Poker Face

Yes I said it. I've noticed that there are some similarities in their demeanor and even her raspy voice but I am glad to say, Charlie carves her own path in this easy flowing yet still mystical series. I'm two episodes in and so far so good. I happen to like Colombo so the similarities are pleasing and the fact that trouble seems to always find her as she try to evade her own troubles is a nice addition to the old mystery theater ploy. Custom and character is believable enough and actually begs for sympathy at times. The acting is spread out with a mixture of veterans and newbies but it still flows quite honestly. Here's hoping for the best!

The Poker Face pilot is A+. This is a nice throwback to the murder mystery series that used to be common in the 70s/80s. So many TV shows have gone to the long story format it's refreshing going back to the story of the week format.

The pilot episode is a love letter to series like Columbo. In fact, Rian Johnson goes as far as borrowing some of the fonts from Columbo. If you enjoy this series and have never watched Columbo I highly recommend checking those episodes out. Poker Face has a great cast, it's superbly written, and directed.

Hopefully this series keeps up the quality of the opening episodes. I can't wait to see where they go from here.

That's right - what we have here is the Columbo formula with a female lead, assuming all of his famous quirks and manorisms - from the "one more thing" prods to smoking cigars, Natasha Lyonne delivers "mystery" solving fun as the gravel voiced Charlie Cale. Even the font used for the credits is the same as The NBC Mystery Movie (1971).

This is a small twist on the reverse-detective story made famous first by Frederick Knott in Le crime était presque parfait (1954) and later by Columbo (1971), where the full crime is revealed to the audience up front, and the fun to the audience is watching the sleuth figure it out by discovering all the little details the killers get wrong, and watching the killers squirm.

The twist here is that once the crime is revealed, in typical Rian Johnson fashion, time is backed-up and Charlie Cale's involvement in the setting is revealed. She doesn't witness the crime, but is in orbits of all the characters when the crime is committed. She then uses her "I can tell when they're lying" power to determine who the guilty persons are, and is used to great affect.

This is great fun, and I hope it runs for a long, long time.

Solid show. Great premise and each story for each episode is very interesting, mysterious, entertaining and is well structured with great characters with villainous motives. The only negative this show suffers from is predictability. Obviously she will continue to solve every single murder every episode using her power of perception in picking lies. There's no deviation from the formula and no surprises at the end of each episode except for the satisfaction that the bad guys got what was coming to them. Still, it's a fun show with great storytelling. Will be interesting to see how the season ends.

Thank you Rian Johnson for bringing back the 1970s quirky crime detective. Columbo, Rockford Files, Kojak, & Police Woman are just a few of the shows Poker Face takes inspiration from. Nowadays there are a lot of rehashing of the old into new form. Most should never have been attempted. And, I think Natasha Lyonne is perfect. The writing is creative & stories are imaginative, with a suspenseful back story. It has a gimmick of her having special abilities to find the truth but it comes off believable. It's not obvious to the plot & overdone at all. The cast in each episode are top actors and comedians, along with newer faces that hang right in there for talent. Loved seeing Natasha & her castmate from Orange is the New Black, Dascha Polanco back together in 1st episode. I am really looking forward to the remainder of the season.