Lorne Michaels’ Quibi Murder Mystery Lines Up All-Star Cast

The cast of Quibi’s murder-mystery comedy The Mapleworth Murders could double as a Saturday Night Live reunion.

A host of former castmembers from the NBC late-night institution — including Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, Fred Armisen and Tim Meadows — have signed onto the project, created by and starring SNL veterans Paula Pell and John Lutz. The show also counts Lorne Michaels and Seth Meyers among its executive producers.

Regulars from 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Good Place are also on board.

The Mapleworth Murders is a sendup of small-town crime shows (think Murder, She Wrote) that stars Pell (Wine Country) as Abigail Mapleworth, a mystery writer who solves crimes in her quaint hometown of New Woodstream. Each episode will feature guest victims and suspects, and also get at the question of just why so many homicides are happening in one small town.

Joining Pell and Lutz (30 Rock) as regulars are J.B. Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Hayley Magnus (The Dressmaker). Rudolph, Armisen, Meadows, D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place), Patton Oswalt (AP Bio), Jack McBrayer (30 Rock), Pam Murphy (Adam Ruins Everything), Ben Warheit (Late Night With Seth Meyers), Annie Mumolo (Bridesmaids), Ike Barinholtz (The Mindy Project), Mary Holland (Veep), James Anderson (SNL) and Drew Tarver (The Other Two) will all have recurring roles. 

Fey, Wanda Sykes, Chris Parnell, Andy Samberg, Terry Crews, Nicole Byer and Jimmy Carlson will all make guest appearances on the show.

Claire Scanlon (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) is directing the series, which is currently in production. Pell, Lutz, Michaels, Broadway Video’s Andrew Singer, Meyers and Mike Shoemaker executive produce; Hilary Marx, Jason Carden and Scanlon are co-EPs. The show comes from Broadway Video, Sethmaker Shoemeyers and Universal TV.

The Mapleworth Murders is one of more than 50 original shows in the works at Quibi, the shortform, mobile-centric streaming platform set to launch in April. The Jeffrey Katzenberg- and Meg Whitman-led company has signed a host of A-listers, including Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Lopez, Guillermo del Toro, Dwayne Johnson, Lena Waithe and Zac Efron, to produce and star in projects for the service.

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