Everything We Know About A Potential Murderville Season 2

Netflix’s Murderville is like Curb Your Enthusiasm meets whodunnit. The new comedy series stars Will Arnett as detective Terry Seattle, who’s tasked with solving grizzly murders alongside a cast of rotating celebrity guest stars. However, the guest stars aren’t given a script, which means they have to improv their way through the case. Arnett’s detective character is there to guide the way, but it’s up to the celebrity to name the killer.

The first season of Murderville is only six episodes, and Netflix hasn’t announced if it will return for Season 2. However, the premise lends itself to many seasons to come, since it can keep reinventing itself with new cases and actors. There’s also precedent for Murderville to continue: the show is loosely based on the BAFTA-award winning BBC3 series Murder in Successville, which similarly followed a seasoned comedian (Tom Davis) worked alongside fish-out-of-water guest stars to solve murders. “The secret of Murder In Successville’s success is that, because of how carefully it’s made, it works whatever the celebrity of the week does. If they panic, that’s funny," Jack Seal wrote for The Guardian in 2016. The BBC3 series aired 18 episodes across three seasons, so Murderville could follow suit.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Arnett has been shopping around his version of the murder comedy for upwards of four years, with some help from Murderville’s eventual showrunner Krister Johnson (Wet Hot American Summer). Arnett previously worked with Netflix on shows like BoJack Horseman, Flaked, and Arrested Development, so having Murderville land there felt like the obvious choice. “They really got what we wanted to do,” he told THR in January.

He added that the low commitment made it easy for them to secure talent: Conan O'Brien, Ken Jeong, Annie Murphy, Kumail Nanjiani, Marshawn Lynch, and Sharon Stone all appear in Season 1. “I do think people liked the idea that they could come in, they didn’t have to learn any dialogue and they could be themselves and just go for a ride,” Arnett explained.

While the writer’s room mapped out culprits, victims, and suspects, the guest stars were working entirely off the cuff. “I have to give these people credit because it’s freakin’ scary as sh*t,” Arnett said. “And if it all goes sideways, I’d have to go sideways too.”

Should Murderville get the greenlight for a second season, it’s unclear when more episodes would arrive. Because it’s all improv, it doesn’t seem like the production time would be that lengthy. However, it depends on which guest stars come on board and what their schedules are. Most likely, a second season would be released in 2023. Either way, Arnett is happy with where they are. “I’d love to do more if it works and people respond to it,” he said. “And if people kind of shrug and go, ‘Yeah, fine,’ then great, we had a lot of fun.”