Amazon said:

From the creator of Justified and Executive Producer Bryan Cranston comes an exciting new series about a con-man, Marius, on the run from a vicious gangster. Marius hides by assuming the identity of his prison cellmate, Pete, and takes cover with Pete's estranged family - a colorful group with well-guarded and dangerous secrets of their own.

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Drama, 10 episodes: Amazon, Fri. Jan. 13. 60 min.
Cast: Giovanni Ribisi, Marin Ireland, Margo Martindale, Peter Gerety, Libe Barer, Shane McRae, Michael Drayer
Crew: Executive producers, Graham Yost, Bryan Cranston, Michael Dinner, Fred Golan, James Degus, Seth Gordon

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Variety said:

It’s essentially fun and easy to watch, and isn’t attempting to comment grandly on humanity. Its themes, whatever they are, are buried in plot — unlike, say, a drama like “Westworld,” which put significance and interpretation so front-and-center that commentary became meta-commentary. “Sneaky Pete” is, by comparison, a more satisfying but less ambitious show, a delightfully plotty potboiler.

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NY Post said:

The pacing is quick, the plotline interesting and there’s even a touch of Walter White/“Breaking Bad”-type humor (read: dark) courtesy of Cranston. And with a supporting cast featuring Margo Martindale (“The Americans,” “The Good Wife”) and Peter Gerety (“Mercy Street,” “Public Morals”), Sneaky Pete is off to an auspicious start.

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EW said:

It is fun - a pleasing balance of slick, Ocean's Eleven-style con jobs and tense, close-call escapes.

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"Even the darkest moments of a drama are enhanced with a sprinkling of levity," Cranston says. "They give the viewer a chance to exhale before we continue."

He says the cast, which besides Ribisi includes Marin Ireland, Michael Drayer, Domenick Lombardozzi and Margo Martindale, was chosen in part because they all have comedy experience.

"It's important to have actors who can do comedy," he says. "An actor who can do comedy can also do drama and it isn't necessarily true the other way. You want actors who understand how to play a joke."

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Bladenic said:

Will watch for Character Actress Margo Martindale.

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Bladenic said:

Will watch for Character Actress Margo Martindale.

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Marius was inspired in part by Cranston, who was nicknamed "Sneaky Pete" as a kid for always trying to take shortcuts, such as throwing out most of the newspapers on his paper route just to avoid crotchety customers. He referenced the nickname in his 2014 Emmys speech, and a day later, got a call from Sony Pictures Television president Zack Van Amburg with an idea for a series.

"He called me and said, 'I think there's a show there, about a guy who's a Sneaky Pete,' " Cranston says. " 'That was OK for you (to be one) because you were a kid trying to figure things out. But what if that kid is now 35? What is he now?' And I said, 'I think he'd be a criminal if he didn't change his ways.' "

Cranston began developing the show with House creator David Shore as a crime-of-the-week procedural for CBS, and when the network passed Shore was replaced by Justified's Graham Yost. The series was retooled for Amazon to introduce Cranston's character in the first episode and tell a more grounded, serialized story that was "still trying to keep the grit and the humor," Yost says.

Ribisi was cast as Marius because "he's not your average stud, leading man-type," Cranston says. "If you need a gun or a fight, you didn't figure out your con very well. The genius con is when I convince you that it's your idea to give me your money. It's almost like a magician: 'Take any card.' "

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The fantastic new Amazon series starring Giovanni Ribisi as a con man just out of jail comes out of the gates quick and confident, and gets even better from there.

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Sneaky Pete struts with confidence as Shore, Cranston and Yost (who took over showrunning duties on the second episode) take us on the roller-coaster ride of Marius/Pete's dubious idea in all of its broken but hopeful glory. There's a palpable sense of forward motion in the con itself and then, as the episodes unfold, the ensemble cast beyond Ribisi, Martindale and Cranston gets to really shine as characters begin spinning out in new directions.

That's a wonderful and encouraging sign – Sneaky Pete is immediately likeable, unspooling with exhilaration and then, almost when we're not expecting or even needing it to, the series develops other favorable attributes that hint at a longer, more complex run.

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SirMossyBloke said:

Wow. Canada doesn't even have this, and it's an Amazon Original lol. I think that's decided on my subscription.

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A fairly conventional show that is well worth bingeing as it sneaks up on you with its nimble performances.

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It’s relatively easy to follow, and, more important, it’s a lot of fun. About a con artist just out of jail, it’s not work so much as a cool ride, on the order of nimble con stories such as “Hustle,” “Burn Notice,” “Catch Me If You Can,” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Executive produced by, among others, Bryan Cranston and Graham Yost (“Justified”), the show offers suspense, elaborate deceptions, and close calls without making your head pound. After four preview episodes, I’m ready to ride on with the rest of the 10 episodes of the first season, available Friday on Amazon.

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SirMossyBloke said:

Wow. Canada doesn't even have this, and it's an Amazon Original lol. I think that's decided on my subscription.

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Sneaky Pete works because virtually every actor involved is two or three degrees better than required, and every character is written with greater detail and intelligence than the story needs to keep moving forward.

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Yost, Fred Golan, and others here use the abundance of strong actors and characters here to their advantage, taking inherently dramatic or suspenseful scenarios and making them tauter and/or more fun by throwing in just one more person, one more problem, and letting almost everyone be smarter than you expect them to be.

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This is a show with the enjoyment potential of something like “Justified,” with which it shares a creator. It’s clever, quick-paced and, well, fun. Interestingly, it starts as a slightly different show than it ends up being, a product of Amazon’s unique pilot system and a tumultuous behind-the-scenes shake-up that essentially altered the tone and trajectory of the program.

The pilot of “Sneaky Pete” that has been on Amazon for over a year now is a witty show that feels not unlike the best programs of USA Network’s “Characters Welcome” phase like “Burn Notice” or “White Collar.” It was clearly set up to work as a case-of-the-week series, and was actually originally pitched to CBS, who passed on it in favor of “Battle Creek” (yikes). After Amazon picked it up, the show was not only made darker (the knobs on the violence, language, and nudity dials turned up) but turned into more of a “Peak TV Era” serial drama. To assist in this transition, creator David Shore was replaced by Graham Yost, one of the smartest men in TV, and the guy behind “Justified.” So when “Sneaky Pete” starts to feel like a “Get Shorty”-esque Elmore Leonard novel, that’s not a coincidence.

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Cornballer said:

- RogerEbert.com review

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Mossybrew said:

Didn't care for the pilot, but willing to give the show another chance since it sounds like it may get better from there.

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Cornballer said:

I enjoyed the pilot, but hearing that it becomes Yost's show after the pilot makes me more excited about it.

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Cornballer said:

I enjoyed the pilot, but hearing that it becomes Yost's show after the pilot makes me more excited about it.

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Pete’s first episode may give you the impression the series will offer a skip-of-the-week story to go along with Marius’s continuing saga, but that's more of a holdover from its inception as a CBS series. As the show progresses, the serialized aspect gets stronger and the tone gets darker, as characters who at first seemed good or benign begin to exhibit more complicated traits. It also adds more eccentric characters, in the same way Yost’s Justified did as it progressed. 3 out of 4 stars

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So you have heists and con men and bounty hunters and parole officers and crime bosses, which sounds like a very entertaining setup. And it is, truly. Sneaky Pete isn’t breaking any new ground with its story, nor is it trying to be prestige TV. It has some narrative hiccups and can be a little too transparent in its machinations, but it’s also just fun and not overly complicated. 3 out of 4 stars

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RatskyWatsky said:

Do we know if a new(ly shot or edited) pilot is going up tomorrow or is it the same one from a few years ago?

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Loomba said:

Entire season is out for me in the UK. I thought it was tomorrow?

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Tonal inconsistency is hardly a groundbreaking problem for new series finding their feet, but Sneaky Pete's issues are especially jarring, particularly when each individual plot thread feels like it comes from a different series altogether. The show's irresistible central hook and largely winning ensemble are strong enough to convince you to stick with it, however. All Sneaky Pete is crying out for is a bit of moulding. As an experienced grifter might tell you: never over-complicate your con. 3 out of 5 stars.

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10 episodes of pacey intrigue, very occasionally cliched dialogue and, above all, thumping good fun.

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At some point during the year and a half since Amazon first posted the pilot of “Sneaky Pete,” an appealing new series available on Friday, a few changes crept into the episode. It’s hard to pinpoint them all, because the original pilot isn’t around for comparison. But the scene in which the famously rare bourbon Pappy Van Winkle is drunk out of paper cups is definitely new.

It’s an insignificant and yet telling detail. Fans of smart, literate, light-footed television with a sense of place, loosely housed in the crime genre, will know that Pappy was one of the motifs of the late, lamented “Justified,” which ended its run on FX in 2015. Then they’ll connect the dots to Graham Yost, who developed “Justified” — and who joined “Sneaky Pete” after the original pilot was shot.

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But the mood of the series changes after the pilot; a show that was distinctive for being relaxed and amiable starts to feel a little more forced and artificial.

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