Quibi has added a slew of comedians, including “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star J.B. Smoove and Maya Rudolph — among several other former “Saturday Night Live” cast members — to its upcoming comedic murder-mystery series produced by Lorne Michaels and Seth Meyers, the company shared on Tuesday morning.
“Mapleworth Murders” will star Paula Pell as Abigail Mapleworth, a murder-mystery writer who solves homicides in her quaint small town of New Woodstream. Each episode of the series will feature guest victims and suspects as they answer the bigger question of the series: “Why the hell are there so many murders in the small town of New Woodstream?” The series was created by Pell and John Lutz, who will also star in the show.
Smoove and Hayley Magnus (“Sick Girl”) are joining in supporting roles.
Rudolph will join the show in a recurring role, as well as former “SNL” stars Fred Armisen and Tim Meadows; Patton Oswalt (“Ratatouille”), Jack McBrayer (“30 Rock”), Ike Barinholtz (“The Mindy Project”), Ben Warheit “Late Night with Seth Meyers”), D’Arcy Carden (“Barry”), Pam Murphy (“Get Shorty”), Annie Mumolo (“Bridesmaids”), Mary Holland (“Veep”) and James Anderson and Drew Tarver from “The Other Two” will also be featured in recurring roles on “Mapleworth Murders.”
Tina Fey, Andy Samberg, and Chris Parnell will also make guest appearances on the show, as well as Wanda Sykes (“Black-ish”), Terry Crews (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), Nicole Byer (“Nailed It”) and Jimmy Carlson.
The show made another key addition on Tuesday, bringing in Claire Scanion (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) as its director.
Produced by Michaels’ Broadway Video and Meyers’ and Mike Shoemaker’s production company Sethmaker Shoemeyer, “Mapleworth Murders” was first announced in June. Written by and starring Pell and Lutz, the series is executive produced by Michaels, Andrew Singer, Meyers, and Shoemaker. Hilary Marx and Jason Carden will serve as co-executive producers of the show. Universal Television is the studio behind the series.
Quibi, set to debut on April 6, 2020, has continued adding content in recent weeks at a blistering pace. Last month, Bill Murray joined Peter Farrelly’s Quibi comedy series “The Now,” where he’ll be featured in a recurring role opposite star Dave Franco. And on Monday, Quibi added a new show from Kris and Kendall Jenner.
The company, led by Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman, has spent much of 2019 greenlighting dozens of shows from a number of big stars, including Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, and Stephen Curry, among others. Los Angeles-based Quibi announced last month it had sold out its $150 million advertising inventory for its first year.
Quibi shows will only be available on mobile devices, with each episode running no longer than 10 minutes. The app will cost viewers $4.99 per month for ad-supported viewing, or run $7.99 for ad-free viewing when it debuts next spring.