“Dead to Me” creator Liz Feldman has once again delivered a whip-smart and heartfelt comedy for Netflix. This time, the series follows married couple Lydia (Lisa Kudrow) and Paul Morgan (Ray Romano) as they attempt to sell their luxurious Los Feliz home. While the concept appears slight, what unfolds is anything but. We first meet the couple as they’re locked away in their son’s bedroom, spying on the couples viewing their home downstairs from a camera. They watch the potential buyers every move, often criticizing them, until Paul sees a familiar face peering back into the camera’s lens.

The reemergence of a distant relative attempts to blow the couple’s life apart, even more than it already is. Lydia, a retired pianist, cannot bring herself to play since her daughter won’t return her calls, and Paul’s debts play a big part into why they’re so desperate to sell their home. The main reason for both of these roadblocks though, is a death that occurred in the home a few years prior, which Lydia and Paul were both more involved in then either of them want to admit. Though they hide this from the potential buyers, the weight of this death refuses to let go of them, forcing the couple into an all consuming grief and paranoia. 

While it sounds more suited for a drama or thriller, “No Good Deed” is undeniably a comedy. As Lydia and Paul struggle to hide the dark and dangerous secrets that linger inside their home, they begin to realize that the only way they’ll escape the past is to finally face it. But, before they can do that, they’ll have to stave off their prying neighbors, and even more meddling potential buyers. The series is filled with some fantastic talent, from Luke Wilson as an aging soap opera star to Teyonah Parris as a newly pregnant wife keeping her own secrets from her husband. However, it’s Abbi Jacobson and Poppy Liu as married couple Leslie and Sarah who really tie the show together. 

The two are at odds with one another just as much as Lydia and Paul, though the young couple is better at hiding it. Beneath the surface of their stilted smiles are two women desperately trying to hold onto the lies they’ve told each other, and themselves, about their relationship. Paired with the fact that these two are incapable of leaving well enough alone, snooping around the property they’re desperate to buy and checking the Citizen app for clues, Jacobson and Liu add a breath of fresh air to a series already filled with acting veterans. Watching the two attempt to uncover the mysteries of Lydia and Paul’s life is just as entertaining as watching the older couple try and cover their tracks, if not even more. 

While Feldman’s previous Netflix project focused on two central characters whose lives directly intersected with one another, she has mastered an expansive ensemble series. Each couple that desires the Los Feliz house feels as fleshed out as Lydia and Paul, and just as entertaining. It’s hard to miss a certain pairing when they’re not on screen, because in the meantime, Feldman allows you to focus on another duo or singular character whose actor is perfectly tailored to the material they’ve been given. It feels rare for an ensemble show like this to not single out a character or two, while leaving the others in the dust to eventually fade away. That, paired with each episode’s tight 30-minute run time, allows “No Good Deed” to breeze by.  

Over its eight episodes, the series keeps you guessing, because like the potential homebuyers, we’re too being kept in the dark about what really happened in the Morgan’s home before it was listed. While the antics swirl as they try to keep their secret, there’s a tender portrayal or grief at the center of this story too. It’s one that flows in and out of the narrative, taking you by surprise when Lydia and Paul finally decide to be real with themselves. While each character may be putting on a facade, the struggles they farce are undoubtedly real, and oftentimes shine a mirror back onto the audience. 

Though these interwoven stories unfold amongst each other, “No Good Deed” never feels bloated. Instead, the series feels like a testament to what the talent off screen and on can achieve with such a short amount of time. In a world where even comedies now stretch to hour per episode runtimes, this show feels unique and is something television comedies desperately needed. If the housing market wasn’t scary enough, Netflix and Feldman have cooked up a sharp black comedy that if you can afford a house in this economy, might make you think twice about buying.

All eight episodes were screened for review. On Netflix now.