Poker Face - A Rian Johnson Mystery Series

[Man in the Suit]

Natasha Lyonne To Star In Rian Johnson Series ‘Poker Face’ At Peacock – Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, Peacock has landed Poker Face, a mystery drama starring Russian Doll‘s Natasha Lyonne from Rian Johnson, his T-Street banner and MRC Television, with a 10-episode straight-to-series order.

This marks the first TV series for Knives Out and Star Wars filmmaker Johnson who is the creator, writer and director of Poker Face and will also executive produce alongside T-Street partner Ram Bergman and the company’s television president Nena Rodrigue. Lyonne will serve as an executive producer via her Animal Pictures. The company’s Maya Rudolph and Danielle Renfrew Behrens will co-executive produce.

“I’m very excited to dig into the type of fun, character driven, case-of-the-week mystery goodness I grew up watching. It’s my happy place,” he said. “Having Natasha as a partner in crime is a dream, and we’ve found the perfect home at Peacock.”

 

[Man in the Suit]

 

[Man in the Suit]

 

[Man in the Suit]

 

[Sawyer]

I wonder what the odds are that this gives some sort of shout-out to existing in the same universe as Knives Out.

Like, even if not a Blanc cameo, just someone casually reading a Harlan Thrombey book or something.

 

[henzINNIT]

Lyonne and Johnson. Sounds pretty great to me.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Deck Rickard]

This looks great! Love the cast and after the Knives Out movies, Rian Johnson doing a murder mystery is always good.

 

[Iceman]

Looks fun! I'm in for all these Rian Johnson projects going forward. Top cast again. If I were a Hollywood actor I'd be trying to push to appear in one too.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Yeah it looks like a ton of fun. Though I must admit that I will be a little annoyed if there isn’t a secret Lady Gaga cameo. Just because.

 

[Dr.]

In reading up on this series, I learned a new word : “howcatchem.” Apparently, Poker Face will follow a case-of-the-week format in which the perpetrator is revealed to the audience right away. And the main narrative is about “how” the detective pieces together the clues. Columbo is, arguably, the most famous example of the “howcatchem” (aka “inverted detective story”) sub-genre.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Dr.]

Seems to be getting good reviews.

 

[Dr.]

The first episode was decent. I'll try another.

 

[samsnee]

Yeah the actors in this are good. And I really liked Natasha in Russian Doll. But I’m two episodes into this and the pacing is glacial.

 

[Filmfreak]

How is this a murder mystery if you know the murderers and motives from the beginning in each episode? Other than that it is very enjoyable so far. Lyonne is playing the same thing all the time but she's still great in it, I like the tone and I'm fine with the pacing. I hope it keeps my interest for the remaining episodes.

 

[Dr.]

I’ve watched the first four episodes. They’re modestly engaging and Lyonne is fun. But apart from the first/pilot episode (which I thought was intricately crafted), the central crime/mystery in the other three struck me as a tad... underwhelming. Perhaps my memory is being kind, but I recall classic Columbo as being impressively clever — both the initial crime as well as Columbo’s masterful “howcatchem” deductions. But here, not really that clever.

Another difference that occurred to me (which may be a stretch ): the Columbo villains were usually rich, powerful or otherwise privileged. And they presumed themselves smart enough and entitled enough to get away with murder. So it was satisfying to witness these smug elites get their comeuppance from a lowly public servant. But on Poker Face (at least so far), Charlie has only put away down-on-their-luck working class types. True, they were murderers and absolutely deserved their fate. However, not quite the same sense of schadenfreude as a Beverly Hills millionaire being led away in handcuffs.

 

[LoganPool]

Really digging this show so far. This is my first time watching something with Lyonne as a lead character, but she is killing it! (No pun intended)

I had to laugh at the part in the second episode when

Spoiler

the girl told Benjamin Bratt's character that she was headed to Los Angeles, and he bought it... like seriously, she just drove 600 miles from Vegas to Albuquerque IN THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE DIRECTION from LA. lol

Anyway... Looking forward to the rest of the season. And I hope one of the episodes brings up how ironic it is that every stop she makes, someone she befriends is murdered.

 

[Dark Raven]

In reading up on this series, I learned a new word : “howcatchem.” Apparently, Poker Face will follow a case-of-the-week format in which the perpetrator is revealed to the audience right away. And the main narrative is about “how” the detective pieces together the clues. Columbo is, arguably, the most famous example of the “howcatchem” (aka “inverted detective story”) sub-genre.

I've known the term "howcatchem" for a while since I used to watch Columbo a lot. "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" with Vincent D'Onofrio was also this same genre since we knew the murderer more or less from the start and it was always fascinating to watch how he was going to trap them.

The Knives Out franchise could switch it up with a howcatchem film one time.

 

[squeekness]

Been meaning to catch this. Your good reviews will speed that along. Just the cast alone is worth a watch.

 

[squeekness]

Just watched the first episode. Fantastic from beginning to end!

 

[Sawyer]

Quite enjoying the show, but I’m wondering how far the whole “Charlie shows up in a new town at the exact moment another murder occurs” bit can be stretched before a need to shake up the format arises.

 

[Teelie]

It is odd that we are four episodes in and she is four for four on showing up, there being a murder and then she solves it before disappearing into the sunset.

It still is really fun to watch though. A weird mix of The Hitchiker, Columbo and Highway to Heaven.

 

[Dr.]

It is odd that we are four episodes in and she is four for four on showing up, there being a murder and then she solves it before disappearing into the sunset.

It still is really fun to watch though. A weird mix of The Hitchiker, Columbo and Highway to Heaven.

In the first episode, a TV happens to be showing a scene from Pulp Fiction…

Jules: "I'm just going to walk the earth. ...You know, like Caine in Kung Fu.”

Of course, this is a meta reference to a popular trope: the nomadic hero/protagonist. TV examples include Have Gun Will Travel, The Fugitive, Kung Fu (obviously), The Incredible Hulk, Highway to Heaven, Knight Rider, Supernatural, etc. And Poker Face, itself, follows the same template.

 

[LoganPool]

The newest episode, 'Time of the Monkey', is the best one yet! This has quickly climbed to my new favorite show.