Poker Face (TV series)

Poker Face is a murder mystery series stylized as a character-driven, case-of-the-week mystery, with each episode adapting the inverted detective story format popularized by Columbo. The series centers on Charlie Cale, a woman with an innate ability to detect lies, traveling across the United States in her 1969 Plymouth Barracuda on the run from a casino boss following a suspicious death. Along the way, she encounters colorful characters and solves homicides in a variety of settings. ==Cast and characters==

Main • Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a woman with the uncanny ability to tell when people are lying Recurring • Benjamin Bratt as Cliff LeGrand (season 1), an FBI agent Charlie meets during her travels who helps her • Rhea Perlman as Beatrix Hasp, Frost Sr.'s rival casino owner • Steve Buscemi as the voice of Good Buddy (season 2), a CB radio user • Patti Harrison as Alex (season 2), an awkward young woman that Charlie befriends in New York City Guest Season 1 Season 2 ==Episodes==

Season 1 (2023) Season 2 (2025) ==Production==

Development The project was announced in March 2021, with Rian Johnson serving as creator, writer, director and executive producer. Johnson stated that the series would delve into "the type of fun, character driven, case-of-the-week mystery goodness I grew up watching." Johnson was interested in "doing that Columbo or even Quantum Leap thing of having every episode be an anthropological deep dive into a little corner of America that you might not otherwise see." On February 15, 2023, Peacock renewed the series for a second season. On November 13, 2025, Peacock canceled the series after two seasons, with Lyonne leaving the series. The series is being shopped to other networks for a two-season commitment, with Peter Dinklage replacing Lyonne as Charlie Cale. Casting The announcement of the series included that Natasha Lyonne would serve as the main lead actress. Instead of a guest role, his character would recur as Cliff, the head of security at a casino where Charlie works. When she escapes the casino, his character would go after her, which Bratt called "a ticking clock for the show". In July 2024, Giancarlo Esposito, Katie Holmes, Gaby Hoffmann, Kumail Nanjiani, Kathrine Narducci, Ben Marshall, Kevin Corrigan, and Sherry Cola were cast in guest roles for the second season. Cynthia Erivo, Margo Martindale, and B. J. Novak also joined the guest cast in September. In October, John Mulaney, Ego Nwodim, and Sam Richardson were cast in guest roles for the second season. Filming According to the director of the Hudson Valley Film Commission, filming was based in Newburgh, New York, and ran from April through October 2022, in locations throughout the mid-Hudson Valley. At least one episode of the series was filmed in late August 2022 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Outdoor scenes were filmed in Laughlin, Nevada, in September 2022, with the Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino depicting the fictional Frost Casino. Filming for the second season started on July 1, 2024, and wrapped in late December 2024. Filming locations included Clover Stadium in Pomona, New York. ==Release==

Poker Face premiered on January 26, 2023, on Peacock, with the first four episodes available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis. The second season premiered on May 8, 2025, with the first three episodes available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis. International sales are handled by Paramount Global Content Distribution. The series is available on Stan in Australia and on Citytv+ and Citytv in Canada. It began streaming on CBC Gem in Canada in February 2024. The series debuted in Asia via Rock Entertainment on May 24, 2023. The series then debuted in the United Kingdom on Sky Max on May 26, 2023. Paramount also handled home media distribution for the series, with Paramount Home Entertainment releasing the first season exclusively on Blu-ray on September 12, 2023. The first season debuted on USA Network on March 9, 2025. ==Reception==

Critical response On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the overall series holds a 97% rating. Meanwhile, on Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the overall series received a score of 83 out of 100. Season 1 garnered acclaim for her performance. Poker Face was met with critical acclaim upon release. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 98% approval rating for the first season based on 116 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "With the incomparable Natasha Lyonne as an ace up its sleeve, Poker Face is a puzzle box of modest ambitions working with a full deck." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 84 out of 100 based on 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Chicago Sun-Timess Richard Roeper gave a rating of 3.5 out of 4 stars and said, "The beauty part is watching the amazing Natasha Lyonne's Charlie puzzle out the crime in clever and often hilarious fashion." Peter Travers of ABC News felt Lyonne landed "the role of her career" in Charlie Cale and called Poker Face "the best joyride of the 2023 TV season." Linda Holmes of NPR felt Lyonne's "unforgettable" performance proved herself to be the "Peter Falk of her generation". Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the series a B and stated "All this star power is enough to guarantee Poker Face will be, at least, an enjoyable diversion. But... it's hard to shake the feeling that Poker Face isn't as good as it could've been." The Atlantics Sophie Gilbert believed the show succeeded in its first episodes "by attending to the emotional cadences of overlooked people and places" but criticized the characters of later episodes for falling into tropes. Season 2 The second season also received critical acclaim. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 96% approval rating based on 77 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "Instead of reshuffling its winning formula, Poker Faces second season doubles down on the winning virtues of its predecessor and scores a jackpot." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 79 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Empires David Opie awarded the second season with four out of five stars, stating, "The case-of-the-week format remains in place, mostly unchanged, but the serialised story that holds it together becomes more introspective and even existential, proving that the team's ambition isn't just limited to casting TV's most enviable guest list. If the impressive highs of Season 2 are anything to go by, Poker Face could easily go on for ten more seasons and just get better each time. (No lies detected.)" Consequences Liz Shannon Miller wrote, "It's all so thoughtfully written and executed, at times to the point of devastation, though Charlie remains the show's emotional anchor, keeping the audience from drifting into despair. So much of this show works simply because we just like Charlie — and can see why other people like and trust her in a relatively short amount of time." Accolades == Explanatory notes==