REVIEW: "MURDERVILLE" ON NETFLIX
There's a LOT going on, conceptually, in the new Netflix series "Murderville," which is based on an original format from the UK. (Or, rather, a series of formats.) I think there may even be a bit TOO MUCH going on here for it all to hold together, but I leave that to you to ultimately decide.
On one level, the show serves as a parody of police procedurals. Will Arnett stars as world-weary homicide detective Terry Seattle. He's on the outs with his ex-wife Rhonda (Haneefah Wood), who also happens to be his chief down at the police station. Plus, every week, he's paired with an inept new trainee as a partner.
While those segments are scripted -- with Arnett, Wood, and fellow actors playing out traditional "cop show" plotlines in the background -- the celebrity guests who portray the new trainees in each episode are not given any script to work from. Instead, they're thrown into these scenarios and just riff through them improvisationally. The show's creators have included a lot of little games and activities to keep the sequences moving and to provide some kind of structure: undercover assignments or interrogations that require eating a lot of hot sauce, or perfecting a silly voice. But the episodes really do rise and fall based on how game the guest stars are, and their willingness to truly go for it and get silly.
That might seem like PLENTY of gimmick to sustain an under-30-minute comedy series, but no... "Murderville" also functions as kind of a game, or a puzzle, both for the guest stars and viewers at home. The episodes open with Terry and his trainee getting the download on the crime scene from forensic experts, which always include a few obvious "clues." (The suspect is left-handed, for example, or we found chili powder by the corpse. You get it.) By the end of the investigation, the trainees are expected to not only pick the guilty party out of a line-up, but explain their reasoning.
Personally, I found this pile of premises to be a little distracting. Arnett is funny, and the show has booked a great roster of talent -- both as trainees and just as comic actors to play suspects or witnesses -- but it sometimes feels like they don't have enough room to play, because they're constantly dropping clues or playing some kind of elaborate improvisational game that has only been three-quarters of the way worked out.
Some of the guests, as well, seem to struggle a bit with how to engage. Conan O'Brien and Marshawn Lynch fare pretty well in the early episodes by essentially creating larger-than-life personas for themselves, and then playing to that, giving them their own wacky kind of character that can co-exist in Terry Seattle's zany world. But then Kumail Nanjiani comes into Episode 3 and treats it basically like a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, play-acting some of the time but then also standing next to Arnett and just laughing at the absurdity of the set-up. If the actors aren't sure quite what to do, there's no way for us in the audience to know how to react.
Sometimes, everything clicks and "Murderville" is very funny, but other times, it feels like watching your friends play an acting class challenge or solve an escape room. You're rooting for them, but it's not exactly peak entertainment. With SO MUCH great streaming entertainment, and so many original comedies that are worth your time right now, I'm not sure I'd heartily endorse "Murderville," but it's fun and with only six tight episodes, quick and easy to binge.
THE BASICS
Title: "Murderville"
Where to Watch: Netflix
Episodes: 6 (1 season)
Running time: About 25 minutes each
Genre: Comedy
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