On HBO’s ‘Telemarketers,’ the Call Is Coming From Inside the Cubicle

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( docuseries [The Call Is Coming From Inside the Cubicle]( The creators of the HBO doc Telemarketers started filming their own office — where they’d later learn they were part of a nationwide grift. Photo-Illustration: HBO All of his colleagues at the Civic Development Group agreed that Patrick J. Pespas was a telemarketing legend. Before he got into recovery, he would do heroin in the office bathroom, nod off for a second, then jump right into a call — and land the sale. He’d once been busted for growing a few marijuana plants — okay, it was 48 pounds’ worth — in a ditch off the side of the highway. There had been consequences: He told a story about OD’ing at the office only to be roused by a boss, who put him back to work. Pespas got into telemarketing in the mid-’90s after seeing a storefront whose windows were completely covered with signs proclaiming JOBS JOBS JOBS. When he walked in, the manager asked how smart he was. He said average. “He goes, ‘I like stupid people,’” Pespas recalled. “‘The reason I like stupid people is if you do everything I instruct you to do, you will do great at this job.’” [read more]( The Latest TV Recaps • The Real Housewives of Orange County: [Dressing Up, Dressing Down]( • And Just Like That …: [A Big Move]( • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: [The Gorn Ultimatum]( • Painkiller: [The Quite Literal Opiate of the Masses]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [Celebrities Are Standing With the WGA Mandy Patinkin, AOC, Jack Black, and more show support on the picket line and off.]( By Zoe Guy [So … Where Are We at With the Taylor Swift Rerecordings? With the 1989 redo heading our way, let’s synchronize our watches on all things Taylor’s Version.]( By Jessica Derschowitz [Hollywood’s Striking Up Their Picket Signs AI could never write a poster this funny.]( By Alejandra Gularte [‘We’re Up to Try Anything’ Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ co-showrunner on a season that swings from war epic to musical and back again.]( By Kathryn VanArendonk [And Just Like That … Can’t Stop Failing Its New Characters I couldn’t help but wonder, Why is this show patently unable to render Lisa, Seema, Nya, and Che in unembarrassing ways?]( [What’s Going Down in Below Deck Down Under? What happened, who got fired, and what it says about Bravo.]( By Bethy Squires [Kai Cenat Addresses ‘Insane’ Union Square Giveaway on Twitch “Bro, y’all need serious counseling, bro.”]( By Rebecca Alter [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 23-Across, Six Letters: Kesha’s “beastly” debut album. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Images [Into It With Sam Sanders]( Photo: Vuk Valcicy Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett Writers and actors in Hollywood are demanding more control over how artificial intelligence will be used by studios in the future. There’s a lot of dystopian language being thrown around — that AI could be an existential threat to livelihoods, that it could replace entire professions. But the thing is this: AI is already very much a part of the Hollywood production process today. [Listen to the full episode of Into It]( to find out who’s using AI for the forces of good and who has the potential to use it more like an AI-generated Marvel supervillain. [Read more from Vulture]( A newsletter of TV and movie recommendations. [Sign up]( to get it every week. [Get the Newsletter]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2023, All rights reserved