''Sneaky Pete'' is an American

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series created by

David Shore David Shore (born July 3, 1959) is a Canadian television writer. Shore worked on '' Family Law'', ''NYPD Blue'' and '' Due South'', also producing many episodes of the latter. He created the critically acclaimed series ''House'' and more recent ...

and

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor. After taking minor roles in television, he established himself as a leading actor in both comedic and dramatic Bryan Cranston filmography, works on stage and screen. He has received ...

. The series follows Marius Josipović ( Giovanni Ribisi), a released convict who adopts the identity of his cellmate, Pete Murphy, to avoid his past life. The series also stars Marin Ireland, Shane McRae, Libe Barer, Michael Drayer, Peter Gerety and Margo Martindale. The pilot episode premiered on August 7, 2015, and was followed by a full series order that September. Shore left the project in early 2016 and was replaced by Graham Yost, who served as executive producer and showrunner for the remaining nine episodes. The first season premiered in its entirety on January 13, 2017, exclusively on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

. On January 19, 2017, Amazon announced that ''Sneaky Pete'' had been renewed for a second season, which was released on March 9, 2018. On July 28, 2018, Amazon announced that the series had been renewed for a third season, which was released on May 10, 2019. On June 4, 2019, Amazon cancelled the series after three seasons.

Premise

''Sneaky Pete'' follows Marius, a con man who gets out of prison only to find himself hunted by the vicious gangster he once robbed. With nowhere else to turn, Marius takes cover from his past by assuming the identity of his cellmate, Pete and then "reunites" with Pete's estranged familywho have no reason to suspect he is not their long-lost loved one.

Cast and characters

Main

* Giovanni Ribisi as Marius Josipović / Pete Murphy * Marin Ireland as Julia Bowman * Shane McRae as Taylor Bowman * Libe Barer as Carly Bowman * Michael Drayer as Eddie Josipović (season 1) * Peter Gerety as Otto Bernhardt * Margo Martindale as Audrey Bernhardt * Jane Adams as Maggie Murphy (season 2, guest season 3)

Recurring

* Ethan Embry as the real Pete Murphy *

as Vince Lonigan (season 1) * Victor Williams as Richard (season 1) * Karolina Wydra as Karolina (season 1) * Jacob Pitts as Lance Lord *

Michael O'Keefe Michael O'Keefe (born Raymond Peter O'Keefe Jr.; April 24, 1955) is an American actor known for his roles as Danny Noonan in '' Caddyshack''; Ben Meechum in '' The Great Santini,'' for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Bes ...

as Detective Winslow (season 1) * Virginia Kull as Katie Boyd (season 1, guest season 2) * Alison Wright as Marjorie * Mike Houston as Dennis * Tobias Segal as Sean * Brad William Henke as Brendon Boyd (season 1) * Jeté Laurence as Ellen * Justine Cotsonas as Shannon * Kevin Chapman as Bo Lockley * Jay O. Sanders as Sam *

Chaske Spencer Chaske Spencer is an American actor. He gained prominence through his role as List of Twilight characters#Sam Uley, Sam Uley in the ''The Twilight Saga (film series), Twilight'' films (2009–2012). For his performance in the BBC and Amazon Prim ...

as Chayton Dockery * René Ifrah as Wali * Jasmine Carmichael as Gina (seasons 1–2) * Pej Vahdat as Raj Kumar Mukherjee (season 1) * Max Darwin as Tate * Jeffrey De Serrano as Ayawamat * Malcolm-Jamal Warner as James Bagwell * C. S. Lee as Joseph Lee (seasons 1–2) *

Ben Vereen Benjamin Augustus Vereen (né Middleton; October 10, 1946) is an American actor, dancer and singer. He gained prominence for his performances in the original Broadway productions of the musicals ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', for which he received ...

as Leon Porter (seasons 1–2) * Domenick Lombardozzi as Abraham Persikof (season 1) * Debra Monk as Connie Persikof (season 1) * Joseph Lyle Taylor as Frank (seasons 1–2) *Michael DeMello as Mikey (season 1) *

Desmond Harrington Desmond Harrington (born October 19, 1976) is an American actor. He made his film debut in 1999, playing Jean d'Aulon in '' The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc''. His later credits include '' Riding in Cars with Boys'', '' The Hole'' (both ...

as Joe (seasons 1–2) * David Kallaway as Bako (season 2) * Jesse Lenat as AJ * Michael Oberholtzer as Colin (season 2) * Jennifer Ferrin as Joyce Roby (season 2) * Miriam Morales as Teacher (season 2) * John Ales as Luka Delchev (season 2) * Sara Tomko as Suzanne (season 2) * Chris Ashworth as Miro (season 2) * Justine Lupe as Hannah (season 2) * Efrat Dor as Lizzie DeLaurentis (season 3) *

Jeff Ross Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz (born September 13, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director and producer. Nicknamed the "Roastmaster General" for his insult comedy, his multiple appearances at celebrity Roast (comedy), roasts held by the ...

as D.C. Doug Decker (season 3) * Leonardo Nam as Alexandre Park-Sun (season 3) * Ricky Jay as T. H. Vignetti (season 3). This was Jay's last performance before his death in 2018. * Darren Pettie as Chuck Johnson (season 3) * Stephanie Faracy as Dotti (season 3) *

Charlayne Woodard Charlaine "Charlayne" Woodard (born December 29, 1953) is an American playwright and actress. She is a two-time Obie Award winner as well as a Tony Award and Drama Desk nominee. She was a series regular on the hit FX TV series '' Pose''. She pl ...

as Hickey (season 3) *

Amy Landecker Amy Lauren Landecker (born September 30, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Sarah Pfefferman on the Amazon Prime Video, Amazon comedy-drama series ''Transparent (TV series), Transparent'' (2014–2019), as well as her supp ...

as Lorraine Sheffield (season 3) * M. Emmet Walsh as Tex Hopkins (season 3) * Patrick J. Adams as Stefan Kilbane (season 3)

Guest

* Rory Culkin as Gavin * Wayne Duvall as Charles McGregor * Steve Wiebe as Stephen Davidson

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2015–17)

Season 2 (2018)

Season 3 (2019)

Development

In November 2014, CBS gave a production commitment to ''Sneaky Pete''. A formal pilot for the show was shot in New York in March 2015. On May 8, CBS decided to pass on the pilot, while also canceling David Shore's other series on the network, '' Battle Creek''. Just two days later, it was reported that the pilot might be moving to cable networks, with many expressing interest. In June, it was reported that Amazon was in negotiations to pick up the pilot, with some tweaking and possible minor reshoots before being made available to the viewers. The pilot was released on Amazon on August 7, 2015 and was ordered to series on September 2, 2015. In March 2016, it was announced that Shore would be leaving the project, and would be replaced by Graham Yost, who would be taking over as executive producer and showrunner. Start of production of the full series was pushed back to allow for the transition. Episode 2 and the remainder of the first season premiered on January 13, 2017. The show's title theme, "Harder Out Here", was composed and performed by The Bright Light Social Hour at the request of

Reception

Critical response

The first season of ''Sneaky Pete'' received positive reviews from critics.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

gave the first season a 97% rating, based on 31 critics’ reviews, with the critical consensus "Suspenseful, smart, and terrifically cast, ''Sneaky Pete'' is part dramedy, part crime caper, and all in all entertaining."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

gave the first season a 77 out of 100 score based on 22 critic reviews. The second season of ''Sneaky Pete'' received positive critical reviews as well.

gave the second season a 92% rating, based on 12 critic reviews, with the critical consensus "''Sneaky Petes sophomore season replicates its predecessor's finesse with narrative sleight of hand and deliciously twisted capers, although Bryan Cranston's gravitas is sorely missed." The third season of ''Sneaky Pete'' continued to receive positive critical reviews, with

giving it a 100% rating, based on five critic reviews.

Awards and nominations

Margo Martindale was nominated for her performance for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at the 8th Critics' Choice Television Awards in 2017.

References

External links

* * {{Amazon Video original series 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s American black comedy television series 2015 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings 2020s American black comedy television series Amazon Prime Video original programming American English-language television shows Identity theft in popular culture Television series about dysfunctional families Television series by Amazon MGM Studios Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Connecticut Television series created by David Shore