House of Lies

Premise

The show focuses on both the personal and business lives of Marty Kaan, a manipulative, charming and opportunistic management consultant.

Originally, Marty was a highly successful partner at consultancy firm Galweather Stearn, where he headed up a pod consisting of engagement manager Jeannie van der Hooven, and associates Clyde Oberholt and Doug Guggenheim. He later leaves this position to head up his own firm, Kaan & Associates.

In addition to the questionable business practices of Marty and his team, the series also focuses on Marty's personal life. He deals with his disagreeable management consultant ex-wife Monica, his retired-psychiatrist father Jeremiah and his confidently flamboyant son Roscoe. The main character, Marty, often breaks the fourth wall; he talks to the viewers in a freeze-frame bit in which he alone moves and the others in the background 'freeze' but continue where they left off. Alternatively, he talks to the audience while everyone moves but the others seem oblivious to the fact that he is on a monologue.

Plot

The series follows Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle), a manipulative, charming and opportunistic management consultant, and a partner at consulting firm Galweather-Stern in Los Angeles. He leads a team of associates consisting of Jeannie van der Hooven (Kristen Bell), Clyde Oberholt (Ben Schwartz), and Doug Guggenheim (Josh Lawson). Marty's ex-wife Monica (Dawn Olivieri) is also a management consultant working for a rival firm. Marty and his pod travel to New York to win the business of Metrocapital, an enormous banking institution. Marty is ultimately able to win over the company's prickly CEO but humiliates the CFO Greg Norbert (Greg Germann) in the process. In retaliation, Norbert suggests that Metrocapital acquire Galweather-Stern to become an in-house consulting group, guaranteeing mass layoffs for most of the company. senior partner Skip Galweather (Richard Schiff) has it out for Marty and is keen on seeing the merger happen while Galweather-Stern's CEO "The Rainmaker" (Griffin Dunne) has Marty's back and wants to see the merger gone—however, it's ultimately revealed that the Rainmaker is using Marty to get rid of Skip. With the acquisition nearly guaranteed, Marty attempts to leverage credible accusations of sexual harassment against the Rainmaker. During the firm's gala in celebration of the merger, Jeannie reveals she was one of many of the Rainmaker's victims. Metrocapital calls off the merger and the Rainmaker is put on leave. As the firm celebrates, Marty and Jeannie share a drink and subsequently black out.

Weeks later, Jeannie returns to work but she and Marty can't remember what happened the night of the gala. She has hazy memories of sleeping with Marty and telling him she loves him. The Rainmaker has been replaced with Julianne Hofschrager (Bess Armstrong), who gives Jeannie a meaningless promotion in a vain attempt to promote Galweather-Stern's new "era of women". Meanwhile, Marty and the pod travel to Las Vegas to sign a casino magnate named Pincus (Kevin Dobson). However, after that deal falls through, they manage to win the business of the childish owner of a rival casino, Michael Carlson (Mather Zickel). Marty feels increasingly despondent at Galweather-Stern and dreams of opening his own consulting firm; he begins planning the exit of him and his pod. Fed up with Michael Carlson's juvenile behavior, Marty takes the casino deal back to Pincus and intends on taking him to his new consultancy firm Kaan & Associates. This alienates Clyde, who instead chooses to work with Marty's ex-wife Monica at Kinsley & Associates. Doug decides it's in his best interests to stay at Galweather. Meanwhile, after wrestling with her emotions, Jeannie tells Marty she loves him. His reaction is hostile and she retracts her intention to join him at his new firm—leaving Marty alone at his new shop.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Don Cheadle as Marty Kaan, the immoral and deceitful proprietor of consultancy firm Kaan & Associates. Before he started his own firm, he led a pod for Galweather-Stearn. Marty is willing to do anything to close the deal and, as such, alienates the vast majority of people he comes into contact with, a fact that he cares very little about. Due to questionable business practices, Marty spends several months in prison before the start of season 4, and this adds even more strain to his already-tense relationship with Roscoe and Jeremiah.

Cheadle also served as executive producer through his Crescendo Productions banner.

Kristen Bell as Jeannie van der Hooven, a partner at Kaan & Associates with whom Marty has a complex relationship. She was part of Marty's pod before he left Galweather. She later led her own pod in Galweather before ditching them for Kaan & Associates, where she becomes a partner. Jeannie was inadvertently responsible for the FBI bust on Kaan & Associates. Consequently, Marty blames her for his stint in jail. In season 4, Jeannie is pregnant with Marty's child, but he is reluctant to be involved as he has not forgiven her.

Ben Schwartz as Clyde Oberholt, a member of Marty's consultant pod who specialises in marketing and spin. He was part of Marty's pod before he left Galweather. He briefly became part of Monica's pod in Kinsley & Associates when he and Marty had a falling-out. He eventually worked his way into Kaan & Associates. He has a jealous, arrogant and often cruel personality, and very rarely shows any real emotions. Clyde struggles with drug addiction throughout the later seasons.

Josh Lawson as Doug Guggenheim, a member of Marty's consultant pod who specialises in numerical analysis. He was part of Marty's pod before he left Galweather. After Marty left, he briefly became a part of Jeannie's pod before they both left for Kaan & Associates. It is also known that he graduated from Harvard, he is seen constantly reminding this fact to everyone. He marries Sarah (Jenny Slate) (Season 2) but after he sends her a drunken text message, she cleans out his bank accounts and leaves (Season 4).

Dawn Olivieri as Monica Talbot (starring seasons 1–3, recurring seasons 4 & 5), an ex-partner at rival firm Kinsley & Associates, and Marty's ex-wife. She and Marty often taunt and abuse each other when they meet, and often engage in angry sex.

Recurring cast

John Aylward as K. Warren McDale, CEO/president of Metro-Capital.

Griffin Dunne as Marco "The Rainmaker" Pelios, president, CEO, and senior partner at Galweather-Stearn.

Megalyn Echikunwoke as April, Marty's law student girlfriend.

Mo Gaffney as Principal Gita, principal of the school Roscoe attends.

Greg Germann as Greg Norbert, CFO of Metro-Capital.

Anna Camp as Rachel Norbert, wife, and then ex-wife of Greg Norbert.

Richard Schiff as Harrison "Skip" Galweather, senior partner and co-founder of Galweather-Stearn.

Bess Armstrong as Julianne Hofschrager, interim CEO of Galweather-Stearn.

Adam Brody as Nate, CEO/president of an adult sex toy company.

Kevin Dobson as Mr. Pincus, owner of the Emerald casino in Las Vegas.

Lisa Edelstein as Brynn, assistant/political advisor for Carl Criswell.

Taylor Gerard Hart as Alex Dushkin, co-owner of Las Vegas Nightclub War.

Evan Hart as Kyle Dushkin, co-owner of Las Vegas Nightclub War.

Ronete Levenson as Tessa, Monica's vegan chef ex-girlfriend.

Nia Long as Tamara, Galweather & Stearn's newest employee and Marty's classmate from business school.

Production

The series is executive produced by Matthew Carnahan, Jessika Borsiczky, and Stephen Hopkins, with the pilot written by Carnahan and directed by Hopkins.

Development

On December 13, 2010, House of Lies was given a pilot order. On April 7, 2011, the series was given a 12 episode pick-up by Showtime. The series is based on Martin Kihn's book, House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the Time. David Nevins, president of entertainment at Showtime, announced during the 2011 Television Critics Association press tour that the show was set to premiere on January 8, 2012.

Casting

Casting announcements began in December 2010, with Don Cheadle as the first actor to be cast, as Marty Kaan, "a highly successful, cut-throat consultant who is never above using any means (or anyone) necessary to get his clients the information they want". The next actor to be cast was Dawn Olivieri who plays Monica, "Marty's crazy, pill-popping ex-wife and biggest professional competition as her consulting firm is No. 1 compared to Marty's No. 2." Ben Schwartz and Josh Lawson were cast next, Schwartz playing Clyde Oberholt, a member of Marty's team and his closest friend, and Lawson as Doug Guggenheim, Marty's Harvard-educated associate. Last cast were Kristen Bell, who plays Jeannie van der Hooven, "a razor-sharp, Ivy-League graduate who works at Marty’s firm", Donis Leonard Jr. as Roscoe Kaan, Marty's son, and Glynn Turman as Jeremiah Kaan, Marty's psychoanalyst father. Later, Richard Schiff was cast as Marty's boss.

House of Lies Live

On December 29, 2013, Showtime presented House of Lies Live which featured members of the main cast and guest actors on the show performing at the People's Improv Theater in the first broadcast of long form improv.

Reception

Throughout its run, House of Lies received mixed reviews from critics.

Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker, reviewing the pilot episode, thought the show's premise "sounds terrific in concept", that "Cheadle and Bell are each in their own way exceedingly charming performers with a devilish aspect to their images", and that it has debuted at a good time: "at this time in history, who doesn't want to see undeservingly wealthy people get fleeced, or at least brought low by their avarice?" But ultimately Tucker found House of Lies wanting, writing that it is actually not "all that interesting", and that its "crucial weakness is its dead language". For Tucker, "there's no novelty or freshness in House of Lies' patter or its penis-placement" (the latter comment being a reference to House of Lies' "butt-load of the sort of sexual activity one can get away with on pay-cable"). He later included it on his Top 5 Worst TV Shows of 2012, taking the fourth spot.

In stark contrast, Matt Rouch, writing for TV Guide, thought that "as a pitiless, biting satire of the debauched state of American big business, it's no lie to call this one of the smartest, funniest shows of the new year", praising its being "[d]eeply cynical, garish in its raunchiness and always rudely, lewdly hilarious". It "swims in a shark tank of such appalling survival-of-the-nastiest bad behavior it could launch its own channel: Human Animal Planet". Where Tucker finds House of Lies' lines and dialogue poor, Rouch praises Don Cheadle's character's lines: Cheadle's character "often steps out of a freeze-frame to deliver scathing stylized asides to the audience, talking straight to the camera to teach us his lingo and soulless trade secrets". (By contrast, Tucker found these freeze-frame asides a "visual gimmick" and complained of derivative lines: "Creator Matthew Carnahan [...] loads his new show with lines that sound borrowed from Glengarry Glen Ross ("Closing is what I do!")."

Sarah Huges of The Independent called House of Lies "A Comedy for the One Per Cent," saying it's a "half-hour comedy about wealthy slicksters screening right in the middle of one of the biggest economic depressions America has experienced." Although calling the cast and production outstanding and funny in an artistic and technical way, the UK reception - by the standards of the Independent - seemed less positive than the rest. "House of Lies is asking us not simply to laugh at this bunch of chancers, but to admire them for the way in which they rip people off," she writes, calling for a check-up on corporate America.