Family Tree (TV series)

This article is about the 2013 mockumentary series. For the 1983 American series, see The Family Tree (TV series).

This article uses a non-standard episode table. Please convert it to use {{Episode table}}.

|

2013 TV series or program

Family Tree

Genre|

* Comedy
* Mockumentary

Created by|

* Christopher Guest
* Jim Piddock

Written by|

* Christopher Guest
* Jim Piddock

Directed by| Christopher Guest
Starring| Chris O'Dowd
Country of origin|

* United States
* United Kingdom

Original language| English
No. of series| 1
No. of episodes| 8
Production
Executive producers|

* Christopher Guest
* Jim Piddock
* Karen Murphy
* Deborah Oppenheimer
* Mario Stylianides

Camera setup| Single
Running time| 30 minutes
Production companies|

* HBO
* Crystal Palace Entertainment
* Lucky Giant
* Pale Morning Dun Industries
* NBCUniversal International Studios
* BBC

Original release
Network|

* HBO
* BBC Two

Release| 12 May (2013-05-12) –
8 July 2013 (2013-07-08)

Family Tree is a mockumentary television comedy created by Christopher Guest and Jim Piddock. The series premiered on 12 May 2013, on the American pay television network HBO, and appeared on the British channel BBC 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]

## Cast

[edit]

Chadwick Family

* Chris O'Dowd as Tom Chadwick, a young man investigating his lineage.[4]
* Nina Conti as Bea Chadwick/Monkey, Tom's sister who uses a hand puppet named "Monk" to communicate her feelings after an embarrassing incident with a puffin in her childhood.[4]
* Michael McKean as Keith Chadwick, Tom's father who loves old British situation comedies.[4]
* Lisa Palfrey as Luba Chadwick, Keith's Moldovan wife who is extremely eccentric.[4]
* Christopher Guest as David Chadwick, one of Tom's relatives from North Carolina. He claims to have a vestigial tail (which is hereditary). David had a wife who disappeared under mysterious circumstances three years prior to the events of the series. Guest also plays Phineas Chadwick, David's grandfather who was a musician, art collector, actor and baseball player.
* Ed Begley Jr. as Dr. Al Chadwick, Tom's third uncle. He lives in Glendale, California with his wife Kitty. He is a podiatrist (his father's profession also) and is trained in Native American survival tactics. He and his wife love R&B music. He is obsessed with the fact that Charles Chadwick left America just two days after Abraham Lincoln's assassination and is a paranoid conspiracy theorist. Also appears to be wearing a Masonic ring—which would normally indicate a Masonic tie of some sort.
* Carrie Aizley as Kitty Chadwick, Al's wife, whom he met when he contacted her from a phone number on a public toilet cubicle. She is dimwitted and ignorant about English culture. She is the inventor of a series of flavored enemas.
* Christian Rodska as Graham Chadwick, Keith's cousin who lives in Derbyshire on a farm.
* Adam James as Ronnie Chadwick, Tom's second cousin who lives and works on a farm in Derbyshire.
* Susan Earl as Emma Chadwick, Ronnie's wife.
* Kevin Pollak as Marty Schmelff, one of Tom's relatives who owns a store in Barstow, California. He is related to Tom by Charles Chadwick's marriage to Rebecca Schmelff, a member of a Jewish family in Barstow.
* Bob Balaban as Melvin Schmelff, Tom's uncle. He is an admirer of his grandfather, Ezra Schmelff, who was a famous Western film actor. Balaban also plays Ezra.

Other Characters

* Tom Bennett as Pete Stupples, Tom's immature best friend who works at a zoo in London.[4]
* Jim Piddock as Glenn Pfister, the eccentric South African owner of "Mr Pfister's Bits & Bobs", an antique and collectibles store in London.[4]
* Annabel Scholey as Lucy Pfister, a baker and daughter of Mr Pfister. She was recently engaged to be married, but has since split with her (now) ex-fiancé.
* Fred Willard as Mike Morton, Al's crude neighbour. He is a lover of magic. It is revealed in the season finale that he is openly gay, and lives with his partner Kim (Michael Mantell).
* Matt Griesser as Rick Tillman, Tom's cousin in California. He is a lover of Civil War re-enactments. He lives in Redondo Beach with his girlfriend Julie.
* Maria Blasucci as Julie Fenneman, Rick's girlfriend.
* Don Lake as Harvey Krupp, Rick's friend who is a Civil War aficionado.
* Barbara Bolton as Mildred Budgens, the best friend and roommate of Tom's great-aunt Victoria who imparts valuable knowledge to Tom about Victoria.
* Graham Greene as Chief Running Bull, a resident of a Native American reserve in Barstow.
* Saginaw Grant as White Feather, a resident of a Native American reserve in Barstow and friend to Chief Running Bull.
* Amy Seimetz as Ally Keele, Tom's love interest whom he meets after he defends her against a man (Will Sasso) in a car accident.
* Ben Farrow as Race Course Announcer, who provides the commentary on the pantomime horse race.

## Production

[edit]

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 by Ron Sexsmith and was written for the series by Christopher Guest and Harlan Collins.

## Running jokes

[edit]

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

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 and Carry On-like humour. One, There Goes The Neighbourhood, features an Alf Garnett-like Anglo-Indian. Another, set in a police station, is called Move Along, Please! Tom sees a bit of The Plantagenets, a Tudors-like historical drama, while Pete likes to watch "the new Sherlock Holmes," which parodies Star Trek and is called Sherlock Holmes: The New Frontier.

## Episodes

[edit]

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.

## Reception

[edit]

Sam Wollaston in The 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 in The 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 for People, awarded Family 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 of The 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 lets Family Tree grow for many seasons."[16]

Rob Sheffield of Rolling 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 the Los 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 of The 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, including Ed Begley Jr. and Fred Willard, will appear, which can only be a good thing."[18]

Alan Sepinwall, who reviewed the show for HitFix, opined that "the most impressive thing about Family 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]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Wloszczyna, Susan (22 March 2013). "Chris O'Dowd polishes his comic appeal in 'Sapphires'". USA Today. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
2. ^ a b "Family Tree, a new comedy series from Christopher Guest for BBC Two and HBO" (Press release). BBC. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (23 January 2014). "HBO's 'Family Tree' Will Not Be Renewed, 'Hello Ladies' Will Wrap Run With Special, 'Getting On' Eyes Second Season Pickup". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Hale, Mike (10 May 2013). "Searching for Roots, Finding Characters". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
5. ^ "Sunday's Cable Ratings: Another Week, Another "Game of Thrones" Victory". The Futon Critic. 14 May 2013.
6. ^ "Sunday's Cable Ratings: "Game of Thrones," "North America" Top Charts". The Futon Critic. 21 May 2013.
7. ^ "Sunday's Cable Ratings: "Game of Thrones" Towers Over the Competition". The Futon Critic. 4 June 2013.
8. ^ "Sunday's Cable Ratings: "Game of Thrones" Wraps Season with Big Finish". The Futon Critic. 11 June 2013.
9. ^ "Sunday's Cable Ratings: "True Blood" Returns on Top for HBO". The Futon Critic. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
10. ^ "Sunday's Cable Ratings: "Skywire Live," "True Blood" Dominate Viewers, Demos". The Futon Critic. 25 June 2013.
11. ^ "Sunday's Cable Ratings: "BET Awards 2013" Dominate the Competition". The Futon Critic. 2 July 2013.
12. ^ "Sunday's Cable Ratings: "True Blood" Holds Off Competition for HBO". The Futon Critic. 10 July 2013.
13. ^ Wollaston, Sam (17 July 2013). "Family Tree; Ray Donovan – TV review". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
14. ^ O'Donovan, Gerard (17 July 2013). "Family Tree, BBC Two, review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
15. ^ Gliatto, Tom (13 May 2013). "Unknown". People. p. 45.
16. ^ Goodman, Tim (9 May 2013). "Family Tree: TV Review, HBO's latest comedy is pure Christopher Guest, sending Chris O'Dowd in search of seriously odd relatives". The Hollywood Reporter.
17. ^ Lloyd, Robert (11 May 2013). "Review: HBO's 'Family Tree' rooted in warm, goofy eccentricity". Los Angeles Times.
18. ^ Hale, Mike (10 May 2013). "Searching for Roots, Finding Characters". The New York Times.
19. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (2 June 2023). "Review: Christopher Guest turns slightly sincere with HBO's 'Family Tree'". HitFix.
20. ^ "Family Tree". Metacritic.

## External links

[edit]

* Family Tree at BBC Online
* Official website Archived 30 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
* Family Tree at British Comedy Guide
* Family Tree at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Christopher Guest

Films directed|

* The Big Picture (1989)
* Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1993)
* Waiting for Guffman (1996)
* Almost Heroes (1998)
* Best in Show (2000)
* A Mighty Wind (2003)
* For Your Consideration (2006)
* Mascots (2016)

TV series created|

* Family Tree (2013)

* v
* t
* e

HBO programming

Current and upcoming

| Current|

* 100 Foot Wave (since 2021)
* The Comeback (since 2005)
* Dune: Prophecy (since 2024)
* Euphoria (since 2019)
* The Gilded Age (since 2022)
* Hard Knocks (since 2001)
* House of the Dragon (since 2022)
* Industry (since 2020)
* It's Florida, Man (since 2024)
* The Last of Us (since 2023)
* Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (since 2014)
* Real Time with Bill Maher (since 2003)
* The Rehearsal (since 2022)
* True Detective (since 2014)
* The White Lotus (since 2021)

|

Upcoming|

* The Chair Company (2025)
* It: Welcome to Derry (2025)
* Task (2025)
* Untitled Rachel Sennott TV series (2025)
* Half Man (2026)
* A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026)
* Lanterns (2026)
* Harry Potter (2027)

Former

| Series|

| 1970s
debuts|

* HBO World Championship Boxing
* HBO Sports Bowling
* Inside the NFL
* On Location
* Race for the Pennant
* Standing Room Only ("Vanities")
* Tennis on HBO
* Time Was

|

1980s
debuts|

* 1st & Ten
* The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
* America Undercover ("Autopsy", "Real Sex" and "Taxicab Confessions")
* Babar
* Braingames
* Encyclopedia
* Encyclopedia Brown
* The Ghost of Faffner Hall
* The Hitchhiker
* HBO Storybook Musicals
* The Kids in the Hall
* Maximum Security
* Not Necessarily the News
* One Night Stand
* Philip Marlowe, Private Eye
* The Ray Bradbury Theater
* Seabert
* The StoryTeller
* Tales from the Crypt
* Tales of Little Women
* Video Jukebox
* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

1990s
debuts|

* The Adventures of Paddington Bear
* The Adventures of Tintin
* Arliss
* The Baby-Sitters Club
* Boxing After Dark
* The Chris Rock Show
* The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures
* Crashbox
* Def Comedy Jam
* Dennis Miller Live
* Dream On
* George and Martha
* Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
* HBO Comedy Half-Hour
* Hotel Room
* The Larry Sanders Show
* Lifestories: Families in Crisis
* A Little Curious
* The Little Lulu Show
* Mr. Show with Bob and David
* The Neverending Story
* Oz
* Perversions of Science
* Pippi Longstocking
* Rainbow Fish
* Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
* Reverb
* Saban's Adventures of Pinocchio
* Sex and the City
* The Sopranos
* Spicy City
* Tenacious D
* Todd McFarlane's Spawn
* Tracey Takes On...

2000s
debuts|

* Animated Tales of the World
* Big Love
* Bored to Death
* Carnivàle
* Cathouse: The Series
* Classical Baby
* Curb Your Enthusiasm
* Costas Now
* Da Ali G Show
* Deadwood
* Def Poetry Jam
* Eastbound & Down
* Entourage
* Extras
* Flight of the Conchords
* G String Divas
* Harold and the Purple Crayon
* Hung
* In Treatment
* I Spy
* Joe Buck Live
* John from Cincinnati
* K Street
* Kindergarten
* KO Nation
* The Life & Times of Tim
* Little Britain USA
* Lucky Louie
* The Mind of the Married Man
* The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
* On the Record with Bob Costas
* El Perro y El Gato
* Pornucopia
* Project Greenlight
* Rome
* Six Feet Under
* Stuart Little
* Summer Heights High
* Tales from the Neverending Story
* Tell Me You Love Me
* True Blood
* Tourgasm
* Unscripted
* The Wire

2010s
debuts|

* After the Thrones
* All Def Comedy
* Angry Boys
* Animals
* Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons
* Ballers
* Barry
* Big Little Lies
* A Black Lady Sketch Show
* Boardwalk Empire
* The Brink
* Camping
* Crashing
* The Deuce
* Divorce
* Doll & Em
* Enlightened
* Esme & Roy
* Family Tree
* Funny or Die Presents
* Game of Thrones
* Gentleman Jack
* Getting On
* Girls
* Hello Ladies
* Here and Now
* High Maintenance
* His Dark Materials
* How to Make It in America
* Insecure
* Ja'mie: Private School Girl
* Jonah from Tonga
* The Leftovers
* Life's Too Short
* Looking
* Los Espookys
* Luck
* Masterclass
* My Brilliant Friend
* The Newsroom
* Random Acts of Flyness
* The Ricky Gervais Show
* The Righteous Gemstones
* Room 104
* Sally4Ever
* The Shop
* Silicon Valley
* Succession
* Togetherness
* Treme
* Veep
* Vice
* Vice News Tonight
* Vice Principals
* Vinyl
* Westworld
* Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas

2020s
debuts|

* 30 Coins
* Avenue 5
* Betty
* Fantasmas
* The Franchise
* How To with John Wilson
* The Idol
* Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show
* Lovecraft Country
* The Nevers
* Painting with John
* Pause with Sam Jay
* Perry Mason
* Rain Dogs
* Run
* Somebody Somewhere
* The Time Traveler's Wife
* The Vow
* We're Here
* Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

Miniseries|

* Agents of Chaos
* All the Rivers Run
* Allen v. Farrow
* Angels in America
* Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl
* The Baby
* Band of Brothers
* The Case Against Adnan Syed
* The Casual Vacancy
* Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes
* Catherine the Great
* Celtics City
* Chernobyl
* The Corner
* Elizabeth I
* Empire Falls
* Exterminate All the Brutes
* From the Earth to the Moon
* Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways
* Generation Kill
* Get Millie Black
* Gunpowder
* God Save Texas
* House of Saddam
* I Am Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders
* I Know This Much Is True
* I May Destroy You
* I'll Be Gone in the Dark
* Irma Vep
* The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
* John Adams
* The Lady and the Dale
* Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York
* Landscapers
* Laurel Avenue
* Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God
* Mare of Easttown
* McMillions
* Mildred Pierce
* Mind Over Murder
* Mosaic
* Mrs. Fletcher
* The New Pope
* The Night Of
* Nuclear Family
* Olive Kitteridge
* Our Boys
* The Outsider
* The Pacific
* Parade's End
* The Penguin
* Phoenix Rising
* The Plot Against America
* Pray, Obey, Kill
* Q: Into the Storm
* The Regime
* Scenes from a Marriage
* The Seekers
* Sharp Objects
* Show Me a Hero
* Small Town News: KPVM Pahrump
* The Sympathizer
* Tanner '88
* Telemarketers
* The Third Day
* The Undoing
* Watchmen
* We Are Who We Are
* We Own This City
* White House Plumbers
* Years and Years
* The Young Pope

See also
Max
HBO Storybook Musicals
HBO Asia original series
HBO Canada original series
HBO Europe original series
HBO Latin America original series
*[No.]: Number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template