Television

'Poker Face': Rian Johnson's First TV Series Is A Mystery Show Starring Star Natasha Lyonne

Poker Face
By Ben Pearson

File this under "things I didn't know I needed": writer/director Rian Johnson (Brick, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) is making a television series called Poker Face, and the show has Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange is the New Black) on board to star. Peacock has given the show a 10-episode commitment, and in a press release, Johnson refers to the show as "case-of-the-week mystery goodness". Read more about Poker Face below.

If you've been overwhelmed by the number of streaming platforms out there and have ignored NBCUniversal's Peacock until now, this might be a good time to start familiarizing yourselves with that platform, because it's about to be the home of what is sure to be one of the most anticipated show of any streamer.

Poker Face will be an hour-long mystery series with Lyonne in the lead role, and Johnson will create, write, and direct the series. The two will serve as executive producers, with Lyonne producing via Animal Pictures. 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," Johnson said in a statement. "It's my happy place. Having Natasha as a partner in crime is a dream, and we've found the perfect home at Peacock."

Johnson frequently cited the Peter Falk-led 1970s crime procedural series Columbo as an inspiration for his 2019 ensemble-driven murder mystery film Knives Out, and when quarantine started last year, he was frequently tweeting about rewatching old episodes of the show. He publicly tweeted the following at Lyonne last December...

...and was photographed chatting with her at the Golden Globes in January of 2020 before the pandemic began. The clues were there in plain sight the whole time.

"Rian Johnson's distinct sensibility and talent for telling edge-of-your-seat mysteries is a massive gift for Peacock, and we can't wait for audiences to delve into each case," said Lisa Katz, President, Scripted Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. "Paired with the acting genius of Natasha Lyonne, this series will be entertaining and addictive."

Lyonne, of course, recently co-created, wrote, directed, and starred in Netflix's Russian Doll, a mystery series of a very different kind. She seems perfectly suited for Johnson's whip-smart dialogue and intricate plotting, and I am thrilled about the prospects of these two pairing up for a mystery series that sounds like it's purposefully going against the grain of "prestige"-style, overly dour television and returning to a breezier, non-serialized spin on the detective genre.

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