Ocean Township Featured In Crazy New HBO Doc ‘Telemarketers’
Davey Mac of the Morning Rat Race is here with a strong TV recommendation for ya. If you want to see a totally nuts and absolutely documentary series…get in on Telemarketers on HBO right now! The first episode debuted last night and it was absolutely captivating. And most of the movie takes place (for better or worse) right here in the Garden State!
Telemarketers tell the tale of one of the biggest scams in United States history…as a company called the Civic Development Group would hire mostly unemployable people to make calls on behalf of the Fraternal Order of Police to raise funds for the cops. Unfortunately, as the doc quickly shows, C.D.G. was keeping the vast majority of the money and making multi-millionaires out of the creators of the scam.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 26: Guests attend a reception for the NY premiere of the HBO Docuseries “Telemarketers” at Hudson Yards on July 26, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for HBO)
That’s where two guys come in to expose the scam. Sam Lipman-Stern was an employee of C.D.G. and also a documentary film-maker. He begins capturing footage of the crazy office that is filled with nutty employees. Sam makes friends with and begins working with Pat Pespas…a unique character to say the least. The two men decide to blow the whistle on this con…with Pat working from the inside.
Telemarketers will be a three-part series…and honestly…the first episode was excellent. And I was surprised to see Ocean Township land in the doc. While the original headquarters for the Civic Development Group was based out of New Brunswick…they quickly opened an office in Ocean…and there’s a lot of footage of the Ocean/Oakhurst area. There’s also footage of Belmar and other Jersey Shore locations in the doc.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 26: (L-R) Producer Claire Read, Executive Producer Dani Bernfeld, Director Adam Bhala Lough, Patrick Pespas, Director Sam Lipman-Stern, Co-EVPs for Documentary Programming for HBO Lisa Heller and Nancy Abraham, and VP of HBO Documentary Programming Tina Nguyen attend the NY premiere of the HBO Docuseries “Telemarketers” at Hudson Yards on July 26, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for HBO)
I cannot recommend Telemarketers any more highly. And don’t take my word for it. The docuseries is getting rave reviews across the board. It’s funny, angering, sad, inspiring, weird, and totally insane. You have to check this out! It’s one of the best series I have seen this year! Two thumbs up!
– East Side Dave
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