Poker Face cancelled, Rian Johnson looking to continue series with Peter Dinklage in lead

Comedy mystery series Poker Face has been cancelled by Peacock, but creator Rian Johnson wants to keep it going, with Peter Dinklage as its star. Here’s a story that feels rather unexpected for more than one reason. First, that Peacock has cancelled the comedy-mystery series Poker Face after two seasons – our assumption was that, ... Poker Face cancelled, Rian Johnson looking to continue series with Peter Dinklage in lead

Comedy mystery series Poker Face has been cancelled by Peacock, but creator Rian Johnson wants to keep it going, with Peter Dinklage as its star.

Here’s a story that feels rather unexpected for more than one reason. First, that Peacock has cancelled the comedy-mystery series Poker Face after two seasons – our assumption was that, with all the critical and audience affection for it, the show was a decent success.

Then there’s the second bit of the headline: series creator Rian Johnson wants to keep it going – no surprise there – but has plans to replace Natasha Lyonne with Peter Dinklage in the lead. From its first season in 2023, Poker Face felt like a show built around Lyonne and her acerbic sense of humour; she plays Charlie, a wanderer who can instantly tell when someone’s lying – leading to the character’s pithy catchphrase, “Bullshit.”

Replacing Lyonne makes a bit more sense when you dig into the story, however. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the plan is to have Charlie played by a different actor every other two seasons, with that actor bringing their own flavour to the show. It’s also an idea cooked up between Johnson and Lyonne.

“We’ve been germinating this next move together since writing the season two finale,” the pair said in a statement. “We love our Poker Face and this is the perfect way to keep it rolling. Give us a beat and we may just see Charlie Cale again down that open highway.”

For now, though, the show is looking for a new home. According that above-linked report, this year’s second season didn’t perform quite as well as the first, and with the show being expensive to produce, the network decided to pull the plug.

We’ll have to see where Poker Face ends up next; Netflix might be a viable home, given Johnson’s spent the past few years making mystery films for the company – the latest Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man, will stream from the 12th December.

More on Poker Face's fate as we get it.