Critic Reviews

A quirky and hilarious gem.

Potentially the best new comedy series of this season.

It is 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. [13 May 2013, p.45]

Tom Chadwick is a man with a fixation that’s both reasonable and relatable, and he becomes our tour guide to the familiar, funny Christopher Guest worldview.

As with a number of moments in the completely enjoyable Family Tree, I’m not sure how the actors kept themselves from laughing.

In the wonderful Family Tree, hangdog Chris O'Dowd, finding his life stalled after losing a girlfriend and a job in short order, goes in search of his roots and relatives.

[Genealogy] may not seem like a particularly robust thread for an eight-part series, but O’Dowd, Guest and a wonderful cast of deadpan actors and improv experts spin it into a tapestry of cheery laughter.

Over the first four episodes, Family Tree doesn’t have the gut-busting, excruciatingly funny moments of Guest’s movies--no Stonehenge here--but it adds a warmth to the usual pathos of his characters, and O’Dowd’s hangdog charm is a good match for the story.

Along the way, Tom becomes briefly attached to potential ancestors who don't pan out or aren't quite what they first seem--a not unfamiliar experience is frequently rendered funny by just a small dollop of strangeness. Sometimes it's more than a dollop, but Family Tree doesn't dwell so long on any single absurdity to make anyone uncomfortable.

The freshest take on the single-camera mockumentary since “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”