“Knives Out” filmmaker Rian Johnson says his upcoming ten-episode ‘mystery series “Poker Face,” starring Natasha Lyonne, was certainly not conceived as a limited series. As a result, he says the show has “endless possibilities” to continue should it be a success for streamer Peacock.
Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a woman with a preternatural ability to detect any lie. After a casino boss seeks her out to use her abilities for nefarious purposes, she goes on the run and can’t help but end up solving crimes on the way.
Appearing at the Television Critics Association press tour, Johnson says that though there’s an overarching storyline involving Benjamin Bratt’s character who is pursuing Charlie, the series is essentially an episodic procedural that takes inspiration from “Columbo,” “Magnum PI,” “Rockford Files” and “Quantum Leap” with its case of the week format with a big-hearted person at the center of it.
Though he’s directed some notable television before, Johnson says “Poker Face” was “was very much my first rodeo” in terms of creating a series, and he had a real blast with it – especially the pacing. He then discussed going further:
“It definitely wasn’t conceived as a limited series, it was conceived as something that has the architecture to keep going. We’ll put this out, and 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.”
Lyonne describes Charlie as “floating above a situation trying to crack a riddle, but also an everyman who has their nose to the grindstone and figuring out the sounds of the street”.
As previously indicated, the series is a “how to catch ’em” rather than a whodunnit and boasts an insanely packed guest cast including Adrien Brody, Charles Melton, Cherry Jones, Chloë Sevigny, Clea DuVall, David Castaneda, Ellen Barkin, Hong Chau, Jameela Jamil, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Light, Luis Guzman, Nick Nolte, Rhea Perlman, Ron Perlman, Rowan Blanchard, S. Epatha Merkerson, Stephanie Hsu, Tim Blake Nelson and Tim Meadows.
The series launches its first four episodes on Peacock on January 26th. Check out the new trailer below:
Source: Deadline
