and obsessions: Tom's sister Bea uses a hand puppet that tends to blurt out sentiments best left unspoken. Tom often talks to neighbour Mr. Pfister, an antique-store owner trying to make "landmarks in a bottle" when he's not checking the website "Is It Fatal?" to see if he suffers from a life-threatening disease. In the first episode, Pfister sends Tom on to Neville St Aubrey, a manic-looking antique photo expert whom Pfister calls "as mad as a box of frogs". In California, Julie, Tom's cousin Rick's girlfriend, is obsessed with owls — she collects owl figurines and owl pillows and draws owls in a notebook. Rick is preoccupied with Civil War re-enactments.
British TV: Tom's father loves to watch DVDs of (fictional) British sitcoms, full of broad stereotypes andCarry On-like humour. One,There Goes The Neighbourhood, features anAlf Garnett-like Anglo-Indian. Another, set in a police station, is calledMove Along, Please! Tom sees a bit ofThe Plantagenets, aTudors-like historical drama, while Pete likes to watch "the newSherlock Holmes," which parodiesStar Trek and is calledSherlock Holmes: The New Frontier.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Box" | Christopher Guest | Christopher Guest &Jim Piddock | 12 May 2013 (2013-05-12) | 0.79[5] | |
Tom Chadwick and his sister Bea find out from their father that a great-aunt, Victoria, has died. An old picture in the box of things that she's left for Tom sends him on a search, accompanied by his pal Pete, to discover the identity of the man in the photograph. Note:Trisha Paytas makes an appearance in this episode. | ||||||
| 2 | "Treading the Boards" | Christopher Guest | Christopher Guest & Jim Piddock | 19 May 2013 (2013-05-19) | 0.47[6] | |
Tom learns that his great-grandfather, Harry Chadwick, was an actor and visits Hove, where he performed. He and Pete decide to run a kind of race in honour of Harry's famous comic act. | ||||||
| 3 | "The Austerity Games" | Christopher Guest | Christopher Guest & Jim Piddock | 2 June 2013 (2013-06-02) | 0.50[7] | |
After discovering grandfather William was on the GB team in the cash-poor 1948 Olympics, Tom hears about his and Victoria's athletic feats from a close friend she bequeathed her flat to; he learns that William and Victoria had a brother, Brian. Bea and Monkey try performing. His great-great-grandfather Charles, Tom finds, was born in the USA. | ||||||
| 4 | "Country Life" | Christopher Guest | Christopher Guest & Jim Piddock | 9 June 2013 (2013-06-09) | 0.47[8] | |
Along with Bea, his father, and Luba, Tom visits his cousins in rural Derbyshire and learns why they have red hair. His American cousins in California invite him to visit. | ||||||
| 5 | "Welcome to America" | Christopher Guest | Christopher Guest & Jim Piddock | 16 June 2013 (2013-06-16) | 0.54[9] | |
Tom stays in Glendale with his American cousins Al and Kitty Chadwick, who host an extended-family BBQ. Dave Chadwick, visiting from North Carolina, reveals a record of Charles Chadwick's departure for England on April 16, 1865. | ||||||
| 6 | "Civil War" | Christopher Guest | Christopher Guest & Jim Piddock | 23 June 2013 (2013-06-23) | 0.41[10] | |
After learning that Charles had both Union and Confederate uniforms, Tom gets into some petty skirmishes during a Civil War re-enactment. | ||||||
| 7 | "Indians" | Christopher Guest | Christopher Guest & Jim Piddock | 30 June 2013 (2013-06-30) | 0.55[11] | |
Tom, Bea, and Pete drive to Barstow, where they find that great-great-grandmother Rebecca was not Native American, as Tom had thought. | ||||||
| 8 | "Cowboys" | Christopher Guest | Christopher Guest & Jim Piddock | 7 July 2013 (2013-07-07) | 0.56[12] | |
Tom learns more about his Jewish ancestor, Bea has a breakdown on the beach when she loses Monkey, and Tom has to say goodbye to Ally as his departure from Los Angeles approaches. | ||||||
Sam Wollaston inThe Guardian wrote that the show "simply isn't very good. It's not bad, it's just kind of all right. [...] I watched the second episode too. Same same, still no surprises, or lols, or any sort of laughs really."[13]
Gerard O'Donovan inThe Daily Telegraph felt that it "was fine, if not very funny, except when Guest's trademark style came into play and we were expected to believe a TV crew was following Tom around, interviewing him and his pals. Uh, why? Guest's previous films focused on subjects about which documentaries actually do get made – rock groups, dog shows, folk festivals. But a sad, under-motivated nobody pointlessly – and not very credibly – indulging his random curiosity? It just didn't work."[14]
Tom Gliatto, television critic forPeople, awardedFamily Tree 3 and 1/2 stars, observing that it was "still a distinctly Guest production: often poky, always charmingly whimsical and, from time to time, so astoundingly funny you seem to have shot into a distant stratosphere of pure comedy."[15]
Tim Goodman ofThe Hollywood Reporter felt "the half-hour show works its magic the patented Guest way: by slowly, with pinpoint accuracy, drilling down into the absurdist ways of ordinary people. The series works on multiple levels, but clearly one is O'Dowd's charm. [...] Here's hoping HBO letsFamily Tree grow for many seasons."[16]
Rob Sheffield ofRolling Stone called the show "the kind of brilliant achievement only Christopher Guest could attempt, in his signature style of documentary footage and improvised dialogue, loaded with eccentric clods bumbling into moments of sublimely awkward truth."[citation needed]
Robert Lloyd, television critic for theLos Angeles Times, observed that "Christopher Guest's poignantly comical HBO series bears the director's distinctively eccentric marks." He added, "Guest gives the world a quarter-twist toward the ridiculous, without losing sight of the human dreams and strivings, obsessions and accommodations that are his main and constant subject."[17]
Mike Hale ofThe New York Times wrote, "As in Mr. Guest's films, its story is less important than the presentation of a gallery of eccentrics, ranging from mildly odd to completely loony." He continued, "The so far quiet and modest vibe of the show may shift as well. In any case, more members of the Guest ensemble, includingEd Begley Jr. andFred Willard, will appear, which can only be a good thing."[18]
Alan Sepinwall, who reviewed the show forHitFix, opined that "the most impressive thing aboutFamily Tree [is] it invites you to laugh at all these kooks in a way that doesn't feel mean-spirited, and it takes parts of its hero's journey quite seriously."[19]
Metacritic gives the series a rating of 74%, indicating "generally favorable", based on reviews from 28 critics.[20]
