Murderville

''Murderville'' is an American comedic murder-mystery television series with improvised elements developed by Krister Johnson for Netflix. The series is based on the BBC Three television series '' Murder in Successville''. ''Murderville'' premiered on February 3, 2022 with the release of all six episodes of the first season.

In the original British series, many of the town's residents (including all the murder suspects) are well-known celebrities, played by impersonators. By contrast, in ''Murderville'', the suspects are simply fictional characters.

A Christmas special premiered on December 15, 2022.

Premise

In the town of Murderville, Terry Seattle is a senior detective of the Murderville Police Department and the ex-husband of Rhonda Jenkins-Seattle who works as the chief of police. In each episode, a guest star plays the role of a rookie detective that Rhonda assigns to Terry on a murder investigation. However, the guest is not given a script beforehand and must improvise through the police procedural while attempting to solve the crime.

After meeting at the police station, the detectives visit the murder scene or coroner, then interview three suspects. Typically, the first suspect is questioned in an interrogation room or private office, the second in a location with numerous distractions, and the third involves undercover operations in disguise – often with Terry feeding questions to the rookie through an earpiece. The three suspects are then brought together and Rhonda arrives with uniformed police officers to hear the rookie explain who committed the crime and what clues led them to their determination. Rhonda then reveals if they are correct or not, the clues that were available, and orders the culprit arrested – while firing the rookie if they chose the wrong suspect.

Cast and characters

Main

* Will Arnett as Terry Seattle, a clumsy senior detective who is going through divorce proceeding with Rhonda. He has a hard time getting over the death of his former partner Lori Griffin who died 15 years prior to the beginning of the series. He also has a tough time getting over his divorce with Rhonda.
* Haneefah Wood as Rhonda Jenkins-Seattle, the chief of police who is in divorce proceedings with Terry
* Lilan Bowden as Amber Kang, a coroner who assists Terry and the respective guest on the murder
* Phillip Smithey as Darren "Daz" Phillips, a detective who starts dating Rhonda and has a poor co-worker relationship with Terry. Smithey did not appear in the holiday special.

Co-stars

These actors only appear as themself for one episode within their respective season:

* Conan O'Brien (season 1)
* Marshawn Lynch (season 1; special guest, special)
* Kumail Nanjiani (season 1)
* Annie Murphy (season 1)
* Sharon Stone (season 1)
* Ken Jeong (season 1)
* Jason Bateman (special)
* Maya Rudolph (special)
* Pete Davidson (special)

Guest stars

Season 1

* Alison Becker as Deb Melton, a former magician's assistant who works as a waitress.
* Mary Hollis Inboden as Kathy, the head of an anti-magician movement.
* David Wain as Magic Melvin, a magician.
* Rob Huebel as:
** Charles Worthington, the son of Cora Washington who succeeds her in the family business.
** Chester Worthington, the son of Cora Washington and the family outcast who is a doomsdayer and has established his bunker as his own independent nation.
** Chadd Worthington, the son of Cora Washington who is a failing influencer.
* Ian Gomez as Kevin Rivera, the former business partner of billionaire Seth Gourley.
* Jay Larson as Brad Torker, a former school jock.
* Erinn Hayes as Lisa Capabianco, a former student.
* Nina Pedrad as Nanette Dubois, a chef.
* Erica Hernandez as Ms. Anya Campbell, a kindergarten teacher.
* John Ennis as Vinnie Palmieri, the crime boss of the Food Truck Mafia.
* Irene White as Dr. Jocelyn Alexander, the hospital administrator.
* Samantha Cutaran as Dr. Maddison Chen, the ex-girlfriend of Sebastian Pierce.
* Josh Banday as Dr. Will Gonzalez, an anesthesiologist.
* Nicole Sullivan as Rebecca Hendricks, an entrepreneur.
* Peter Giles as Seamus Doyle, an incarcerated Irish Mob enforcer.
* Phil LaMarr as Donald Barton, the police commissioner of the Murderville Police Department.

Special

* Kurt Braunohler as Jim Trently, a sportscaster.
* Courtney Parchman as Mia Briggs, the assistant of Johnny Briggs.
* Eliza Coupe as Donna Foccacia, an investor.
* Dennice Cisneros as Angie, the girlfriend of Jim.

Special guest stars

* Jennifer Aniston as Lori Griffin (season 1), Terry's former partner who was murdered 15 years ago. She only appears in a photograph hanging in Terry's office. Aniston is given a "special thanks" credit in the season one finale.
* Sean Hayes as Johnny Blaze (special), a professional football player who is murdered while dressed as Santa Claus
* Tawny Newsome as Mayor Palmer (special), the Mayor of Murderville who helps Terry and the detectives solve the murder of Johnny Blaze.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2022)

Special (2022)

Production

Krister Johnson serves as showrunner. Anna Drezen, Chadd Gindin, Craig Rowin, Jack Kukoda, Marina Cockenberg, Kerry O'Neill, Hannah Levy, and Adriana Robles also serve as writers. Iain K. Morris and Brennan Shroff shared director duties for each episode. The series was filmed in mid-2021. ''Murderville'' was released on February 3, 2022 on Netflix.

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 74% approval rating with an average rating of 6.4/10, based on 35 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Murderville''s improvisational premise can lead to stretches of dead air, but the moments of spontaneous inspiration are worthwhile—and it helps to have Will Arnett on the case." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Kathryn VanArendonk of ''Vulture'' praised the show's concept, writing, "Arnett's flexibility and playfulness are key to making Murderville work, but strong celebrity casting is what keeps its fairly predictable shtick from getting boring."

''The Guardian''s Jack Seale felt that the original BBC series "was a startling flash of bottled chaos that deserves to be cherished. It doesn't deserve the new US remake, Murderville (Netflix), which hacks off the concept's eccentric rough edges, then makes a mess of the less interesting show that's left."

See also

* '' Thank God You're Here'' - American version of an Australian TV series with a similar concept.

References

External links

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{{Netflix original current series

2022 American television series debuts
2022 American television series endings
2020s American crime television series
2020s American police comedy television series
2020s American mystery television series
American English-language television shows
Netflix original programming
American television series based on British television series
Television series by Tiger Aspect Productions
Television series by Banijay
Television shows about murder
Improvisational television series