Will Arnett and a cast of guest celebrities take a new trip to “Murderville” in the new Netflix comedy series premiering Thursday (February 3).
The concept, adapted from BBC3’s BAFTA-winning series ‘Murder in Successville’, casts Arnett as Terry Seattle, a chief homicide detective straight out of a 70s crime drama (mustache, bad guard -dress) who works for the municipal police in an unnamed metropolis (and “no, I’ve never been there,” he says of Seattle. Terry’s partner, Lori Griffin (Jennifer Aniston’s face adorns his memorial plaque in keeping with the celebrity theme) was murdered 15 years ago, and he kept her office exactly as it was that day (it’s full of cobwebs, a sandwich horribly moldy and the skeleton of his pet rabbit… Terry is not the sharpest tool in the shed).
What Terry can’t seem to keep is a steady partner, so his boss/ex-wife, Chief Rhonda Jenkins (Haneefah Wood), brings in a steady line of new detectives-in-training. These are performed weekly by different celebrities – Conan O’Brien, Annie Murphy, Marshawn Lynch, Sharon Stone, Kumail Nanjiani and Ken Jeong (who is on way too many TV shows) – who aren’t shown the script, so they improvise their way through the action.
The stars play themselves without anyone recognizing them; in each episode, they “investigate” a murder with Terry – and, in the final scene, confront three suspects (“The Prosecution”) with this week’s guest star dramatically revealing who he/she thinks the killer is in a reality show manner (highlighted by the “serious” music used in reality shows for the “big reveal”).
It works, for the most part, and any “it’s not going anywhere” moments are kept to a minimum. It helps that Arnett is very funny because Terry Seattle, who drives a bright orange 1982 Dodge Rampage, has a strange obsession with Tommy Tune (“a little unmatched,” he says) and is the proud owner of a Maxim magazine collection… and a “Take Me Drunk I’m Home” T-shirt (which he left with his ex-wife).
In the opening episode, Conan O’Brien is brought on board as Terry’s sidekick to investigate the death of a magician’s assistant who was sawn in half, really sawn in half, on stage in front of a group of children at the municipal library. She was, Terry solemnly declares, “murdered against her will.” Terry and O’Brien visit a local restaurant, where, in an amusing scene, O’Brien attempts to interrogate a potential suspect while gagging a sandwich covered in extremely hot jalapeno sauce. Occasionally, O’Brien almost breaks character, especially when he and Terry interrogate magician Magic Melvin. “It’s witchcraft!” Yells Terry, recoiling in admiration, as if he’s never seen anything like this before.
Several episodes later, it’s Annie Murphy’s turn as Terry’s detective-in-training when they investigate the murder of the city’s chief health inspector. He is found face down in a bowl of soup – “Boy, there’s a guy in my soup,” Terry jokes at the crime scene. Terry persuades Murphy to go undercover to interview a local mob boss (she dons a black wig, dark shades and a black mustache) and, like O’Brien, sometimes seems to be a little taken aback by the improvised nature of the story. ‘business. . It’s all fun, it lends a whimsical air to the proceedings, and Terry Seattle can use all the scripted or unscripted help he can get.
