A quirky and hilarious gem.

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

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.

It helps to be a fan of Christopher Guest--the genius mockumentarian responsible for movies like “Best in Show” and “Waiting for Guffman”--if you’re going to love his new HBO series, Family Tree.

This is a very quirky, specific world that could repel the very people who might love it. It's a slow go but if you're not in a hurry, it might be worth dropping by.

Like many HBO half-hours, this is a slow, slow burn to get to a payoff. The smiles here are of recognition that even the most ordinary families can have wonderfully strange roots.

The results contain both fart jokes and erudition, but not so much heart. Family Tree is colder and flatter than Guest’s best work, missing its inspired kookery and high energy strangeness.

I agree with Tim Goodman completely quirky and hilarious. I'm looking forward to seeing the characters develop. It's a nice addition to HBO's Sunday night lineup.

The actors are great and expectations are high, but it's not funny at all. Other reviewers defend or 'explain' that it's not the show's fault, it's you, by insinuating that only those with astute and fine tuned minds for such unique humor will appreciate the nil laughs. I expected something along the lines of The Office or at least totally sarcastic and absurd, because of the the genre but that is not the case at all. Nothing much happens, and you don't particularly sympathize with anyone. Everybody is so fake nice on the show case in point how is the monkey puppet thing funny? The money 'character' insults everyone, and everyone just deals with it and takes it in stride! After watching the excellent, superb (plus many more compliments) Moone Boy I wanted so much more for Chris O'Dowd. Moone Boy is ACTUALLY funny.