Television series
McMillion$
A six-part HBO docuseries about the decade-long scam that quietly drained McDonald's Monopoly of its big prizes. It's less about grit and more about the sheer joy of watching a small army of over-eager FBI agents chase winners, mobsters and mail-order psychics across the country. Funny, warm, occasionally absurd — true crime for people who want charm alongside the handcuffs.
If you liked this
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness2020
If McMillion$ hooked you on eccentric real people doing outrageous things while investigators scramble to keep up, this delivers that chaos tenfold, with big cats, feuding zoo owners and a fully deranged cast of characters.
But Meaner-spirited than McMillion$ — the humor curdles into real tragedy for the animals and some of the humans involved.
Wild Wild Country2018
A meticulous documentary that lets its real, bizarre, charismatic people talk themselves into a corner while investigators try to make sense of an escalating con on an entire small town.
But Six hours of slow-building cult intrigue with a queasier moral center than McMillion$'s comparatively cheerful frame.
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst2015
The same twisty, discovery-driven structure as McMillion$, but the crime is murder, not fast-food coupons — the stakes and dread scale up considerably as the story unfolds.
But Far darker, with a genuine sense of menace McMillion$ never really has; not a light Tuesday-night watch.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
American Animals2018
Both hinge on interviews with the real perpetrators looking back, slightly baffled, at their own audacity — McMillion$ just lets its people stay funnier about it.
Four bored college kids plan a real museum heist, and the film cuts between actors playing them and the actual men recalling it decades later — the same fascination with ordinary people talking themselves into an outrageous scheme.
But More melancholy than funny by the end; the crime's real consequences land much harder than anything in McMillion$.
More like this (8)
LuLaRich2021
Another decade-long American scheme unravels through interviews with the people who lived it, swapping FBI agents for disillusioned leggings saleswomen but keeping the same delight in absurd corporate self-delusion.
But Less caper, more slow-motion pyramid-scheme collapse — the joy here is darker and the ending far less triumphant.
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley2019
Same HBO fraud-doc DNA — a charismatic con artist building an empire on lies, told through archival footage and genuine bafflement at how smart people got fooled for so long.
But Colder and more clinical than McMillion$; Elizabeth Holmes offers no equivalent of its goofy, lovable FBI agents.
Fyre2019
A shorter, single-sitting hit of the same disaster-comedy true crime energy — watching confident people promise the impossible and then spectacularly fail to deliver it.
But Thinner and meaner than McMillion$, with less genuine affection for anyone involved, including its subjects.
Dirty Money2018
An anthology series that scratches the same itch for real financial crime explained clearly and entertainingly, jumping between emissions scandals, payday lenders and pharmaceutical price-gouging.
But More journalistic and less character-driven — you lose McMillion$'s cast of lovable, chatty weirdos front and center.
Catch Me If You Can2002
Spielberg's breezy, propulsive take on a real-life con man being chased by a dogged fed offers the same cat-and-mouse pleasure, just fictionalized, glossier, and set to a jaunty score.
But A scripted feature, not a documentary, so you lose the strange thrill of watching the real perpetrators speak for themselves.
American Greed2007
The long-running bread-and-butter of financial-crime television — dozens of episodes if McMillion$ leaves you wanting more real scams explained in digestible, dramatized chunks.
But Formulaic and repetitive by design, with none of McMillion$'s specific, character-rich momentum.
Nightmare Alley1947
Both are studies of ordinary hucksters running long, layered scams on people desperate to believe — McMillion$'s agents would recognize this carnival barker instantly.
A gorgeous, brutal noir about a carnival hustler climbing through smaller and smaller lies until they catch up with him — the moral rot beneath charm that McMillion$ only ever hints at.
But Black-and-white, slow-burn and genuinely bleak — a mood miles from McMillion$'s comic energy.
The Imposter2012
Where McMillion$ spreads its investigation across six hours and dozens of players, The Imposter squeezes the same slow unravelling of a great lie into ninety unbearable minutes.
A single, tightly wound documentary about a French drifter who convinced an American family he was their missing son, restaged with unnerving skill — the same pleasure of watching a lie hold together for far too long.
But Much creepier and more claustrophobic than McMillion$; the dramatized recreations blur into genuine psychological horror.
People
Production
- Archie GipsExecutive Producer
- Brian LazarteExecutive Producer
- James Lee HernandezExecutive Producer
- Mark WahlbergExecutive Producer
- Stephen LevinsonExecutive Producer
Recommended by
Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives., The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, Dark Side of the Ring, Dirty Money, American Greed, Love Fraud