Family Tree: The Complete First Season

Christopher Guest brings his mockumentary/improv comedy approach to HBO with Family Tree, which stars Chris O'Dowd as Tom Chadwick, a recently unemployed and divorced thirtysomething who is distracted from his self-pity when he inherits a box of memorabilia from a distant great-aunt and sets out to track down the backstories of his ancestors. What he finds, inevitably, is a roll call of eccentrics, underachievers, and pursuers of stunted dreams, but it all unfolds in the droll, underplayed manner that makes Guest's feature films (including Waiting for Guffman and A Mighty Wind) such a delight. The first half of the season plays out in Great Britain, but then Tom's sister, Bea (Nina Conti)—who travels everywhere with an opinionated hand puppet that channels her repressed opinions—and best mate Pete (Tom Bennett) join him to follow the trail to America. Some familiar faces from Guest's movies show up along the way, including Michael McKean (as the dad who spends his days watching painfully unfunny—and completely made-up—old British sitcoms), Ed Begley Jr., Fred Willard, Bob Balaban, and Guest himself. Compiling all eight episodes from the 2013 debut season, extras include deleted scenes, four faux Britcom scenes, and music clips from the show. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)