Weekend Watch: Pam And Tommy, Murderville

Real-life sex tape drama meets criminal comedy.

Image Credit: Hulu

Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, true-life sex tape drama and a mostly improvised crime comedy. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite

Watching Pam & Tommy is a somewhat surreal experience. I’m old enough to have been in college when the scandal of their sex tape broke and watching certain characters stumble through the early internet is a blast. And yet, while the series has so far been a wildly edited, knockabout comedy, there’s still something that leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Let’s find the positives first – Sebastian Stan and Lily James (particularly James) are very good as Motley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and Baywatch pin-up/icon Pamela Anderson, who meet at a club and end up married after a whirlwind courtship of four days. While he is having his new house renovated, Tommy ends up demanding lots of changes and then bilking contractors including Seth Rogen’s Rand out of their money, claiming to be unhappy with their work. Rand plots revenge and breaks into their home, stealing a safe containing cash, jewels, guns, and a tape – one that happens to feature the couple larking about and a very energetic sex session. Soon, Rand and dodgy porn associate Miltie (Nick Offerman) are hawking the tape online and a huge public scandal is born. Rogen, and particularly Offerman, are great in their roles.

The first three episodes effectively set up the situation – the first is focused more on Rand and his interactions with Tommy, while the second is almost all the early days of Pam and Tommy’s relationship. With the third, the stories start to merge (slightly, though they still feel like separate shows save for the tape), as Rand and Miltie offer the tape to various porn barons before the former hits upon the idea of selling it themselves. Anderson, meanwhile, is frustrated by the lack of decent writing for her on Baywatch and pins her hopes on the upcoming movie Barb Wire to transition her to a new stage in her career. History records, of course, how well that turned out.

Adapted by The Wrestler’s Robert Siegel from the Rolling Stone article Pam And Tommy: The Untold Story Of The World's Most Infamous Sex Tape by Amanda Chicago Lewis and directed (the first three episodes at least) by I, Tonya’s Craig Gillespie, this is a wild and crazy, strange-but-true tale that leans into the madness but also finds time to bring some heart into the story too. Still, telling the tale of a couple whose most intimate moments were released to the world (even though they were seeking attention as part of their chosen careers) brings up conflicted feelings. For all the wackiness, did we need this story to be told? And did it need to go so far as the scene where Tommy chats with… well, (not-so) little Tommy?

I’m split on this one; while I’ve only seen the first three episodes, I will keep watching to see what the miniseries does with the story and how it digs into both the thornier legal issues and the real impact it had on the central pair.

The first three episodes of Pam & Tommy are on Hulu in the US and Disney+ Star in the UK now. I’ve seen those three. New episodes will land weekly.

Image Credit: Netflix

I’m a fan of the British comedy Murder In Successville, created by Andy Brereton and Avril Spary, which aired three series (yes, I’m using series because it was a UK show) between 2015 and 2017. The show finds Tom Davis as DI Desmond Sleet, who is partnered with a guest celebrity every episode to solve a murder in the fictional Successville, which is filled with other actors impersonating various celebrities.

Will Arnett was also a fan of the show; so much so that he decided to nab the rights and make his own version, which has landed on Netflix. Murderville is subtly different, in that it ditches the concept of celebrity impersonations, but holds on to the doofus-cop-and-celebrity-partner central premise.

Arnett here plays Terry Seattle, a homicide detective working in Los Angeles. He’s a sad sack with a knack for narration who always has an over-the-top intro spiel that wouldn’t be out of place in a Police Squad! episode. Oh, and he used to be married to his boss, Haneefah Wood’s Rhonda Jenkins-Seattle, who has moved on to one of their colleagues.

Terry has not moved on, either from the years-ago suspicious death of his partner or his marriage. Yet he’s throwing himself into his job, which isn’t helped by Rhonda saddling him with a new “celebrity” partner every week. Those air quotes are because the show never makes it quite clear if Terry’s trainee is playing themselves on any given case.

Murderville’s comedy is drawn from the fact that Arnett, Wood, and some of the other cast have a basic script for the episode, whereas the celebrity guest of the week does not. They must react to events as they happen while also figuring out the clues to collar a murderer before the end of the episode. The cases aren’t exactly the most complicated, but then, this isn’t Mare Of Easttown; the show is designed to make you laugh more than bother your grey matter.

And, for the most part, it is funny, though the comedy value is dependent on the talent level and willingness of the guest. On the higher end of the scale are the likes of Conan O’Brien and Kumail Nanjiani, who are both talented comedians and writers themselves, and fully throw themselves into the comedy. A highlight each time is seeing the lengths that Arnett and his co-stars will go to make their guest laugh. It’s infectious to watch the trainee giggle after some ridiculous line or action from Arnett.

Ken Jeong is also good value, but then there are the likes of former NFL player Marshawn Lynch, who is not a natural performer, yet always seems willing to throw himself into the experience. Sharon Stone, meanwhile, largely looks confused but has a couple of decent moments.

Though Murderville isn’t the funniest or most creative murder mystery available right now (I still highly recommend Apple’s The Afterparty), but it’s certainly good for a high ratio of chuckles. And Arnett remains, as ever, a high-level goofball.

Murderville is on Netflix now. I’ve seen all six episodes.