As Murderville fans know, for Terry Seatlle (Will Arnett), every day means a new murder case – and Christmas Day is no exception. Since everybody loves a Christmas present and TV fans love Christmas episodes of their favorite shows, Netflix decided to throw the somewhat wise detective into his ultimate case: Finding out who killed Santa Claus. In case you don’t know how the series plays out, in every episode Arnett has a celebrity partner investigator who comes in completely blind and has to improvise their lines — and discover who the murderer is.
The trailer for Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery reveals that the guest stars are Jason Bateman and Maya Rudolph. The duo declares to the camera that they know “next to nothing” and were brought into the set with blindfolds. On top of that, a third guest star is yet to be revealed, and their presence is teased with their name bleeped out, and their face covered by a glowing candy cane.
Christmas in Murderville Means Bottle Episode
The special episode will follow the same structure as Season 1, with the difference that this time around the production seems to be limited to a single scenario. In the trailer, Terry says that all doors of the building they’re in will be locked until they figure out who killed Santa, which improvisation-wise is great: Having all cast members in the same space forces them to interact more, and the real challenge becomes who can stay in character the longest.
Murderville Guests Dictate How Funny The Episode Will Be
Rudolph is no stranger to improv on camera. She was on the sketch show Saturday Night Live for many years, and she still frequently returns for cameos. Bateman is fresh off a run of acclaimed drama series Ozark (which earned him an Emmy in 2019). Still, his career is rooted in comedy. He starred in the acclaimed sitcom Arrested Development and in movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Game Night.
Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery is directed by Laura Murphy (Awkwafina is Nora From Queens) and written by showrunner Krister Johnson along with Owen Burke, Marina Cockenberg, and Kerry O'Neill. The cast also features Eliza Coupe, Kurt Braunohler, Haneefah Wood, Lilan Bowden, Dennice Cisneros, Tawny Newsome, and Courtney Parchman.
Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery is available to stream now on Netflix. You can watch the trailer below:
Check out the official synopsis for the special episode below:
Senior Detective Terry Seattle (Will Arnett) is back and this time, the case is critical. Along with his two celebrity guest stars, Jason Bateman and Maya Rudolph, he is on a mission to figure out...who killed Santa? But here’s the catch: Jason Bateman and Maya Rudolph aren't being given the script. They have no idea what’s about to happen to them. Together, with Terry Seattle (and many surprises), they will have to improvise their way through the case... but it will be up to both of them to name the killer. Based off the BAFTA award winning BBC3 series Murder in Successville by Tiger Aspect Productions and Shiny Button Productions.