At its core, "Telemarketers" confirms what we already know - that third-party telemarketing is a scam, especially when done in the name of a charity for injured or fallen first-responders. The fact that little or no money actually finds its way these first-responders is not the headline.
"Telemarketers" spends the better part of its 3-hour run-time showing how sleazy the telemarketing callers are, how sleazy their companies are, and sadly how sleazy many of the police/fire organizations are that hire them. The core characters are reformed telemarketers trying to expose the industry (the leading guy could be played by Bobby Moynihan from SNL), but nothing really gets done at the end. Even the one Senator they meet with seems disinterested - and perhaps is already influenced by these organizations judging by the many framed badges of police organizations in his conference room.
Overall, there was a LOT of fluff and unnecessary material in order to stretch this out to 3 one-hour episodes. In reality, a single 90-minute documentary would have sufficed. And at the end of the final episode, there is no resolution, no hope of passing new legislation to prevent these scam callers, and very few people willing to talk to the amateur journalists conducting the interviews.
This started out with a lot of promise, but it just could not maintain its own momentum and it reaches no conclusion or resolution. So the next time you get a call from someone that says they represent a charity for fallen or injured first-responders, the best thing you can do is hang up. Because there is no hope on the horizon that anything will ever be done to stop this.
"Telemarketers" spends the better part of its 3-hour run-time showing how sleazy the telemarketing callers are, how sleazy their companies are, and sadly how sleazy many of the police/fire organizations are that hire them. The core characters are reformed telemarketers trying to expose the industry (the leading guy could be played by Bobby Moynihan from SNL), but nothing really gets done at the end. Even the one Senator they meet with seems disinterested - and perhaps is already influenced by these organizations judging by the many framed badges of police organizations in his conference room.
Overall, there was a LOT of fluff and unnecessary material in order to stretch this out to 3 one-hour episodes. In reality, a single 90-minute documentary would have sufficed. And at the end of the final episode, there is no resolution, no hope of passing new legislation to prevent these scam callers, and very few people willing to talk to the amateur journalists conducting the interviews.
This started out with a lot of promise, but it just could not maintain its own momentum and it reaches no conclusion or resolution. So the next time you get a call from someone that says they represent a charity for fallen or injured first-responders, the best thing you can do is hang up. Because there is no hope on the horizon that anything will ever be done to stop this.