Based on the BBC Three series, Murder in Successville, Netflix's Murderville focuses on Detective Terry Seattle, played by Arrested Development star Will Arnett, partnering with clueless celebrity guest stars. Together, they look for clues (any clue at all) and testing their improv skills in an unscripted murder-mystery comedy where anything goes.
In the six-part limited series, special guests, including Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct), Ken Jeong (Community), and Annie Murphy (Schitt's Creek), are given everything they need to help them solve homicide cases; that is, everything except a script. While not all the celebrity guests proved their mettle as detectives, could they each have a place in a scripted police drama?
Conan O'Brien
When a magician's assistant is sawn in half and can't be put back together, TV host, comedian, and podcaster Conan O'Brien comes on board as the first episode's trainee to help Detective Seattle crack this "Humpty Dumpty" case. His dedication to character is impressive, and he's not afraid to get egg on his face.
After nearly losing his life (or at least his cool) in an improvised hot sauce scene, O'Brien impressively maintains his composure - barely. Even when threatened by a group of angry extremist moms against magic, O'Brien emerges with not even a hair out of place. His ability to remain in character and to show a minimal range of emotion could easily land him a gig alongside (or maybe in place of) David Caruso on CSI Miami.
Marshawn Lynch
Once a star with the NFL, Marshawn Lynch takes his turn, starring alongside Detective Seattle as the pair tries to track down a doll-making magnate's killer. The popular dolls are fashioned on one of the dollmaker's triplet sons.
Diligently looking for clues and willing to go deep undercover as blackjack dealer Octavius Shitwagon, Lynch is comfortable in the "bad cop" role and doesn't hold back when he needs to tackle a suspect who threatens the team with a baseball bat. That quick temper and passion for solving a case at all costs make him SVU material.
Kumail Nanjiani
After a tech CEO is found dead, Silicon Valley star and The Big Sick writer Kumail Nanjiani must help Detective Seattle brave the hellscape of a high school reunion to see the student most likely to commit murder.
Nunjiami's evident confusion after being briefed by his superior, his rookie error in revealing the murder weapon to a suspect, and his exceptional funny-walking skills would make him a serious contender for the role of Officer Minogue in the Aotearoa police spoof, Wellington Paranormal.
Annie Murphy
Following the murder of the City's Chief Health Inspector, Annie Murphy and Detective Seattle search for clues everywhere, from a restaurant kitchen to a kindergarten. From interrogating their first suspect while using a disembodied arm to stir the soup to describing how to boil pancakes to a mob boss, Murphy's policing style can only be described as off-the-charts wild.
Her unorthodox methods still seemed to work for her, though. Murphy seems to tumble through the case with no clear direction, reminiscent of a bumbling DI Humphrey Goodman. Perhaps she could take up residence in the BBC's Death In Paradise.
Sharon Stone
A surgeon known for breaking hearts being murdered and having his heart removed is not an entirely funny scenario. Detective Seattle's Trainee for the case is serious actress Sharon Stone. Not usually recognized for her comedy performances, Stone uses her improv skills to try to crack the case and instead succeeds in getting a corpse to break character.
Stone dominates every scene, reminding everyone that she's not a woman to be messed with. She works hard to keep the line of questioning on track during a Zumba class. Her bold, take-no-prisoners attitude and her refusal to display a sense of humor give off strong LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson from The Closer vibes.
Ken Jeong
Jeong didn't just struggle to hold it together; he failed utterly! His foray into the world of a crimefighter is him breaking character and laughing for a solid thirty minutes, which is excellent for an improv comedy show but not so great if you're supposed to be a real detective solving a serious crime.
After laughing his way through multiple accent attempts, undercover in prison and not-so-subtly asking an inmate how many people he has murdered, and even pitching a dodgy product to a Shark Tank-style panel, it's pretty clear that the best detective role Jeong could hope for would be doing a ride-along in the Mystery Machine in Scooby-Doo.