Dirty John (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The second season follows the breakdown of Betty Broderick's marriage to childhood sweetheart Dan Broderick and the emotional toll it took on Betty.
• Connie Britton earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for her role in the first season.

Production

Bravo ordered the series Dirty John, created by Alexandra Cunningham, in January 2018. The initial order covered two seasons, with Cunningham serving as executive producer alongside Richard Suckle, Charles Roven, Mark Herzog, Christopher G. Cowen, and Christopher Argentieri. Universal Cable Productions, Los Angeles Times Studios, and Atlas Entertainment handled production. The show premiered on November 25, 2018. Before its second season, the series moved from Bravo to USA Network in May 2019. It was later confirmed as an anthology, with the second season titled Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, which debuted on June 2, 2020. Casting for the first season began in March 2018 when Connie Britton landed the lead role. Eric Bana was cast as John Meehan the following month. Jean Smart joined in a recurring role in June 2018. The next month, Juno Temple, Julia Garner, Kevin Zegers, Keiko Agena, John Karna, Sprague Grayden, Cliff Chamberlain, Jake Abel, and David Barrera were added to the cast. Lindsey Kraft appeared as a guest star in August 2018. For the second season, Amanda Peet and Christian Slater were cast as leads in September 2019. Missi Pyle and Holley Fain were added in recurring roles in October 2019. The following month, Rachel Keller joined the main cast, while Emily Bergl, Lena Georgas, Tiera Skovbye, and Chris Mason were cast in recurring capacities.

Release

A first look still image featuring Connie Britton and Eric Bana was released on August 24, 2018. A teaser trailer followed on September 17, 2018, and the official trailer on October 8, 2018. An exclusive preview clip was released on December 20, 2018. The series held its official premiere at NeueHouse Hollywood in Los Angeles on November 13, 2018, with a screening; a red carpet arrival was canceled out of respect for victims of the Woolsey Fire. The first season became available to stream on Netflix worldwide on February 14, 2019, and was added to Netflix in the US in November 2019. Dirty John premiered in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2021 on 5Star.

Reception

The first season received mixed to positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 71% approval rating with an average rating of 5.51/10 based on 34 reviews; the critical consensus states that Dirty John might not live up to the thrills of its source material, but Connie Britton puts on a clinic with her interpretation of true crime treachery. Metacritic assigned a score of 58 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews. Entertainment Weekly's Kristen Baldwin gave the first season an A−, praising Britton as perfectly cast and noting that Eric Bana pivots from charming to chilling with astonishing ease. The Los Angeles Times's Mike Mack called the series glossy and well-acted, describing its transfer from podcast to television as smooth. RogerEbert.com's Brian Tallerico offered qualified praise, stating that Dirty John is very entertaining but does not dig very deep and presents Debra's daughters as underdeveloped characters. TVLine's Dave Nemetz gave the first season a D, criticizing it as a warmed-over Lifetime movie masquerading as a prestige TV miniseries. IndieWire's Ben Travers gave a C−, saying the series is not ambitious prestige television and is not interested in exploring abuse or manipulation in a serious fashion, instead aiming to be a juicy nighttime soap.