The series premiered on 12 May 2013, on the American pay television network HBO, and appeared on the British channel BBC Two in July 2013.

Eccentric hobbies, quirks and obsessions: Tom's sister Bea uses a hand puppet that tends to blurt out sentiments best left unspoken.

An old picture in the box of things that she's left for Tom sends him on a search, accompanied by his pal Pete, to discover the identity of the man in the photograph.

"[13] Gerard O'Donovan in The Daily Telegraph felt that it "was fine, if not very funny, except when Guest's trademark style came into play and we were expected to believe a TV crew was following Tom around, interviewing him and his pals.

Guest's previous films focused on subjects about which documentaries actually do get made – rock groups, dog shows, folk festivals.

"[16] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called the show "the kind of brilliant achievement only Christopher Guest could attempt, in his signature style of documentary footage and improvised dialogue, loaded with eccentric clods bumbling into moments of sublimely awkward truth.

"[citation needed] Robert Lloyd, television critic for the Los Angeles Times, observed that "Christopher Guest's poignantly comical HBO series bears the director's distinctively eccentric marks."

He added, "Guest gives the world a quarter-twist toward the ridiculous, without losing sight of the human dreams and strivings, obsessions and accommodations that are his main and constant subject.

"[18] Alan Sepinwall, who reviewed the show for HitFix, opined that "the most impressive thing about Family Tree [is] it invites you to laugh at all these kooks in a way that doesn't feel mean-spirited, and it takes parts of its hero's journey quite seriously.