Murderville, the Netflix parody of old-school detective thrillers from Columbo to Murder, She Wrote, takes the age-old idea of having a famous guest star in each episode and turns it on its head by having said guest (playing themselves) help solve the murder alongside Will Arnett. Series lead Arnett plays detective Terry Seattle, a homicide dick who is a bit of one to whatever celebrity friend comes around to adlib their way (they get no script) through the sleuthing that week.
Netflix has just dropped a trailer for the upcoming Christmas special, set to air December 15th, 2022 (the same day Sonic Prime premieres there) in which guest stars Jason Bateman and Maya Rudolph team up with Detective Terry to try to figure out who murdered Santa Claus (and it wasn’t the milk and cookies).
Will Arnett, the gravel-voiced man behind Arrested Development’s Gob Bluth and LEGO Batman taking on a comedic role in which he has to improvise is a no brainer and the series mainly hinges on how game his costars are when they encounter him. Pairing him for a Christmas murder mystery with Maya Rudolph, a veteran SNL performer and Jason Bateman, who played his brother Michael Bluth on Arrested Development means that the team-up is sure to have sizzle as veterans and former costars make for a fun and heady comedy cocktail.
The trailer opens with ominous Christmas music playing over a neighborhood doused in light. Will Arnett’s Terry Seattle ambles over to his front door clad in a bathrobe and finds Jason Bateman wearing the all-too-familiar trainee vest guest stars wear during the show. “Well,” says Terry, “If it isn’t the ghost of Christmas ass.” Bateman replies that it’s not exactly complimentary. They head into city hall, Bateman now wearing an elf costume under his vest, and the lights flicker off then on and there lies the victim: Santa Claus dead on the floor, a candy cane protruding from his chest.
After the credits announce the guest stars—over a shot of Bateman on all fours lapping milk from a bowl and Maya Rudolph saying the f-bomb in the weirdest accent possible—she asks what’s going on. When informed that Santa is dead she laughs, then: “Wait, really?!?” Terry assigns Bateman the task of explain everything that’s happened to new trainee Rudolph—continuing one of the series’ traditions of hilariously putting their guests on the spot. Santa Claus dies during the Murderville Christmas special coming December 15th, 2022.