Given the success of Hulu's Only Murders in the Building, it's not surprising that another comedy series is taking on true-crime podcasting, although Peacock's Based on a True Story takes a much darker approach to the subject matter. Based on a True Story places the main characters in a no-win situation that shifts from amusingly morbid to unpleasantly nasty without the range of quirky characters that makes Only Murders in the Building so enjoyable to watch. There's no mystery to solve on Based on a True Story, just two terrible people desperately exploiting the victims of a psychopath.
Those two terrible people are married couple Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and Nathan Bartlett (Chris Messina), who feel frustrated and unfulfilled in their personal and professional lives. Real estate agent Ava is stuck with second-rate listings and clients giving her the runaround, while former professional tennis player Nathan is feeling sidelined in his job as a coach at a fancy country club. They have a baby on the way but have trouble envisioning a positive future for their family.
Enter Matt Pierce (Tom Bateman), a seemingly unassuming plumber who befriends the Bartletts after installing a new toilet in their house. He generously agrees to take partial payment in the form of tennis lessons from Nathan, and the two start hanging out socially. In the meantime, there are frequent news reports about a serial killer known as the West Side Ripper terrorizing the Bartletts' Los Angeles neighborhood.
When Ava and Nathan believe that they've discovered the identity of the West Side Ripper, they see it as an opportunity to turn their lives around. Instead of going to the police with their suspicions, they approach the person they believe is the killer and make him an offer to collaborate on a true-crime podcast. Their moral justifications are pretty weak, and these likable characters quickly become nearly as reprehensible as the serial killer they're attempting to collaborate with.
Although there are brief hints in the first episode that the West Side Ripper may not be who the Bartletts think he is, Based on a True Story isn't a mystery series. There isn't anything to figure out about what's going on with the killer, and nearly every character is exactly who they appear to be. That leaves the focus on how the Bartletts and the Ripper will get away with their ill-advised plan, which never seems even remotely viable. If these basically upstanding people are going to throw away their entire moral framework, it should at least be for something that stands even a tiny chance of success.
It's frustrating that Based on a True Story creator Craig Rosenberg -- who wrote all eight first-season episodes -- seems to have a shaky understanding of the world of podcasting, and it's even more frustrating that the show's characters are equally dense. Ava and Nathan begin the series as flawed but likable characters, but as the season progresses, they make so many idiotic, morally bankrupt decisions that it becomes nearly impossible to care about what happens to them. They're not the villains or the targets of ridicule, though, and Rosenberg seems to have miscalculated how sympathetic his main characters will be.
That would be less of a problem if Based on a True Story were a sharper, funnier satire, but its attempts at parodying the popularity of true-crime podcasts are pretty weak. June Diane Raphael and Jessica St. Clair show up a few times as a pair of superstar podcast hosts, but they pale in comparison to Tina Fey's Cinda Canning on Only Murders in the Building. A two-episode detour to Las Vegas for a true-crime convention takes easy potshots at fans who obsess over serial killers and creators who sell murder merchandise.
Cuoco and Messina do their best to keep the Bartletts grounded, but there's only so much they can do with Based on a True Story's scattered inconsistent characterization. Cuoco has made an impressive shift from her years on The Big Bang Theory into more dramatic fare like The Flight Attendant and Meet Cute, and Messina is coming off a standout supporting role in Air. They both give performances that are better than the material. Bateman, as the mysterious newcomer in their lives, is less compelling, making Matt mostly a one-dimensional agent of chaos.
Once the Bartletts invite that chaos into their lives, Based on a True Story paints itself into a corner, and the plot gets repetitive and circular over the course of the eight half-hour episodes. There are so many fakeouts that tease shocking developments only to reveal themselves as dreams or imaginary scenarios that the plot itself becomes disappointing in comparison. The Bartletts' podcast is obviously doomed from the start, and the show about them doesn't fare much better.
The eight-episode first season of Based on a True Story premieres Thursday, June 8, on Peacock.