Written by SNL vet Andrew Steele (“Casa De Mi Padre,” “The Spoils of Babylon,” “A Deadly Adoption”), “The Spoils Before Dying” follows a jazz-pianist turned private eye who becomes embroiled in a murder investigation.
Will Ferrell reprises his “Spoils of Babylon” role, the bloviating drunkard and author Eric Jonrosh, and Kristen Wiig returns in the new role of big band singer Delores O’Dell.
The first night’s episodes are worth tuning in for if only to behold the corpulent Jonrosh savoring and extolling his sandwich during the miniseries’ 2.5-minute introduction. “Sorry you have to see this, but when it’s time to eat it’s time to eat!” he apologizes as the cameras roll. He loves his meal so much it actually alters his pompous personality. “Oh my God! Give me a break, right?”
“I’ve not been lucky enough to have sired a child, but right now this is my baby,” he exclaims, taking a bite so big the remainder of his introduction must be subtitled.
Little changes at the start of the second episode, with the ebriated Jonrosh interrupting himself to moan about the supposedly absent wine that "was promised" him when he agreed to make these introductions.
Wiig also has her moments, including one in which she loudly babbles nonsense in her sleep as the pianist tries to glean information from a murdered woman's ghost.
Also returning from “Spoils of Babylon,” but in new roles, are Val Kilmer, Haley Joel Osment, Michael Sheen, Steve Tom, and Marc Evan Jackson.
Newcomers to the franchise include Michael Kenneth Williams, Kate McKinnon, Tim Meadows, Chris Parnell, Maya Rudolph, Emily Ratajkowski, Andrew Daly, Chris Mulkey, Chin Han, Jack Kilmer, Patty Guggenheim, and Bérénice Marlohe.
... I liked it, as I would like any work that offered me a line like, "You still haven't answered either part of my two-part original question." Watch it as if you were at a party, alongside Kate McKinnon, Tim Meadows, Molly Shannon, Chris Parnell, Andy Daly, Michael Sheen, Marc Evan Jackson, Haley Joel Osment, Tim Robbins and Jimmy Fallon, with Peter Coyote as the voice of a cat — because you are. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… Gleefully absurd and filled with terrific comic performances -- Wiig and Rudolph are stand-outs in the first two episodes -- "The Spoils Before Dying" marks another winning offbeat comedy from IFC. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... “Spoils” may indeed be long lost, but within minutes, we not only see why but have already begun laughing at its cinematic hubris. … If anything, “Spoils Before Dying” is funnier than “Babylon.” …
... If only we could stream Kristen Wiig into our lives all day long. … only reaches heights of hilarity when the “Bridesmaids” and “Saturday Night Live” veteran is onscreen. …
... To the victor belong the Spoils, though it's unlikely viewers will feel they've won much of anything … It's this same sort of skin-deep comedy that's stretched out over the entirety of the miniseries, to the point that at the beginning of episode six, when Ferrell-as-Jonrosh says, with evident exhaustion, "You made it!" it hardly feels like he's having a laugh.
... What makes these latest “Spoils” more watchable, or at least more interesting, is the casting of Michael Kenneth Williams (“The Wire,” “Boardwalk Empire”) in the central role, bringing all that glowering intensity to the service of something completely silly. That Williams plays it almost entirely straight while his co-stars ham it up around him doesn’t entirely work, but it at least provides a bit of foundation to hang something remotely resembling a story around. …
9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. IFC.
