Produced by Mr. Robot mastermind Sam Esmail, The Resort stars The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper and Palm Springs’ Cristin Milioti as a couple whose rocky relationship is rejuvenated (and, ultimately, tested) when they stumble upon a 15-year-old missing persons case to which they may hold the key to solving. Unveiling a deep and expansive lore behind its otherwise boy-meets-girl mystery, The Resort is one wild ride worth taking (and a relatively short one, considering the show’s eight-episode initial run). A cult classic television series that directly influenced genre hybrid series such as The X-Files, Kolchak: The Night Stalker surrounds Carl Kolchak, an intuitive investigative reporter who happens upon a number of strange and potentially supernatural cases around the Chicago area. Anchored by a stellar performance from Darren McGavin of A Christmas Story fame, The Night Stalker also helped launch the careers of The Sopranos creator David Chase as well as Back to the Future filmmakers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and was nearly rebooted by Disney as a big screen property from Johnny Depp and Edgar Wright. The breakout series for performer Kristen Bell as well as acclaimed television writer Rob Thomas, Veronica Mars is a Californian noir series that combines small town mysteries with high school drama, all through the literal and figurative lens of the titular private investigation wunderkind. Also produced by Hollywood bigwig Joel Silver, Veronica Mars was initially canceled in 2007 before its cult popularity blossomed, resulting in a $5.7 million Kickstarter for a feature film, which was released in 2014, and a revived fourth season on Hulu in 2019. This popular and critically beloved Hulu original came seemingly out of nowhere in 2021, showcasing a trio of eccentric neighbors (Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez) who decide to start a true crime podcast investigating the murder of another tenant in their building. With each character harboring their own difficulties, secrets, and neuroses, Only Murders in the Building also packs enough laugh-out-loud punches and jaw-dropping twists to make it one of the most bingeable options in the streaming space, period. A boldly unpredictable and often hilarious series that often bounces between genres and mysteries, Search Party revolves around a quartet of New York City hipsters who decide to search for an ex-acquaintance who has gone missing, but must decide if their wild theories are the cold, hard truth or their imaginations getting the better of them. Featuring a career-best Alia Shawkat and a scene-stealing John Early, Search Party is a more chaotic and darker alternative for those who feel Only Murders is too toothless and straight-laced for their liking. An underrated true crime documentary parody that also doubles as a satisfying and occasionally hysterical mystery series, American Vandal examines and litigates major high school pranks with the same serious tone and twist-laden storytelling as the likes of Making a Murderer and The Thin Blue Line. Featuring some of the most talented young actors working today as the various suspects and investigators in each story, American Vandal notably earned a Peabody Award in 2018 and racked up Primetime Emmy, WGA Award, and Critics’ Choice Television Award nominations during its relatively brief tenure. Despite being forever associated with a deeply problematic individual, this BBC America series is primarily adapted from the works of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s Douglas Adams, whose influence permeates every frame of this peculiar mystery series. Part Doctor Who, part Sherlock Holmes, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is chockfull of quirk and charm thanks to its exceptional cast and mysteries that interweave with the more dense sci-fi elements effortlessly. Orphaned by the late streaming punchline Quibi and eventually acquired by the Roku Channel, Mapleworth Murders essentially operates as a parody of Murder, She Wrote with the irreverence of any Lorne Michaels production. Eventually winning a Primetime Emmy Award in 2021 for the scene-stealing turn from J. B. Smoove, Mapleworth Murders also hosts an impressive roster of guest stars, including Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Patton Oswalt, Andy Samberg, and Wanda Sykes. The gold standard for small screen murder mysteries, Columbo flips the script of the genre by redefining the narrative as a “howcatchem” as opposed to a “whodunit” as you largely follow the killer’s attempt to get away with the crime with Lieutenant Columbo literally (and figuratively) drawing closer and closer to them. But perhaps the real reason why Columbo remains so timeless and endlessly watchable is that the story is so compelling and the performances are so engaging, especially that of series’ anchor Peter Falk in the titular role, that you’re likely to miss the character putting the mystery together, which makes the reveals as surprising for the viewer as it is for the culprit. A series that changed everyone’s perspective on televised murder mysteries, Twin Peaks is one of the most influential series of all time, offering a distinct visual style, a roster of bizarre yet compelling characters, and a mind-melting mythology that is still referenced and memed to this day. Though Twin Peaks can be more intense, surreal, and disturbing than most titles on this list, David Lynch and Mark Frost’s ensemble mystery series is often considered to be essential viewing in the genre and, for some, pop culture in general. A modern noir series through a quirky modern comedic lens, Bored to Death stars Jason Schwartzman as a journalist who moonlights as an unlicensed private investigator, often turning to his odd yet loyal best friend (Zach Galifianakis) and morally dubious editor (Ted Danson) to help get to the bottom of his inquiries. Also notable as the small screen debut of prolific writer Jonathan Ames (whom Schwartzman plays in a fictionalized version on the show), Bored to Death benefits from the looser reigns of HBO’s premium cable content as well as a fantastic cast of recurring scene-stealers who will keep you glued to the screen. Though it’s not a “whodunit” or a traditional mystery-of-the-week series, Natasha Lyonne’s previous serialized spectacle still played as a captivating mystery about a game developer who becomes stuck in a time loop on her 36th birthday that repeatedly ends with her death, sending her on an inescapable journey to figure out what is really happening. Nominated for various Emmy awards, Russian Doll also served to establish Lyonne as a viable lead performer in a mainstream project after her supporting turn in Orange Is the New Black helped launch her comeback. Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas also shepherded this horror-comedy series that follows a medical examiner who unfortunately becomes a zombie, but turns her postmortem affliction into a gift when her newly acquired powers allow her to help solve murders throughout Seattle. Starring Ghosts’ Rose McIver and Midnight Mass’s Rahul Kohli, iZombie offers a more sordid affair for a mystery program while being silly enough to remain relatively inoffensive, outside of the fairly regular brain consumption scene. Putting a unique modern spin on the intricate small screen mystery show, Monk surrounds a widower detective dealing with post-traumatic stress and obsessive-compulsive disorder, which complicates his crime-solving process but likewise helps him in locating specific clues and retaining specific memories. Headlined by a career-best Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Monk handles both dramatic and comedic beats with finesse, approaching the more potentially troublesome elements with respect and gravity while still finding time to address some of the organic humor within the juxtaposition. After finding much success with his contemporary reboot of Doctor Who, Steven Moffat teamed with The League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss to introduce a new vision of Sherlock Holmes, interpreting Holmes’s exceptional powers of observation and stunning intellect in the modern world while assembling various pieces of Holmes’s lore in a practical new way. Though the series is largely comprised of 13 feature-length episodes (with the door open for more in the future), Sherlock was a critical and commercial smash, winning a number of BAFTA and Primetime Emmy Awards during its initial run. From the creative team behind Airplane!, Police Squad! was a hysterical spoof of police procedurals that showcases the sensibilities of Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker at the height of their comedic power. Debuting Leslie Nielsen in the now-iconic role of Frank Drebin, Police Squad! takes aim at the likes of a number of classic mystery series, including Columbo, but despite being canceled after six episodes, the series found new life on the big screen via The Naked Gun trilogy. One of the most acclaimed series from visionary television storyteller Bryan Fuller, Pushing Daisies follows Ned (Lee Pace), a man with the ability to revive the dead with his touch but kills someone nearby as a result, who is recruited by a private investigator (Chi McBride) to help solve cases by resurrecting murder victims for critical information before splitting the reward money, a gambit that is complicated when his childhood sweetheart is murdered. Featuring many of Fuller’s repeat collaborators, including Hannibal’s Raúl Esparza, American Gods’ Kristin Chenoweth, and Wonderfalls’ Beth Grant, Pushing Daisies is often considered to be one of the top “canceled too soon” television series and won various Primetime Emmy awards during its criminally brief run. Rarely does lightning strike twice in the entertainment industry, but it certainly did just that when the creators of Columbo whipped up a second instantly iconic murder mystery series in the mid-1980s starring Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote. Surrounding the amateur investigations of mystery writer Jessica Fletcher, many of which occur around the fictional Maine town of Cabot Cove, Murder, She Wrote ran for more than 260 episodes between 1984 and 1996, and has had such a lasting presence in popular culture that video games were developed based on the property in 2009 and 2012 while the show is still a frequently binged title on streaming platforms. One of the more ingenious twists on the murder mystery format, The Afterparty essentially presents the beloved subgenre with a Yojimbo-esque narrative twist that traverses through genres and framing devices with hilarious results. Developed by 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie creators Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, The Afterparty will keep you guessing while you laugh throughout its eight-episode first season, but if you dig the series’ central conceit, you won’t have to wait much longer for the impending second season on AppleTV+.
