Based on a True Story

Based on a True Story offers a fun deconstruction of the genre that also forces the audience to question their own attraction to serial killers.

Based on a True Story is a very guilty pleasure.

A grisly good time had by all. [12 Jun - 2 Jul 2023, p.6]

Sharp writing and keen comedic timing by the show’s main players make “Based on a True Story” an amusingly disturbing journey into the world of true-crime fandom and the queasy worship around homicidal maniacs like Dennis Rader, better known as “BTK,” and John Wayne Gacy.

The high concept, darkly comedic “Based on a True Story” takes two overly long episodes to set up its premise, but once it does the right-sized 30-minute episodes that follow have a blast satirizing true crime stories and those who love them. It’s an entertaining yarn that taps into the American bloodlust for true crime tales.

Breezy, sex-obsessed and pleasingly perverse, “Based on a True Story” is the satire the true crime media business deserves.

Ava and Nathan's coterie of friends feel like a distraction, there to stretch out the plot rather than provide worthwhile color. It's far more compelling to watch two semi-hapless people realign their world now that there's a serial murderer in it. Fortunately, most episodes don't run longer than 25 minutes. It never takes much time to get to the good stuff. And there's a lot of good stuff.

The premise of Based On A True Story is definitely absurd and by the end of the first episode, we’re not sure where it’s going to go. But Messina and Cuoco’s performances are more than enough to keep our attention while the show figures itself out.

Like a good, however flawed, podcast, there’s a bunch you might wish you could skip over, but it still leaves you curious and impatient for the next episode.

Kaley Cuoco continues to burnish her post-“Big Bang Theory” credentials as a streaming queen with “Based on a True Story,” a twisty, darkly comic series with strong echoes of two Netflix shows, “You” and “Dead to Me.” The series likely won’t rival either on Peacock – a service that tends to fly under the radar – but those who find it won’t be disappointed.

If you can forgive these massive plot holes every time they pop into your brain (which is exceedingly often, given how much the podcast’s popularity is referenced), Based on a True Story will prove to be some fun, breezy fare.

I like the show overall, but it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. That’s OK — it can exist purely in the realm of upbeat, if sinister, high jinks, so long as we’re not pretending it’s saying something more.

“Based on a True Story” is much more bleak than “Only Murders.” (Creator Craig Rosenberg had a hand in the pitch-black humor of “The Boys.”) Some of that darkness adds to the show’s appeal; more often, much like its characters, “Based on a True Story” spins out of control.

With credulity crumbling by the end of eight mostly enjoyable, if increasingly ludicrous, episodes, Based on a True Story might not have enough blood to pump through another season (even if a cliffhanger ending suggests that it will happen anyway), but murder fans should find enough here to chew on.

It’s not as brazen as Poker Face, as innovative as Mrs. Davis, or as bizarre as The Resort, but BOATS scratches the itch for an entertaining, if not illogical, TV comedy.

This is a series that unravels quickly, and that’s assuming that it was ever raveled (so to speak) in the first place. It boils down to a neat idea with lukewarm results, like so many podcasts and TV shows.

The target is broad and easy to hit (others already have) except "Based on a True Story's'" aim is unsteady. The show would much rather be a comedy (also unsteady) or thriller (unsteadiest of all). At its best, this series features three seasoned and particularly appealing actors who know how to sell the premise — outlandish and as full of plot holes as this one is. But at its worst — far worse — is a recurrent pattern of violence against women.

It’s one thing for a series to throw you for a loop from time to time and blindside you with some major twists. It’s quite another thing when there are so many red herrings and fake-outs that we feel more pranked than entertained.

A seemingly daring, dark premise that disguises a mild domestic comedy. It promises slashing satire. It cuts like a butter knife.

If you’re looking for a breezy summer binge, it makes a passable substitute for any of the aforementioned shows [Dead to Me, Good Girls, and You]. But the writing is blander, the characters thinner, the plot too reliant on viewers’ willingness to suspend disbelief. And the true-crime satire is disappointingly timid.

if you take something true and either to protect the not-so-innocent or to beef up the drama you layer in so many tropes and clichés it becomes a sitcom, what was the point? I’ll bet the true story actually is nuts, but Only Murders in Mar Vista is closer to a footnote than a trend.

Stars Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina are talented enough to sell a good line every now and then, but the plotting here falls apart under even the slightest scrutiny, and the whole thing just isn’t funny enough to pull its target audience away from their favorite podcasts.