Seems like a bizarre concept, right? A murder-mystery where the murder isn't too important. But, wait… it's an improvisational crime comedy that has a wide range of celebrities acting as 'detectives-in-training'. Murder is so unimportant, even the people portraying the corpses, well, corpse (in the episode with Sharon Stone the corpse is laughing/smiling). Many of the celebrities, such as Conan O'Brien, actually do deduct the murderer despite Terry Seattle being a very ineffective detective and having no idea what is going on. It's truly bizarre to describe, but, trust me, just give it a go and you'll be entertained. Although, it's had very mixed reviews so it’s very much not loved by all, yet, I love it- it's exactly what it says it is. If you're not obsessed, well, it's only 6 episodes of 30 minutes each.
Seems like a bizarre concept, right? A murder-mystery where the murder isn't too important.
For me, the several stand-out episodes were with Conan O'Brien (The Tonight show with Conan O'Brien) and Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick). Though, all of it is really good (plus a good distraction from university work)! Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct) and Annie Murphy's (Schitt's Creek) episodes are also a great watch.
O'Brien, an American television host and comedian, is Arnett's first guest and perfectly sets the tone for the series. There's something about that moment when O’Brien is very seriouslydescribing the concept of death to a little girl, whilst a dismembered body (a magician's trick gone disastrously wrong) sits in the background- hilarious. Not to be outdone, a few scenes later Murderville plays on the police interview. In contrast to intense interview scenes in police procedurals Murderville has O’Brien improvising 'weren't you frisked before you came in here?!' as their suspect, a magician, brandishes all of his tricks and props from his sleeves. O’Brien’s looks of amazement, confusion, astonishment, and trying not to break character are brilliant when contrasted with Arnett breaking character (and almost falling out of his chair).
I absolutely have to mention Kumail Nanjiani's stellar episode. Having previously seen him in Marvel's Eternals (2021), I was surprised by how well he meshed and clashed with Detective Seattle. The two corpsed a little throughout the episode to entertaining results. The part where Nanjiani tries to force Arnett into performing a Pakistani accent whilst, as he says, ‘don't make it racist' has to be seen and not spoiled.
I recommend watching Murderville. It's something new (even though it's the American adaptation of the BBC Three comedy Murder in Successville) and it'll make you laugh.
