Netflix will bring its star-studded comedy series Murderville to the streaming service next month, and some first look photos have been revealed. Starring Will Arnett as a detective who must solve a murder in every episode, each mystery will bring in a different celebrity guest to serve as his temporary partner on the case. The catch is that none of the actors are given a script, and it will be up to them to solve the mystery all while remaining in character.
The synopsis for Murderville reads: "Meet Senior Detective Terry Seattle (Will Arnett), Homicide Division. For Terry, every day means a new murder case and a new celebrity guest star as his partner. But here’s the catch: each episode's guest star isn’t being given the script. They have no idea what’s about to happen to them. Together, the guest star and Terry Seattle will have to improvise their way through the case... but it will be up to each celebrity guest alone to name the killer. Join them as they punch a one-way ticket to Murderville. Based off the BAFTA award-winning BBC3 series Murder in Successville by Tiger Aspect Productions and Shiny Button Productions."
Krister Johnson serves as showrunner and writer on the series. Additionally, Johnson is executive producing with Arnett, Marc Forman, Jonathan Stern, Peter Principato, Brian Steinberg, Tom Davis, and James DeFrond. Iain Morris and Brennan Shroff served as directors with writers including Anna Drezen, Chadd Gindin, Craig Rowin, Jack Kukoda, Marina Cockenberg, Kerry O'Neill, Hannah Levy, and Adriana Robles.
Murderville Puts Its Celebrity Guests' Improv Skills to the Test
A limited series, Murderville consists of six episodes. Its main cast includes Arnett as Terry Seattle, Haneefah Wood as Chief Fhonda Jenkins-Seattle, Lilian Bowden as Medical Examiner Amber Kang, and Phillip Smithey as Detective Darren "Daz" Phillips. The six celebrity guest stars are Annie Murphy, Conan O'Brien, Ken Jeong, Kumail Nanjiani, Marshawn Lynch, and Sharon Stone.
“I do think people liked the idea that they could come in, they didn’t have to learn any dialogue and they could be themselves and just go for a ride,” Arnett says of the guest cast, per The Hollywood Reporter. “And I have to give these people credit because it’s freakin’ scary as sh*t.”
On the possibility of doing more episodes, Arnett added: “I’d love to do more if it works and people respond to it. And if people kind of shrug and go, ‘Yeah, fine,’ then great, we had a lot of fun.”
In any case, the fact that the series is improvised by its guest cast will add a certain spin to the police procedural series separating it from others of its kind. Arnett has also teased that some of the guests manage to solve the mystery on Netflix correctly while others do not, but you'll have to stream the series to see how it turns out. If you're intrigued, you'll want to watch Murderville when the show starts streaming. The six-episode procedural crime comedy premieres globally on Netflix on February 3.