A good old-fashioned murder mystery is a format that is hard to beat. From Disney+’s Only Murders In The Building, Knives Out and upcoming Apple TV+ series The Afterparty, we’re mildly obsessed with the mental detective work we undertake when watching the genre.

Murderville is the latest series to join the ranks of edge-of-your-seat crime dramas but this one has one distinct twist. You see, while Will Arnett (Arrested Development) will be leading the cast as senior detective Terry Seattle (and also executive producing the series), each episode will involve a new murder case for the homicide division and a new celebrity guest as his partner.

In a weirdly wonderful turn of events, the stars will not be given a script. The synopsis states: “As they assist Terry clue by clue, they have to improvise their way through the case. In the end, it’s up to these celebrities alone to name the killer.” 

Now, we finally have a brilliantly chaotic trailer that reflects the wild synopsis of the upcoming series. In it, we see Arnott set his celebrity guests up in some hilarious improv scenes, such as Ken Jeong pretending to be the dead body in a crime scene and Sharon Stone as a German pathologist.

It’s wild, it’s fun and we’re sure will provide lots of laughs and whodunnit anticipation. Watch the trailer for yourself here:

The new Netflix series is actually based on Bafta award-winning BBC Three series Murder In Successville and when pitching the concept idea, Arnett described it as “basically making Law & Order without a script,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Without a script to learn from, each guest doesn’t quite know what could come next. Improvising their way through the case alongside Arnett, each episode’s conclusion will see each star name the killer themselves. Could they be right? Could they be wrong? We won’t know until we reach that final, crucial moment.

Sharing the news on Instagram with a clip of Arnett, the Netflix Comedy account wrote: “Solving crimes is hard, improv comedy is harder.”

So, who will be starring in Murderville? While Arnett will be leading the cast, the comedy will also feature guests such as Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek), late night talk show host Conan O’Brien, Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals), former American football player Marshawn Lynch and Sharon Stone (Ratched).

The cast will also include Haneefah Wood (Nurse Jackie) as Chief Rhonda Jenkins-Seattle, Lilan Bowden (Andi Mack) as medical examiner Amber Kang and Philip Smithey (Johnson) as detective Darren ‘Daz’ Phillips.

As the synopsis states: “Will these stars be able to keep up with the senior detective and narrow down their suspects on the fly?”

We’re very intrigued to find out, but one thing’s for certain – we can expect some laughs, tension and one wild ride of a series.

Murderville will be available to stream on Netflix on 3 February. 

Images: Netflix