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Rian Johnson didn’t invent the quirky murder-mystery genre, but he certainly gave it a fresh coat of paint and a modern shot in the arm with 2019’s Knives Out, a movie that saw Daniel Craig’s private detective Benoit Blanc search for the clues to a murder among a wealthy family at a chilly Massachusetts estate. It hearkened back, first, to any number of star-studded Agatha Christie adaptations of the 1970s, but also to the great TV detective dramas of yore. Knives Out paved the way for something like Only Murders in the Building (to which we’ll return), as well a number of quirky crime shows of greater and lesser quality.
It’s no surprise then that Poker Face, created (and occasionally directed and/or written) by Rian Johnson, plays in a similar sandbox. While very much an unapologetic tribute to some of TV’s great detective shows, primarily Columbo (to which we will also return), it revisits that show’s distinctive format without ever feeling warmed-over. Now that Poker Face is over (at least for the season), here are some other shows that might re-inject a little mystery into your life.
Columbo (1968 – 2003)
This one’s pretty obvious, if you’re at all familiar with it, in that it’s the single biggest influence on Poker Face.
Rumpled, unassuming homicide detective Frank Columbo investigates crimes with a thoroughly novel format: as with Poker Face, we see the crime laid out for us in the first act. We pretty much always know who did it, we just don’t know how Columbo is going to figure it out and, once he does so, how he’s going to prove it. What would be dénouement for a typical crime show becomes the whole point—and there’s plenty of tension in watching Columbo seemingly stumble through an investigation before he brings down the curtain on, very often, a celebrity guest star, with just one last question.
The show ran as, essentially, a series of mini-movies over the many years of its run, so it even anticipates modern TV in its irregular schedule—over more than three decades Columbo only produced a nicely manageable 69 episodes. You can stream Columbo on Tubi, Prime Video, and Peacock.
Only Murders in the Building (2021 – )
Where Charlie Cale travels widely, often by necessity, the Only Murders gang focuses on, ya know: murders in the building. Which is not to say that they don’t spend time in greater Manhattan and, in the most recent season, Los Angeles. Still, the comedy-drama tone here is just right, and we get not one but three amateur detectives: lonely retired actor Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin); struggling Broadway director Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and young artist Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez). At first they have nothing in common but a shared love of true crime, but a first-episode murder sets the three of them on a course to hunting (and avoiding) killers over several season-long arcs. You can stream Only Murders in the Building on Hulu.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974 – 1975)
And now, for another low-key brilliant but thoroughly messy lead character who solves bizarre mysteries. Darren McGavin (A Christmas Story) stars here as reporter Carl Kolchak, who spends his nights, mostly, hunting down supernatural threats and trying to bring them to the attention of an unbelieving world.
The short-lived cult classic was still wildly influential, particularly re: The X-Files, but there’s definitely some shared DNA that runs through TV’s great rumpled detectives (whatever their day jobs), and, given the weirdness of many a Poker Face set-up, it wouldn’t be all that wild if Charlie Cale were to run into the occasional ghost, demon, or ethnically coded mythological being (a Kolchak specialty). You can stream Kolchak: The Night Stalker on Peacock or buy episodes from Prime Video.
Russian Doll (2019 – 2022)
There are no murder investigations here, though there’s plenty of mystery—we’re here mostly for the Natasha Lyonne of it all. Here she plays software engineer Nadia Vulvokov, who, getting ready to celebrate her 36th birthday, finds herself in a time loop in which she dies over and over again on the same night, never able to move forward despite all of her best (and worst) intentions. Funny, cerebral, and genuinely existential, it’s not quite like anything else streaming. You can stream Russian Doll on Netflix.
Murder, She Wrote (1984 – 1996)
Angela Lansbury’s Jessica Fletcher isn’t particularly messy—in fact, she’s more often the calm center in a long succession of chaotic scenarios. But, like Charlie, she loves to travel and encounters murder pretty much everywhere she goes. Her unassuming, down-to-earth presence often gives way to the reality that she is typically the smartest person in just about any room—a room that’s almost always filled with TV and movie luminaries of the past and then-present. You can stream Murder, She Wrote on Prime Video.
Duster (2025 – )
Poker Face’s roots are so deeply set in crime shows of yore that its period vibes are immaculate, even as it’s set in a slightly nebulous present—Charlie’s 1969 Plymouth Barracuda is straight out of the golden age of TV detective drama, as is her near total avoidance of cell phones.
Duster comes from J. J. Abrams, Hollywood’s preeminent excavator of faded genres (for better and worse), and he’s traveling back to the hard-driving 1970s here, with Josh Holloway starring as Jim Ellis, a getaway driver with a sweet cherry-red Plymouth. Just as he’s becoming increasingly disenchanted with his crime-syndicate boss (Keith David), he’s approached by Nina Hayes (Rachel Hilson), the FBI’s first Black woman agent (this is 1972, after all) who enlists him in her plan to bring down the mob. It’s fast-paced thriller that doesn’t usually take itself too seriously, and is set in a world that Charlie would feel right at home in. You can stream Duster on HBO Max.
Psych (2006 – 2014)
Much like our human lie detector over on Poker Face, Psych’s lead Shawn Spencer (James Roday) has a similar superpower: he’s got a near perfect eidetic memory, one which got him into trouble at a young age when he started calling in tips to the local police. To deflect suspicion that he was actually in on the crimes, he convinced people that he’s actually psychic, a reputation that stuck. In the series, he solves crimes alongside his similarly intelligent, but way more serious, partner Gus (Dulé Hill). The popular comedy-drama ran for eight seasons and continues in a series of TV movies, so there’s plenty to binge if you get a taste. You can stream Psych on Peacock and Prime Video.
Deadloch (2023 – )
This isn’t a 100% tonal match for Poker Face, but it’s in a similar playground in the ways in which it takes classic crime drama tropes and flips them on their heads. It’s also an excellent mystery/crime procedural that simultaneously works as a very funny send-up of the genre tropes—in this case we’re talking about the dour, dangerous world of shows like Broadchurch and its many imitators.
The Australian import stars Kate Box stars as Dulcie Collins, the fastidious senior sergeant of the police force in the title’s fictional town, who, when a body turns up dead on the beach, is joined by Madeleine Sami’s Eddie Redcliffe—a crude, loud, and over-the-top obnoxious detective brought in to help solve the case. The web of secrets and mysteries in the tiny Tasmanian town makes everything appropriately addictive, with the added bonus of being, frequently, a hoot. You can stream Deadloch on Prime Video.
Jessica Jones (2015 – 2019)
Just as Charlie Cale’s lie-detecting „superpower“ gets her into at least as much trouble as it gets her out of, Jessica Jones‘ more literal superpower (she’s incredibly strong) doesn’t solve all of her problems. Or any of them. As the series opens, the alcoholic former superhero is mostly delivering subpoenas; she’s suffering from intense PTSD after having spent time under the control of David Tennant’s devastatingly creepy predator, Kilgrave. Complicated and struggling, Jessica’s not entirely well-suited to running a business, but she nevertheless makes a go of running her own Alias Investigations as a means of putting her life back together. You can stream Jessica Jones on Disney+.
The Residence (2025)
Uzo Aduba stars as Cordelia Cupp, a consulting detective in the Sherlock Holmes mode: brilliant and idiosyncratic, with an unwillingness to suffer fools. She’s brought in to help with a very unusual murder: White House chief usher A. B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito) is found dead in the middle of a a state dinner for the Australian prime minister, and there’s political pressure to close the books on the event as quickly as possible. Too bad that there’s such an extraordinarily complex set of circumstances and personalities around the event, with a list of possible suspects that includes nearly everyone in the building—including Kylie Minogue playing herself.
It’s funny and fast-paced, with an extremely capable lead who has no interest in being anything other than herself and doing what she needs to do to solve the case. The Residence was canceled after one season, but don’t hold that against it: such is the fate of pretty much every Netflix show from now until eternity. You can stream The Residence on Netflix.
