Based on a True Story

Jason Bateman is great and we checked out this series based on his touch and the premise. Following in the wake of Only Murders in The Building, this series is also a satire about Americans' current obsession with true crime.

A down, out...and pregnant LA couple figure out who the local serial killer (aka The Westside Ripper) is and instead of going to the police, in order to get fame and make money, decide to do a podcast with the killer instead. This leads to lots of dark comedy when they do things like attend a true crime convention!

Lots of moral questions are brought up but everything is pretty tongue in cheek. I am not a big fan of Kaley Cuoco, who plays the wife Ava Bartlett...but the best thing I can say is she didn't ruin the series for me, although her hair in her face during every scene was driving me crazy. Give that girl a barrette or ponytail holder, please. The male lead was a bit whiny as a has been tennis pro who is now a has been instructor being put out to kids classes...and then fired. The rest of the cast was pretty fantastic. I appreciated the fun that was poked at the rich "LA" couples who are their friends.

If you are a fan of true crime, comedy, satire...and some decent writing, I think you will enjoy this series (at least the first season).

I'm surprised at some of the negative reviews on here that border on the unhinged. Based on a True Story is a lot of fun and often very funny, helped hugely by its pacing across eight 30min episodes.

To be clear, this is not some sort of rip-off or pale imitation of Only Murders in the Building, which is a totally different type of show and which sits firmly in the whodunnit genre. Based on a True Story is just a dark comedy about desperate people and the American obsession with murder that's been given a revamp thanks to the podcast and streaming industry.

Sure, Kaley Cuoco once again plays Kaley Cuoco proving she has the acting range of a goldfish - but she's watchable, as is most of the cast. And I do agree with others who have pointed out that the frequent dream sequences are both pointless and annoying.

Definitely worth a binge watch and I hope there's more to come because this series felt more like a scene setter than the beginning, middle and end.

...I have been waiting for this show for a long time! I was so excited and of course binged the whole thing. Easy to watch but it does drag just a bit in places. Not enough that I turned it off or lost interest! It has soooo many amazing people too. I've loved many of the things the leads are in. I do hope it's renewed for a second season because I want them to amp it up and tell more of the murderers story and give us more murders haha. It's such a great concept too. In this world of true crime and podcasts and making millions it just make sense that someone would eventually team up with a murderer to be able to tell the stories first. Bateman is great! They all are were great truthfully, not a bad actor in the bunch. I'll be here for the next installment for sure.

To be honest, I wasn't all that excited for this series, but I gave the show a chance and it was decent. Now that the second season is over, I still think this show is decent.

Positives for Based on a True Story (2023-): I think the setup of this series is pretty good and it was interesting for the most part. Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina as Ava and Nathan are pretty good in the show and they have some fun banter between themselves and other characters. There are some cool and unique kills with a decent amount of gore to them in the show. The whodunnit aspect of the series was fun and I was intrigue with where the mysteries were going. And finally, this is one of those series that I wouldn't mind seeing more seasons of it.

Negatives for Based on a True Story (2023-): There are a number of things that annoyed in the series. First off, you have Tom Bateman as Matt Pierce and while he is certainly doing a good job with his character the way he was intended to be, there are moments where he got on my nerves and I wanted to kick his ass. There are also a number of dream sequences in this series that I hated and they do it too many times. And finally, some of the answers to these mysteries didn't sit well with me.

Overall, I had a decent time with Based on a True Story (2023-) and while I didn't fully love it, I wouldn't hate seeing more seasons from this show.

I loved this show. The way the the film industry represents the current trends never seems to properly land, but this show naturally weaves it. It turns true crime and social media into a comedic, thrilling, entertaining show. It's witty and rightly paced while keeping you on your toes, it rare you get so many turn of emotions in one show. It portrays the average modern person in large cities we'll and doesn't skip out on the mind of one and plays around with it. Also, on something that is extremely heavy this show brings a light hearted approach to the situation. I watched this in one sitting and going to be devastated if it gets canceled. Personally, it's a really fun watch, it's nothing extreme in any subject and that's truly what I love about it. I would highly recommend.