Brief Story Line
In an apartment building in New York city, 3 completely different tenants became unexpected friends when they found out they shared the same passion of listening to True Crime podcast. First one was Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin - The Pink Panther, Cheaper by the Dozen etc) who was a fairly successful TV actor from the 1990s. Second one was Oliver Putnam (Martin Short - Innerspace, Mars Attacks! etc), a Broadway director. And the third was a young woman named Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez - Doolittle, Princess Protection Program etc).
Their passion for solving mystery was enhanced when one of the tenants in their apartment was found dead and declared as suicide by the police. However, the three of them did not believe it and they started to investigate what they thought was murder. While doing the investigation, Charles became acquainted and attracted with one of his neighbor Jan (Amy Ryan - Monster Trucks, Escape Plan etc), while Mabel met her old friend Oscar (Aaron Dominguez). Oliver himself was having his own personal problem.
And so what would happen to the 3 of them? Find them all in this mystery comedy series.
End of Brief Story Line
Well that was real fun. I enjoyed the first season of this series from the very beginning till its season finale. It only consisted of 10 episodes with duration of around 30 minutes or so, which would take little effort to complete it as I did in 2 nights only. The story itself was not truly complicated, although the murder mystery was not that easy to guess.
What I liked the most in the series was the main characters who were all interesting, in particular Martin Short's character Oliver. There were so many humorous dialogues in the series which mostly came from his witty remarks. His interaction with the loner Charles was a joy to see (Steve Martin was equally fantastic here). And their relationship with the young Mabel was heart warming as well, especially since she brought the youth freshness to the older Oliver & Charles. Oh Steve Martin and Martin Short have worked together before in that delightful drama comedy Father of the Bride and its sequel.
The investigation of the murder took quite the center stage in the series which made it all the more interesting. One thing that I enjoyed was the way the characters' stories told which did not seem to take over the spotlight from the investigation. I'd say the writers did an awesome job in writing the story which truly captivated me. Btw, the series was categorized as mystery comedy, so do not expect this to be a really suspenseful type of series. Even during the climax, it did not feel very intense and dark at all.
While looking at the opening credit scene which felt really light, I did not see anything that the series was based on. Hence the creators Steve Martin himself with John Hoffman must be applauded for their creativity. Of all the 10 episodes, my favorites were the 9th episode, the finale and the most unique and interesting episode 7 titled "The Boy from 6B". That episode was truly amazing. Oh the ending of the first season was brilliant as it set up very nicely for the second season which could not have come soon enough.
In the series, there were also few notable guest stars in addition to the names mentioned above. We have Tina Fey (Soul, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot etc) as the famous True Crime podcast host Cinda Canning, Nathan Lane (The Birdcage, The Producers etc), Jane Lynch (Ralph Breaks the Internet, Glee TV series etc) and even the singer Sting. There were few other recurring characters also that made the stories livelier, though obviously the stars of the show would be the 3 main cast.
Overall I had a wonderful time watching this. I don't know how many times I laughed out loud during the series which made my wife really intrigued by it as she heard me laughing again and again. I was entertained by the comedic approach of the investigation, the modern day podcast culture, the nice songs and especially the engaging characters. With an ending like that, I was really glad it was renewed (or was it because they knew there would be a second season that they made such an ending?). Anyway, if you are into this kind of series, definitely give it a try. I am sure you would love it as much as I did. However, if you like a more intense and dark investigation type, then this one would not be to your liking. It's currently available on Disney+ platform which distributed this Hulu original series.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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