Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television

Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television is an action comedy series created by Rawson Marshall Thurber and starring Ryan Hansen that premiered on October 25, 2017, on YouTube Red. In July 2018, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season which premiered on January 30, 2019.
On April 10, 2019, YouTube canceled the series.

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Premise

Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television is "set in a world where the LAPD thinks it’s a good idea to form a task force partnering actors with homicide detectives to take advantage of their “actor skills” and industry connections to help solve murders."

Cast and characters

Main

Ryan Hansen as himself

Recurring

Samira Wiley as Jessica Mathers
Aly Michalka as Amy
Wood Harris as Vince Vincente
Evangeline Lindes as Crosby
Noelle E Parker as Millie
Jon Cryer as himself
Sydney Brower as Everett
Karen David as Priya
Eric Christian Olsen as himself
Barry Shabaka Henley as Captain Jackson #3 and #8
Jessica St. Clair as Captain Lade'e
Joel McHale as himself
Donald Faison as himself

Guest

James McDaniel as Captain Jackson #1
Steve Harris as Captain Jackson #2
Leslie David Baker as Captain Jackson #4
Frankie Faison as Captain Jackson #5
Mary Birdsong as Dorothy Montclair
Arielle Vandenberg as herself
Yvette Nicole Brown as Captain Jackson #7
Kristen Bell as herself
Peter Berg as himself
Ken Marino as himself
Amanda Cerny as herself
Jillian Bell as herself
Lucy Hale as herself
Rob Corddry as himself
Jane Lynch as herself
Ben Schwartz as himself
Dax Shepard as himself

Production

Development

On June 22, 2017, it was announced that YouTube had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of eight episodes. The series was created by director Rawson Marshall Thurber who was set to executive produce alongside Scott Stuber, Beau Bauman, Krysia Plonka and Tracey Baird. Ryan Hansen was expected to serve as a producer. On July 27, 2018, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season expected to premiere in 2019. On December 17, 2018, it was announced that season two would premiere on January 30, 2019.

Casting

Alongside the series order announcement, it was confirmed that the series would star Ryan Hansen with guest stars including Joel McHale, Jon Cryer, and Kristen Bell, among others.

Filming

Principal photography for season two began on July 26, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

Reception

Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television has received mixed reviews from critics at launch. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the series has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Mike Hale of The New York Times said in a mixed review, "Solves Crimes has potential, but its problem is hard-wired into its premise and its venue: You wish that someone more interesting to watch than Mr. Hansen were at the center of it. There’s no compelling reason to watch, but you might get a kick out of it." Dan Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter commented that the show is "bloated and sloppy and amateurish in a way that occasionally rises to the level of 'gleeful,' but it's occasionally hilarious and delivers a much more scathing, granular and detailed satire of the television business and Hollywood fame than the facile yuks of Showtime's departed, overpraised Episodes."