Way back in 2023, Peacock renewed comedy thriller Poker Face for a second season while the first season was still streaming week to week. Season 2 has finally kicked off, but after dropping three episodes last night, May 8, Peacock will be releasing the rest weekly on Thursdays through July 10, which will give you some wiggle room to re-live the 10-episode first season (worth it) or maybe even watch it for the first time (elongated wooorrrrth it).
Either way, you’ll be hungry for another comedic mystery when it’s over. Here are a few TV shows that fit the profile.
Poker Face (2023-Present; Peacock): Might as well start with creator/producer Rian Johnson and star Natasha Lyonne’s tribute to ’70s and ’80s detective shows, specifically Columbo (also streaming on Peacock). Charlie Cale (Lyonne) possesses the ability to spot a liar immediately, which helps her solve mysteries while cruising the country in a sweet blue 1969 Barracuda. She’s also on the run from some Very Bad People, adding an underlying tension to the comedy. Poker Face is easily Lyonne’s career best.
Pretty Hard Cases (2021-2023; Prime Video): Baroness von Sketch Show alum Meredith MacNeill and Orange Is the New Black’s Adrienne C. Moore star as Toronto police detectives in Pretty Hard Cases, a procedural dramedy that was initially—and more perfectly—titled Lady Dicks. The three-season Canadian import follows a case-of-the-week format that allows McNeill and Moore to shine both as competent cops and less-than-perfect off-duty women, while never losing sight of the funny. If the U.S.’ genius tariffs ever apply to Canadian TV, then it’ll be time to panic.
Psych (2006-2014; Peacock, Prime Video): Before Suits, the USA Network ruled early-2000s cable with comic-tinged crime series like Monk, Burn Notice and the eight-season juggernaut Psych. The series centers on “psychic” Shawn (James Roday) and his business partner/BFF, Gus (Dulé Hill), as they assist local police in solving cases in the criminal hotbed of … Santa Barbara. Over 120 episodes and three movies, Psych’s comedic batting average more than earned its rabid, pineapple-obsessed fan base.
Bored to Death (2009-2011; Max, Roku Channel): Unlike Psych, HBO’s Bored to Death flew so far under the radar that most don’t believe it ever really existed. “There was a show starring Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis that ran for three seasons? Get outta here.” The series stars Schwartzman as a struggling Brooklyn writer who moonlights as an unlicensed private detective, taking on the smallest and weirdest of cases. The understated drollery of Bored to Death would probably never fly on today’s HBO, aka Bill Maher’s retirement home.
The Resort (2022; Peacock): What if The White Lotus was fun? Or at least fun-adjacent? Peacock had it in the one-season-and-done series The Resort, even if few noticed. The eight-episode mystery-comedy stars Cristin Milioti and William Jackson Harper as a couple on vacation in the Mayan Riviera for their 10th anniversary. Their stay and their marriage are decidedly meh—until they get caught up in solving the disappearance of two young lovers from the resort 15 years prior. A brief but engaging watch, as is anything with Milioti. (Side note to Netflix: give her a Black Mirror/”USS Callister” spinoff series already.)
The Afterparty (2022-2023; Apple TV+): The first season of Christopher Miller’s exceedingly clever The Afterparty not only tells the story of a murder at a high school reunion afterparty from the viewpoints of several attendees, but also in wildly different film styles. The episodes bounce from rom-com to psychological thriller to action flick to even animation, propelled by a cast of comedy greats including Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer and others. Season 2, set at a wedding, doesn’t fare quite as well, but it’s a valiant effort.
Mapleworth Murders (2020; Roku Channel): The short-form video streamer Quibi launched and folded five years ago, and we’re still discovering originals that escaped the fallout. Mapleworth Murders is a straight-up Murder, She Wrote parody starring the brilliant Paula Pell as Abigail Mapleworth, a murder-mystery novelist investigating suspicious deaths in her small town. The most impressive part of the silly AF Mapleworth Murders is how it squeezes more than 20 big-name comic actors into just a dozen 10-minute episodes. Quibi died so you could laugh.
