TV Talk: ‘Poker Face’ gives ‘Columbo’ vibe; WPXI-TV reporter exits

PASADENA, Calif. — Miss “Columbo?” Then you might appreciate Peacock’s “Poker Face,” a modern take on the episodic detective show that’s less whodunnit (that’s shown in the opening scene of each episode) and more “howcatchem,” as premiere episode writer/director Rian Johnson (“Knives Out”) calls the show’s formula of starting with a crime and then showing how the perpetrator gets caught.

Four episodes of “Poker Face” are now streaming on Peacock, with additional episodes releasing weekly on Thursday.

Natasha Lyonne (“Russian Doll”) stars as Charlie Cale, a Las Vegas casino waitress with the uncanny ability to know when someone is lying.

The 67-minute pilot episode delivers a lot of information on Charlie’s background, some of which would spoil the premiere. Charlie ends up on a cross-country road trip, encountering new mysteries in each episode. With Lyonne’s raspy-voiced heroine as the lead, let’s call it “Murder, She Honked.”

“Poker Face” devotes more time to its weekly guest characters and what makes them tick. Even though this is a procedural, it’s more elevated, more cinematic and more entertaining than most. But it’s not the “blue sky” programming of USA 20 years ago, even though it name-checks “Burn Notice” in its first episode. “Poker Face” is darker and too seedy to be a blue sky-style show.

Lyonne is perfectly suited to this milieu. Her Charlie isn’t overly ambitious. In one memorable exchange with a casino manager (Adrien Brody), Charlie describes her background.

“I’ve been rich,” she says.

“How was it?” he asks.

“Easier than being broke. Harder than doing ‘just fine,’ ” Charlie replies.

Add in big-name guest stars through the first season — Benjamin Bratt, Carnegie Mellon grad Cherry Jones, Chloë Sevigny, Clea DuVall, Hong Chau, Jameela Jamil, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Light, Luis Guzmán, Nick Nolte, S. Epatha Merkerson and Tim Meadows — and “Poker Face” is one entertaining mystery.

During the Peacock portion of the Television Critics Association winter 2023 press tour earlier this month, Lyonne acknowledged her admiration for actor Peter Falk, who starred in “Columbo.”

“As somebody that’s essentially just self-taught based on my interests, I’ve always gravitated to him,” Lyonne said. “The other guy I love so much is Sipowicz (on ‘NYPD Blue’). I would love to go on ‘Finding Your Roots’ and discover that Peter Falk was some sort of deep, distant relation.”

Johnson said the intention of “Poker Face” is to make stand-alone episodes that have just a little bit of connective tissue that pays off story from the premiere in the first-season finale.

“The thing that got me really excited about it at the start was the idea of doing a truly episodic case-of-the-week mystery show, like the kind of stuff I used to watch constantly when I was sitting in front of the TV as a kid: ‘Columbo,’ ‘Magnum P.I.,’ ‘The Rockford Files,’ but also ‘Quantum Leap,’ ” Johnson said. “All those shows where I was just watching daily reruns. I had no idea what order they were in. And that was part of the pleasure of it.”

‘Shrinking’

From “Ted Lasso” writers Bill Lawrence (“Scrubs”) and Brett Goldstein, “Shrinking” has a similar vibe that’s equal parts humorous and sad (more pathos-filled than depressing).

Jason Segel stars as Jimmy, a therapist grieving the death of his wife who starts to tell his clients exactly what he thinks, much to the consternation of his practice’s cranky senior partner, Paul (Harrison Ford).

Segel does his usual hangdog man-boy thing (see also: “Dispatches from Elsewhere”) but it’s really fun to see Ford unleash some excellent comic timing.

Even beyond the leads, “Shrinking,” streaming today, features a strong supporting cast — Michael Urie (“Ugly Betty”), Christa Miller (“Scrubs”) and Jessica Williams (“2 Dope Queens”). It only takes a few episodes for “Shrinking” to feel like a true ensemble.

For Ford fans wondering what happened to his Paramount+ show “1923,” it will be back for its fifth episode Feb. 5.

James exits WPXI-TV

Sarafina James, who joined Channel 11 as a freelance reporter in September 2020 and became a staff reporter in early 2021, departed WPXI-TV late last week to take a job outside the TV news business.

James, a Point Park University grad, confirmed Jan. 19 was her last day at Channel 11. She’s headed to Highmark/AHN to work in a communications role.

Meanwhile, this week we learned where another former WPXI personality landed: Angie Moreschi departed Channel 11 earlier this month for an unnamed job in Washington, D.C. Turns out she’s joined Sinclair Broadcast Group’s “Spotlight on America” investigative team, which means her reports may show up on Pittsburgh’s Sinclair-owned WPGH-TV 10 p.m. newscast and on “The National Desk” news programs on Channels 22 and 53.

Kept/canceled

CBS renewed “The Neighborhood” for a sixth season to air during the 2023-24 TV season.

Netflix renewed “Cobra Kai” for a sixth and final season.

The current 14th season will be the end for CBS’s “NCIS: L.A.” with a series finale set for May 14.

Apple TV+ canceled “The Mosquito Coast” after two seasons.

Peacock canceled freshman drama “Vampire Academy” and sophomore series “One of Us Is Lying.”

Channel surfing

A decade after the original series, BBC America and AMC+ debut “Frozen Planet II,” narrated by Sir David Attenborough, at 8 p.m. Saturday. … Taylor Kinney, who’s played Kelly Severide since the “Chicago Fire” debut in 2012, will take a break from the series to “tend to personal matters,” per TheWrap. … “American Detective” starring Westmoreland County native and University of Pittsburgh grad Joe Kenda has been renamed “Homicide Hunter: American Detective” to capitalize on the popularity of Kenda’s previous series, “Homicide Hunter.” “American Detective” episodes that premiered on discovery+ are now airing under the show’s new title on Investigation Discovery at 10 p.m. Wednesday.