The Thing About Pam
Season 1 Premiere:
Mar 8, 2022
Metascore
Mixed or Average
55
User score
Mixed or Average
5.7
My Score
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All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
55
28% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
56% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
17% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Mar 8, 2022
91
It’s The Thing About Pam’s performances from actors breaking from their established molds that make it stand out in an overpacked genre.
Mar 3, 2022
80
Ms. Zellweger, who does justice to the role, transmits a powerful aura of derangement, and does so with enough energy to make you want to reach for the antacid pills. The one flaw in the tone of the six-part work is its pervasive note of archness, ever so slight but also ever so always there. A note common in many a crime docu-drama. ... Such things aside, all in all this is a wholly compelling tale.
Mar 7, 2022
55
Even though The Thing About Pam has significant flaws, it is compulsively watchable.
Mar 8, 2022
50
Drama meets "Dateline" in The Thing About Pam, an NBC series that seeks to turn one of the newsmagazine's salacious stories into a limited series, complete with ghoulish narration by reporter Keith Morrison. Featuring Renée Zellweger tromping around under the weight of prosthetic makeup, it's a true-crime experiment that clearly wants to be the next "Fargo" and doesn't get there.
Jul 21, 2022
40
There is no shortage of plot here, but the programme-makers are too concerned with the quirky tone – they think they’ve produced the next Fargo – to have considered the pacing, or any attempt to explore Hupp’s motivations. There is no mystery or suspense, because the show tells us from the outset that Hupp is the villain.
Mar 8, 2022
40
Zellweger is the most incongruous component in a performance that prioritizes caricature, and she calls into question what exactly The Thing About Pam is trying to accomplish with this extension of its existing IP. Entertainment? Journalism? Whatever it is, Zellweger is a distraction.
Mar 7, 2022
30
Zellweger is, too often, drowned out, whether by the loudness of the production’s reshaping her body or by literal narration. ... The end result is an ebbing-away of Pam’s story in favor of a media metanarrative that’s far less compelling; the show is, in moments, more about the customs and rhythms of “Dateline” than it is about a crime story.
User score
Mixed or Average
5.7
36% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
45% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
18% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Mar 27, 2022
6
Pam When her best friend is brutally murdered, Pam Hupp (Renée Zellweger in a fat suit) suspiciously works to frame the father. This mystery is based on an actual case that was featured on Dateline NBC, so the outcome is obvious. Getting there is the challenge of this series, which it does with mixed results. First, Zellweger relishes her chance for a non-glamorous character, even though she seems a bit self congratulatory. The narrative unravels slowly, giving her plenty of screen time. Weirdly, the use of a somewhat jaunty narrator lends a slightly dark comic tone. It's the voice of Keith Morrison, who's been a correspondent on Dateline since 1995 (and harkens back to the style of Jim Dale on Pushing Daisies). Zellweger isn't the only thing that doesn't feel 100%: The plot unfolds with several more over-the-top performances and revelations that could come faster. (Review based on 3 of 5 one-hour episodes)
Production Company:
- Big Picture Co.
- Blumhouse Television
- NBC News Studios
- Weird Egg Productions
Initial Release Date:Mar 8, 2022
Number of seasons:2 Seasons
Rating:TV-14
Awards
Hollywood Critics Association Television Awards
• 4 Nominations
ACCEC Awards
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
ReFrame
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
