I can and will watch every murder mystery under the sun. Give me your silly whodunit, gritty crime drama, and everything in between. After all, I am someone who subscribes to Acorn TV, the streaming service just rolling in plummy crime shows. It’s why it brings me great pleasure to share a new murder mystery I am eagerly awaiting. Starring one Mandy Patinkin… on a boat! (We first saw this at A.V. Club.) The beloved actor headlines the fabulously titled Career Opportunities In Murder and Mayhem, a new series headed to Hulu.
Historically, bad things happen on cruises in works of fiction. It’s an enclosed setting just ripe for controversy and maybe even a murder. (Just ask Death on the Nile and that soapy Netflix show Alta Mar, among others.) Career Opportunities In Murder and Mayhem similarly posits the very question: are cruises the worst? The project hails from Stumptown‘s Mike Weiss and Heidi Cole McAdam. Stumptown was a lovely, very underrated show that was prematurely canceled during the early months of the pandemic. So I have high hopes for a project from these two.
Here’s a little about that Career Opportunities In Murder and Mayhem is about, per a press release:
[T]he series asks how do you solve a murder in a post-fact world? Especially when sailing the Mediterranean on an ocean liner filled with the wealthy and powerful. Everyone on board is hiding something… but is one of them a killer? That’s what the world’s once greatest detective, Rufus Cotesworth, played by Patinkin, and his protégée, played by [Violett] Beane, aim to discover. The truth at all costs.
Rufus Cotesworth: a powerful name for a powerful man. We firmly cannot wait to see him—likely a curmudgeon—solve crimes. Hulu reportedly picked the series up for a 10-episode first season, with Marc Webb directing the pilot. It’s an excellent time to be a fan of murder mysteries.
In addition to Career Opportunities In Murder and Mayhem, we’re looking forward to season two of Only Murders in the Building, the Knives Out sequel headed to Netflix later this year, and yet another Hercule Poirot mystery from Kenneth Branagh. And that’s not to mention the many, many other murder mysteries just hanging out in the ether. I’ll be watching them, while keeping my eyes peeled on more info about Murder and Mayhem on the horizon.
