Will Arnett as a comical homicide detective is a setup we'd always salivate over - but add some celebrity guest deputies into the mix, and boy, have you got a recipe of success. And, well, that's the basic premise for Murderville, the show Netflix dropped a trailer for earlier today.
The six-episode procedural crime comedy premieres globally on Netflix on February 3: a loose adaptation of the BAFTA-award winning BBC3 series Murder in Successville, it follows Arnett's Senior Detective Terry Seattle as he investigates a series of nefarious murders, with each episode focusing on a different case.
Here's the rib-tickling twist: each episode also brings with it a new partner for Seattle, striking celebrity cameos each boasting terrific comedic chops. Conan O'Brien, Ken Jeong, Annie Murphy, Kumail Nanjiani, Marshawn Lynch, and Sharon Stone can all be seen in the newly released trailer, each navigating the investigations in their own, variously contrived and clumsy ways. Our eyes are on Conan's episode, of course - being one of America's greatest ever funnymen, we can't wait to see what he brings to the (homicide) desk.
While it drew the odd one-star review here-and-there, with some critics befuddled by the overall premise, Murder in Successville became a cult hit for the Beeb when it debuted back in 2015. "The secret of Murder In Successville’s success is that, because of how carefully it’s made, it works whatever the celebrity of the week does. If they panic, that’s funny," wrote The Guardian in 2016. "If they lose it under pressure from Davis and giggle, that’s funny."
Murderville also stars Haneefah Wood, Lilan Bowden, and Phillip Smithey, though those guys play fictional members of the police department, not themselves. Executive producers on the show are Arnett, Marc Forman, Jonathan Stern, Peter Principato, Brian Steinberg, Tom Davis, Andy Brereton, and James De Frond. Krister Johnson, known for Medical Police and his Emmy-winning work on Children's Hospital, is the showrunner. Iain Morris and Brennan Shroff direct. The writer's room is made up of Anna Drezen, Chadd Gindin, Craig Rowin, Jack Kukoda, Marina Cockenberg, Kerry O'Neill, Hannah Levy, and Adriana Robles.
Murderville premieres globally on Netflix on February 3. Check out the trailer below:
Here's the official synopsis for Murderville:
"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."