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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK2ZGOsbeqo Debuts tomorrow at 10/9c on HBO. Airs Mondays for six weeks.
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Feb 3, 2020 05:12
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https://priceonomics.com/the-mcdonalds-monopoly-fraud/ Only three years? Wow. The minimum penalty for directly stealing $60,000 in my state is eight years.
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Feb 3, 2020 08:12
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I hate the "biggest story you've never heard of" tagline. I've heard of it! I read about it years ago.
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Feb 3, 2020 21:43
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nooneofconsequence posted:I hate the "biggest story you've never heard of" tagline. I've heard of it! I read about it years ago. The majority of the population has no idea about this story which is amazing. Everyone has played the game, knows what it is, or seen the ads back in the day. I agree that tagline gets overused but I think this story has earned it.
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Feb 4, 2020 00:00
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I remember reading the Daily Beast article a few years ago, it was very compelling. Watched the first episode, interesting manner of story-telling, with actors re-creating some scenes. So far it's been focused on setting up the "who", so the "how they did it" will be coming later. And the FBI has some interesting characters; agent Doug Matthews is quite a find.
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Feb 8, 2020 12:39
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This is so rad. I want to be Special Agent Doug Matthews' friend
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Feb 9, 2020 05:58
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I love this already. The real story is the FBI collectively making GBS threads itself and cringing as hot shot renegade gold fry suit wearing Doug Matthews goes 21 Jump Street on some con artists. They like him sure, but they would love to choke him vibe at some points.
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Feb 10, 2020 02:40
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The gold suit absolutely slayed me
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Feb 10, 2020 06:45
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I love that he didn’t have to borrow or rent it, he just had one ready for when the occasion called. Don’t remember the original story printed really mentioning much about this guy/personality, so it’s great watching even if you know how it all unrolls.
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Feb 10, 2020 10:08
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I've been telling people to check this out specifically because of FBI Special Agent Doug Mathews, who may just be my most favourite character on any TV show in the past half decade. I cannot believe he is real.
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Feb 10, 2020 10:51
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The reveal that Jerry Jacobson's then-wife was security at where they printed the tickets 
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Feb 11, 2020 04:54
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It got very interesting with the involvement of the Colombo family, the "random" donation to St. Jude's and the amazing broke brains that thought winning high profile prizes wouldn't get looked into. Though for anyone worried, St. Jude's did get to keep the million.
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Feb 11, 2020 04:59
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I'm glad I haven't read the story because this poo poo is babytown frolics Disappointed in the lack of Doug this episode tho Jerry's wife tho "I used to smoke a joint, you know, and then I'd need Reese's cups"
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Feb 11, 2020 07:11
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One thing I've never understood is how the Monopoly prizes work. Say if you need both blue pieces Mayfair and Park Lane to win the million, and McDonalds is offering 5 grand prizes. So they would release unlimited Mayfair tickets, and then just 5 Park Lane tickets that are the actual winning tickets? It seems to me if that was the case the majority of the winning tickets would end up getting lost or not put together with Mayfair to be a winning piece. I guess they could estimate a larger amount e.g. for an estimated 5 million in prizes they would release 10 Park Lanes? Or just stick to 5 and the unclaimed prizes get added to next years prize pool?
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Feb 13, 2020 19:55
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Annabel Pee posted:One thing I've never understood is how the Monopoly prizes work. Say if you need both blue pieces Mayfair and Park Lane to win the million, and McDonalds is offering 5 grand prizes. So they would release unlimited Mayfair tickets, and then just 5 Park Lane tickets that are the actual winning tickets? For the big prizes, the rare of the two needed to win had instructions on how to redeem them. You didn’t need the other one. They were not likely to be lost because they were not supposed to go on the food wrappers, but magazine inserts. Not that it matters anyway since that rear end in a top hat was stealing them.
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Feb 13, 2020 20:07
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Oh okay, my question still stands for the UK version, we definitely won all the top prizes through stickers on the food, like the two blues for £100k here:
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Feb 13, 2020 20:26
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Two things: 1) Doug Matthews looks weirdly like Red Wings great Steve Yzerman to me.   2) What's with that Rocky Columbo guy who isn't involved but willing to spill the beans all over the place. What the heck.
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Feb 17, 2020 23:46
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Annabel Pee posted:Oh okay, my question still stands for the UK version, we definitely won all the top prizes through stickers on the food, like the two blues for £100k here: The aussie version still runs annually and is the same - you can only get tickets off food items. I vaguely recall a news story about it years ago where they said they know the store the ticket is delivered to and what day. We also have a second chance draw for any unclaimed prizes (any non winning, non game tile ticket is a second chance draw)
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Feb 18, 2020 09:40
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Too much of Jerry Colombo this episode, not enough of Jerry Jacobson. Still, I’m curious of the man in the cowboy hat we haven’t seen yet.
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Feb 18, 2020 19:52
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Yikes. 
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Feb 19, 2020 04:26
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I wonder if its possible Jerry Colombo inspired Tony Soprano? I know its all the usual cliches, but between his looks, the mistress, the strip clubs its like the exact same guy.
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Feb 22, 2020 18:02
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Annabel Pee posted:I wonder if its possible Jerry Colombo inspired Tony Soprano? I know its all the usual cliches, but between his looks, the mistress, the strip clubs its like the exact same guy. I was thinking the same thing.
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Feb 22, 2020 18:09
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Another Bill posted:2) What's with that Rocky Columbo guy who isn't involved but willing to spill the beans all over the place. What the heck. That guy’s wife fascinated me. She spends most of the interviews looking anxious and afraid, and her body language screams “domestic violence victim.” I did not expect her to be super on board with the strip club idea, but that was her most relaxed interview topic yet. Also, inject Mrs. Jerry Colombo directly into my veins. “That’s my car... and that’s my FAT HUSBAND  “
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Feb 22, 2020 21:04
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I agree, she looks positively terrified.
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Feb 22, 2020 22:53
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This giving so much unnecessary backstory on everyone even remotely involved. I really don't give a poo poo how middleman #2 got into selling drugs in the 80s.
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Feb 25, 2020 06:26
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Guze posted:This giving so much unnecessary backstory on everyone even remotely involved. There's also an episode-by-episode podcast by the directors, to fill in more details about the scam, and about the making of their doc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byJAPKe-UpQ
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Feb 25, 2020 12:01
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Guze posted:This giving so much unnecessary backstory on everyone even remotely involved. Having read the article back when it was published I was wondering how the hell they made a 6 episode series about the fraud and was worried it was something dumb like that.
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Feb 25, 2020 14:21
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They probably could have made the show more concise and done it in three parts. But on the other hand, everyone involved is so cartoonish that painting a picture of the wretched underbelly that blossomed into Trump's America might well be the point. What better intersection of McDonald's and crime.
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Feb 25, 2020 18:25
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Zutaten posted:I've been telling people to check this out specifically because of FBI Special Agent Doug Mathews, who may just be my most favourite character on any TV show in the past half decade. I cannot believe he is real. When he started talking about his french fry suit? Oh boy.
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Feb 25, 2020 23:21
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Guze posted:This giving so much unnecessary backstory on everyone even remotely involved. That drug-dealer guy was interesting, could have an entire episode filled with his stories of drugs and debauchery. And the real estate guy who can still chuckle about going from religious background to scammer is great. I really don't know why people are sometimes in a hurry to get to the end of a series. We already know the conclusion, and there's only ever going to be one doc about this scam so they might as well give us all the minutia and oddball details from the hundreds of hours of interviews and videos the producers amassed. And my favourite parts of this whole thing is the sleazy way McD executives escape taking any blame for their contest, and how this corporation worth billions would only pay out the million dollars at a paltry 50,000 per year. even though running the game increased their sales by so much. YOU'RE A MILLION DOLLAR WINNER! * *you will actually get $35,000 after taxes.
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Feb 28, 2020 12:25
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Cash in a trash bag.
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Mar 3, 2020 04:31
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Did they mention McDonald's deliberately screwing Canada on the contest yet?
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Mar 3, 2020 06:40
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This is legit the best thing on TV right now.
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Mar 4, 2020 15:58
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Arbite posted:Did they mention McDonald's deliberately screwing Canada on the contest yet? I'm Canadian and I've never heard this, those fuckers!
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Mar 4, 2020 16:05
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Madurai posted:This is legit the best thing on TV right now. Faxing the report directly to the press by accident was legit hilarious.
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Mar 4, 2020 17:48
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Another Bill posted:I'm Canadian and I've never heard this, those fuckers! https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-an-ex-cop-rigged-mcdonalds-monopoly-game-and-stole-millions posted:During that 1995 prize draw, something happened that would change the game. According to Jacobson, when the computerized prize draw selected a factory location in Canada, Simon Marketing executives re-ran the program until it chose an area in the USA. Jacobson claimed he was ordered to ensure that no high-level prizes ever reached the Great White North. “I knew what we were doing in Canada was wrong,” Jacobson recalled. “Sooner or later, somebody was going to be asking questions about why there were no winners in Canada.” Believing the game was rigged, he decided to cash in, too.
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Mar 4, 2020 18:13
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Wait, what’s the point of all that if Jacobson was rigging the game anyway? Like, he knew before he was even contacted that there wouldn’t be any winners because he was controlling who won. I don’t get it.
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Mar 4, 2020 18:19
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Xenomrph posted:Faxing the report directly to the press by accident was legit hilarious. As well as the accusation Doug Matthews did it.
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Mar 4, 2020 23:56
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Edward Mass posted:As well as the accusation Doug Matthews did it. He never uses the speed dial!
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Mar 5, 2020 01:24
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ZorajitZorajit posted:They probably could have made the show more concise and done it in three parts. But on the other hand, everyone involved is so cartoonish that painting a picture of the wretched underbelly that blossomed into Trump's America might well be the point. What better intersection of McDonald's and crime. The original longform article on the case is great, but I'm really digging the documentary because it gets to explore all these characters who only get passing mentions. It's probably an episode too long, but I find that with so many of these documentaries now.
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Mar 5, 2020 11:28
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