“Old people solve crimes” isn’t a new trend at all. From Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple to Murder, She Wrote’s Jessica Fletcher, detectives of a certain age are timeless — just peruse British streamer Acorn TV, and you can’t move for characters solving crime in their golden years. But in recent years, this subgenre has become wildly popular, and it doesn’t take a sleuth to figure out why: the major success of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, which elevated the whodunit genre with its cast full of baby boomers (and Selena Gomez.)
Now, Netflix is trying its hand at the elderly crime story with not one, but two stories. One, Chris Columbus’ adaptation of Richard Osman’s smash-hit novel The Thursday Murder Club, is slated for release next year. But before that, the streamer is trying something a little different: a mystery comedy series from Mike Schur, the mind behind The Good Place, and starring his old collaborator — and comedy legend — Ted Danson. The result is charming, cozy, and surprisingly tender without sacrificing the central mystery.
