‘Murderville’ Review: Will Arnett Mixes Crime & Improv In This Uneven Comedic Exercise

Netflix’s “Murderville” isn’t just another true-crime series for the streaming giant that’s been at least partially built on the back of events like “Making the Murderer” and even repeats of network hits like “Criminal Minds.” More than ever, people love to play detective. But this isn’t a typical mystery show. It’s more of a blend of those game parties wherein friends try to solve a crime together and the improvisational comedy stylings of something like Comedy Central’s “Drunk History.” Just like that show, some of the sharpest humor here comes from completely unexpected places, highlighting the improv skills of some very talented guests and a great regular cast. As in any comedy-on-the-fly scenario, the results are hit and miss when considering the series as a whole, but there are undeniably funny chapters in this six-episode TV experiment in laughter and murder.

Based on the BBC series “Murder in Successville,” that aired from 2015 to 2017, “Murderville” stars Will Arnett as Detective Terry Seattle, a tough-talking idiot cop who would be right at home on a show like “Police Squad!” On one level, Arnett is doing a spoof of cop shows about macho morons, including a subplot about how he’s poorly handling a divorce from his superior, Chief Rhonda Jenkins-Seattle (a very funny Haneefah Wood), and bouncing bad ideas off co-workers like Amber Kang (Lilan Bowden) and Detective Phillips (Phillip Smithey).

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However, there’s a twist to this parody of the overwrought structure of shows about people who luck into solving crimes. Every episode features a new guest star who is the only person on set who wasn’t given a script. After introducing the guest star, who is kind of playing themselves in that their “characters” share their real names, the Chief comes in and announces there’s been a murder. Over the next 30 minutes, Terry and his guest investigate a ridiculous case that will lead them to three suspects. At the end of the episode, the guest has to solve the case and accuse one of the three suspects, and there are enough clues embedded in each half hour that one could easily play along at home. Some are pretty easy, but not every guest gets their man.

The guests over the six episodes are a fascinatingly strange array of talents. Kumail Nanjiani, who gets the best episode by far in Chapter 3, is a stand-up comedian and a writer, so his instincts in the comedy realm are sharp. No offense to a talented athlete with his own memorable screen presence, but Marshawn Lynch has displayed less comedy skill than other guest stars before now, and Sharon Stone, while an underrated performer in general, looks pretty lost here (although is totally up for where the most ridiculous episode ends up taking her, to be fair). Somewhere in between are Annie Murphy, who gets some great bits but looks uncomfortable with the concept sometimes, and Ken Jeong, who gets the finale. Closer to Nanjiani’s comic ability is the premiere episode’s guest star of Conan O’Brien, who reminds viewers how sharp he could be on his late-night show when it came to man on the street or improvised segments. The guy is still so very funny.

Arnett and his writers cleverly embed each chapter of “Murderville” with what could be called an improv game, the kind of structural amplifier that one would see on a stage at Second City or Improv Olympic. For example, Seattle has to put an earpiece in Murphy’s ear before sending her undercover and telling her to repeat everything she said, which only gets more and more embarrassing for the mustache-wearing Emmy winner. Lynch has to play the Mirror Game with a suspect played by Rob Huebel; Nanjiani sings along with a suspect to a high school fight song to which he doesn’t know the lyrics (and he kills it). These bits often give a little jolt to a show that can sometimes slack in pace.

In fact, that’s the biggest problem with “Murderville,” a show that would work better in a 20-minute size. Every episode feels a bit too long, dragging its way to the accusatory conclusion. Even the best ones (O’Brien, Nanjiani) could be a few minutes shorter. It’s such a goofy concept that maintaining its silly tone for over half an hour can sometimes feel like a stretch. Something that could alleviate that in future seasons might be tighter cases or maybe more than one improv comedian riffing off Arnett to break up the flow a little more (although guest stars like Huebel help with this cause at times).

With only six episodes and some structure issues, this first season of “Murderville” kind of feels like a tryout, checking to see what critics and subscribers think of the idea of an improvised murder mystery with silly jokes. The verdict is that there’s a ton of potential as long as the show attracts talents like Nanjiani, O’Brien, and even Murphy. Arnett is undeniably funny and the writing in the non-improvised aspects of the show can be clever enough. Keep it up and find the right people who are willing to play this TV game, and this show could really kill. [B-]

“Murderville” debuts on Netflix on February 3.