True crime has never been so daggy. This is NZ’s answer to Only Murders in the Building

Small Town Scandal ★★★

It’s been 12 years since the first season of hit podcast Serial altered our collective brain chemistry, convincing us all that, given enough time on Reddit, we could probably solve a murder. The true-crime boom that followed has produced some hugely impactful journalism; Hedley Thomas’ The Teacher’s Pet contributed to a cold case getting a conviction. But it also created a genre that’s ripe for mockery.

The Onion podcast A Very Fatal Murder was one of the first to satirise the tropes of these investigations, following a “Pulitzer-hungry” host looking into the death of a girl in the sleepy small town of Bluff Springs. American Vandal gave us an eight-part parody series on Netflix about a teen accused of drawing penises on cars. The amateur podcasters of Only Murders in the Building (inspired by a Serial parody in-show) have spent five seasons bumbling around crime scenes in New York’s Upper West Side.

Now the parodies have hit small-town New Zealand. Kiwi comedian Tom Sainsbury’s new show is the daggiest version of true crime you’ve seen yet.

Based on his mockumentary podcast of the same name, Small Town Scandal casts Sainsbury as Toby Buchanan: a disgraced journalist recently returned from Sydney to his rural hometown of Te Hōiho and trying to create a hit podcast around his uncle’s sudden death. “Uncle Mitch” (Peter Hambleton), the richest man in town, has seemingly been run over by the self-driving motor mowers with which he made his fortune, and Toby – unconvinced by the “accident” and frankly unoccupied with anything else to do – begins his investigation to weed out a potential killer.

The eight-part series has the same goofy and light tone of Only Murders in the Building, getting its charm and satisfying plot propulsion from an eccentric cast of suspects, including swingers and sociopathic twins. Morgana O’Reilly, who you might recognise from the latest season of The White Lotus, radiates strange and suspicious energy as Toby’s high school crush – now married to the boofhead Aussie cop investigating the case (Alexander England, Offspring). And the casting of Felicity Kendal (Rosemary & Thyme) as Toby’s exasperated and disinterested mum is a very cute touch, considering her cosy crime credentials. Rose Matafeo (Starstruck) also makes a cameo as Toby’s cousin.

But much like other awkward Kiwi comedies – including Wellington Paranormal, which Sainsbury co-wrote and starred in – the show will be an acquired taste. For some, the sheer cringe of Toby’s gormless character will be too much (the tone is set from episode one, when he can’t even pronounce “investigative journalist”). And the knowingly oddball comedy sometimes simply goes too broad. Toby’s Aussie media contact is at one point literally throwing shrimps on the barbie.

That kind of thing makes sense considering the show’s origins. On the podcast, Sainsbury – beloved for his impressions on social media – played all the parts, giving even the most silly character an extra manic energy that contributed to the laughs. But this doesn’t always translate to the screen.

Still, we could do worse than hanging out in Te Hōiho while waiting for Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez to return to the Arconia.

Small Town Scandal is now streaming on ABC iview now. Episodes drop 8.30pm Tuesdays on ABC Entertains.

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