Even before the premiere of Rian Johnson's Peacock murder mystery series Poker Face, he's had some pretty ambitious hopes for its future. If things go well, he thinks it may continue for a long while after its first season. A lot of that confidence could come from the various inspirations behind the show, and there are many.
The world certainly seems in the mood for some good murder mysteries these days, with series like The Afterparty enjoying some decent popularity and Johnson's own Knives Out and Glass Onion movies continuing to offer audiences a glimpse into a long-thought-forgotten type of cozy yet suspenseful storytelling style. So it makes sense that yet another would join the fray eventually. With Poker Face continuing the tradition of bringing together a group of substantial Hollywood stars for a classic series of crime stories, fans of the genre could have another favorite on their hands. If Johnson has his way, it won't end in a single season.
"It definitely wasn't conceived as a limited series," Johnson recently revealed during a press tour (as reported by Deadline), "it was conceived as something that has the architecture to keep going. We'll put this out, see if people like it, one step at a time. There are infinite stories to tell. As people watch more and realize how different each episode is... it's a smorgasbord of possibilities of different worlds we can dip into in each episode and whole new mysteries in each one. For me, there's endless possibilities." If that episodic formula sounds familiar, that's by design because Poker Face has plenty of classic influences.
Poker Face stars Natasha Lyonne as a human lie detector whose uncanny abilities draw trouble towards her like a crime magnet. Her character, Charlie, goes on the run to escape a particularly determined casino boss only to continually find herself entangled in various other crimes in her travels. Johnson has said that he was inspired by shows like Columbo, Magnum P.I., Rockford Files, and Quantum Leap, which all feature a "charismatic figure at the heart of it." In this case, that's the effortlessly cool and cheap beer fond Charlie.
Poker Face also stars a plethora of guest stars, including The Big Bang Theory's Simon Helberg, Adrien Brody, Luis Guzmán, Chloë Sevigny, Rhea Perlman, Ron Perlman, Jameela Jamil, and Johnson's go-to collaborative buddy Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The thing is, that's only a small fraction of the big names set to appear in the show's first season. Aside from telling incredible and subversive stories that all but require multiple viewings, one of Johnson's biggest talents is drawing huge cast lists of respected stars to his productions.
Even the previews are enough to inspire hope for a second season of Poker Face. So here's hoping audiences turn out in numbers to show Peacock that they want more of this kind of show. Maybe it's a good thing the series isn't on Netflix.
Poker Face premieres on January 26th, 2023, on Peacock.
Source: Deadline