It's a case that feels fairly simple at the start, but grows more and more complex with each installment.Īs portrayed in McMillion$, the FBI had a challenging time convincing McDonald's to cooperate in the investigation, and it was a case of life imitating art for Hernandez and Lazarte as they attempted to persuade the corporation to take part in the series. 'He's the Energizer Bunny,' Lazarte quips.Īnd two: The tangled web the FBI had to weave in getting to the bottom of Jerry’s ability to game the system for almost 12 years, conning McDonald's out $24 million in the process, involved the Colombo crime syndicate and seedy characters aplenty. He provides a constant through-line of humor over the course of the series’ more dramatic overtones. He's a sparkplug in the Bureau, as unboundedly excited about the idea of going undercover as a teenager would be playing laser tag, and he has the perfect foil across the hallway in the older, straight-laced, stoic, more 'FBI-like' Agent Dent. One: The FBI agents are so entertaining - Mathews, especially, who comes off like a less clueless but just as quirky Michael Scott from NBC's The Office. That approach came naturally, said Hernandez and Lazarte, for two reasons. It soon feels more like we're watching a film akin to David O'Russell's American Hustle or Ben Affleck's Argo than it does a true-crime docuseries. The tension quickly ratchets up in the first episode. The fascinating, compelling and surprisingly comedic series, which relies on re-creations almost as much as talking heads, unfolds almost like a heist thriller as Agents Doug Mathews and Richard Dent investigate an anonymous tip in 2000 that claimed the game was fixed. When the documentary team met with execs from the Golden Arches, 'The first thing they said was, 'So we're assuming you guys are here and working on this project because this some sort of scheme to figure out the secret sauce for Wahlburgers,'' Hernandez laughs. The co-directors insist it never dawned on them that Wahlberg was already in the restaurant business with Wahlburgers, which the Boogie Nights and Ted actor owns with brothers Paul and Donnie and has 31 locations across America (and was also the subject of a reality-TV series). It was also then that they took the project to Unrealistic Ideas, the production company formed by Mark Wahlberg and producers Archie Gips and Stephen Levinson. LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 30: (L-R) Mark Wahlberg, Archie Gips, James Lee Hernandez, Brian Lazarte and Stephen Levinson attend the Los Angeles Premiere Of 'McMillions' From HBO on Januin Los Angeles, California.

Mcdonald’s monopoly scam