No Good Deed review: Dead to Me creator's new show is a big disappointment

Not only is the Spanish villa-inspired property easy on the eye, it sits in LA's desirable Los Feliz neighbourhood, which prompts competitive offers from three couples: Margo (former Dead to Me star Linda Cardellini) and JD (Luke Wilson), Carla (Teyonah Parris) and Dennis (O-T Fagbenle), and Leslie (Abbi Jacobson) and Sarah (Poppy Liu).

But Lydia, a former pianist with the Philharmonic, is reluctant to sell because saying goodbye to their home means leaving behind their teenage son, who died, and whose former room, adorned with LA Dodgers merch, remains untouched following his untimely passing.

Kudrow has built a career on comedic performances, but there is a palpable authenticity to her grief here. Watching her agonise over not being able to play her piano, something she hasn't done since the death of her child, is desperately sad.

When Paul repeatedly rubbishes and mocks her claim that their son's spirit is communicating with her via the lights in his bedroom, your heart hurts for her.

As in Dead to Me, the visceral pain of losing a loved one acts as the show's emotional anchor in the midst of the ever-mounting chaos.

But Paul, a contractor who personally renovated their house, insists that they have to let go or watch their remaining financial reserves dwindle, which is easier said than done.

The couple are sitting on a secret – and one that might not only scupper the sale, but send them both to prison for a very long time.

It's a fun premise, and in typical Feldman fashion, there are plenty of unforeseen twists that arrive in quick succession and shift the narrative landscape.

The central mystery – what really happened to Paul and Lydia's son, who died in their home – and how all of the different elements intersect and will ultimately be resolved do enough to keep you locked in.

But No Good Deed winds up being a rather frustrating watch because it doesn't really know what it wants to be.

Feldman has spoken previously about being "genre-nonconforming" in her work, but the tonal flip-flopping is so mercurial here, the writing feels confused.

Straddling both comedy and drama, often in a single scene, worked in Dead to Me because it was in tune with the relationship between Jen (Christina Applegate) and Judy (Cardellini).

But in No Good Dead, it renders the weightier subject matter – depression, disconnection in relationships, child loss – weightless, and the comedy, which is often snarky and abrasive, falls flat.

The characters are also grating at best and insufferable at worst. Granted, they all have a lot of high stress in their lives, from a secret pregnancy to a same-sex affair to pretending the follow-up to your best-selling novel is almost finished when you haven't even started writing, but maybe we'd be more sympathetic to the various movers and shakers if we understood them on a deeper level.

The size of the ensemble coupled with half-an-hour episodes means that we don't really spend enough time with any of them to become truly invested in their respective plights, and as such, they're more device-like, designed to shake things up for Paul and Lydia, than people with lives in their own right.

But while No Good Deed is no Dead to Me, its curiosity gap is tantalising enough, and there isn't a bauble in sight if you're looking for a frivolous, undemanding non-festive watch over the holidays.

Read more:

• No Good Deed cast
• No Good Deed soundtrack
• No Good Deed ending explained
• Will there be a No Good Deed season 2?

No Good Deed is available to stream on Netflix now. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.