Watch No Good Deed | Official Trailer
It’s time to turn the key on No Good Deed, from Dead to Me creator Liz Feldman. The black comedy (now streaming on Netflix) follows three families competing to buy the same Los Angeles house — before realizing that this dream home might actually be a nightmare. The trailer offers an in-depth look at all the competing pairs — and hints at the secrets and lies this stacked cast might harbor.
Watch the first five minutes of No Good Deed right now!
The series is led by the Emmy Award–winning Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano and features a long list of other talented actors, including Dead to Me star Linda Cardellini in a role unlike anything she’s done before. You can get a peek at Cardellini (along with the rest of the star-studded cast) in the trailer above.
Feldman first imagined Cardellini’s cherry-red wedge-wearing Los Angeleno Margo –– and the rest of the mysterious No Good Deed world –– while working on the final season of Dead to Me.Cardellini had mentioned she wanted to play “the complete opposite” of her sweet protagonist, Judy, in her next project. The Emmy-nominated actor was looking to portray a “badass bitch,” Feldman tells Tudum.
“I thought, ‘That’s really interesting. What would that look like?’ ” the showrunner and executive producer says. “I had already started dreaming up this world of Los Angeles real estate and thinking, ‘Why hasn’t there been a show about the buying and selling of one house and all of the people that revolve around that one location?’ I thought, ‘Who would that badass bitch be in this world?’ ”
The answer was Margo, one of the many colorful characters whose motives and secrets will be revealed in No Good Deed. Keep reading to learn about the listing of a lifetime — and to watch a brand-new featurette about the show.
What is No Good Deed about?
No Good Deed is a dark comedy series that, over eight half-hour episodes, follows three very different families as they race to buy the same 1920s Spanish-style villa that they think will solve all their problems. But as the sellers have already discovered, sometimes the home of your dreams can be a total nightmare. Particularly in the “romantic” LA neighborhood of Los Feliz, Feldman explains: “It’s picturesque in both good and dark ways.”
The Morgan family is at the center of No Good Deed’s real estate feeding frenzy; Kudrow and Romano play spouses Lydia and Paul, empty nesters with very different opinions on selling the family abode. “We meet them at a little bit of a crossroads — it’s a really interesting time in their lives.” Feldman says. “We know they’re about to go through some major changes. They know they’re about to go through some major changes in their [lives]. But they have no idea how major.”
As Lydia and Paul struggle to hide the dark and dangerous secrets that linger inside their longtime home, they begin to realize that the only way they’ll escape the past is to finally face it. Kudrow listened to a lot of piano concertos to tap into the big feelings of musician Lydia. “[They] gave me a lot of emotion because my tendency, maybe in life too, is to sort of keep feelings to yourself, not express too much,” the award-winning actor said on the Netflix podcast Skip Intro. “Lydia is expressing [a lot], especially next to her husband, who’s not expressing a thing.”
In a new featurette, which you can watch above, Feldman explains one of the inspirations behind the new show. “This show was inspired by me actually looking for a house,” she explains in the video. “I saw over 50 houses, and I realized there are so many secrets in the buying and selling of a house. And so I wanted to explore that.”
When does No Good Deed premiere?
All eight episodes of No Good Deed have hit the market — the series is now streaming.
Can I watch any No Good Deed footage?
Yes — consider the trailer above to be your open house for No Good Deed. The video reveals the ratcheting tensions building around the sale of the Morgan house. Even the Morgans themselves can’t trust each other with kitchen knives, as everyone in No Good Deed questions each other’s motives. In the video, you’ll catch shadowy figures skulking around in the dark, someone getting cuffed by the police, and many mysterious threats. As Sarah (Poppy Liu) says, “something strange” is going down in Los Feliz.
“The stakes are so high for everyone involved, and we explore how far we’re willing to go to provide for our loved ones,” says Feldman in the behind-the-scenes video.
Where is the No Good Deed house?
The Morgan house is a real Los Angeles abode. Feldman credits No Good Deed location manager Stephenson Crossley with “finding the kind of house that anybody would want.” Feldman had an “immediate emotional response” when she saw the property.
“I just loved it. I wanted to keep looking at it. I wanted to go inside it. It was a pretty easy ‘yes,’ ” Feldman told Netflix. “It’s just such a sweet house that promises a lot of love and warmth — but also some potential surprises.”
Who is in the No Good Deed cast?
Romano stars as Paul Morgan, a stressed-out and flat-broke contractor desperate to retire, pay off his debts, and escape LA. He thinks selling his beautiful Los Feliz home is the solution to all the problems facing him and his wife, Lydia, but his past mistakes continue to haunt him. “Ray is this instantly likable person who carries so much emotional baggage that you know is there, but he’s so good at hiding it,” Feldman says.
Kudrow plays Paul’s wife, Lydia Morgan, a very talented (and high-strung) former concert pianist. Lydia is devoted to Paul, and she’s a loving, if flawed, mother. She’s distraught by the idea of selling their Los Feliz home, a place filled with happy memories and dark secrets.
“Lisa is one of the most wholly unique, surprising, and subversively dark comedians on the planet,” Feldman says. “I felt so excited to be able to work with her in a capacity where she gets to really go deep as Lydia.”
Cardellini plays Margo Starling, a perfectly coiffed status seeker with buried secrets to spare. Margo knows how to get what she wants –– and what she wants is the in-demand Morgan house so she can flip it for profit with her lover, a high-end developer.
Luke Wilson plays JD Campbell, a depressed, out-of-work soap opera star desperate to land his next job. JD is looking to downsize from his modern McMansion while still maintaining both his lavish lifestyle and marriage to a demanding wife. “He has this incredible, sensitive subtlety that is so perfect for JD,” Feldman says. “He had so much fun playing this actor. Luke is wonderful — he delights me in every scene.”
For his part, Wilson really enjoyed seeing new sides of Romano and Kudrow on set. “It’s been really great getting to see Ray and Lisa do things most viewers aren’t used to seeing them do,” he says in the featurette above.
They Cloned Tyrone star Teyonah Parris is Carla, a high-achieving and somewhat sardonic architect and expectant mother. She and her new husband are on the hunt for the perfect home for their expanding family and fall hard for the Morgan house, but the impending financial stress reveals some cracks in their new marriage. Feldman had been a fan of Parris’ since witnessing her portray Monica Rambeau in 2021’s WandaVision. “Teyonah brings a real believability to this role … and I love being able to bring out the silly and dark side of her as well,” the showrunner says.
Speaking of Carla’s husband, Emmy Award nominee O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays her other half, Dennis. A tirelessly upbeat, deeply anxious, and overly appeasing struggling writer, Dennis is in the market for a new family home for Carla and their forthcoming baby. He’s eager to play the role of supportive husband and father, but he’s caught in the middle of a tense relationship between his new wife and his overly enmeshed mother. “He’s really funny. Also, he’s an insane chameleon,” Feldman says of the classically trained actor. “There would be months at a time [when] I would totally forget he’s British.”
Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson plays Leslie Fisher, a clever, curious woman thrilled to discover that the Los Feliz home she and her wife have long admired from afar has finally come on the market. Feldman admits Leslie is lightly inspired by her own personality. “Abbi Jacobson is someone I’ve been a fan of for years, and I just really related to her,” Feldman says.
Hacks standout Poppy Liu plays Sarah, Leslie’s soulful and grounded wife, who serves as a much-needed moral compass to her partner but has some secrets of her own. She’s intrigued when the Morgan house listing appears but has some deep reservations. “Poppy I just think is so funny and unique — like nobody else,” Feldman says. “I think her chemistry with Abbi is so adorable and sweet.”
Denis Leary plays Mikey, an intense ex-con whose debts have driven him to desperate measures. He finds himself in a dark hole after a terrible accident derailed his sobriety and pulled him away from his family. Despite Mikey’s grim circumstances, Leary brought a very different atmosphere to the set. “He’s a doll — he’s so sweet. He had everybody on set cracking up all the time,” she says. “I just really think he brings a real authenticity to the role, and his chemistry with all the different people he gets to work with is incredible.”
The cast also includes Fire Island’s Matt Rogers as Greg, the gregarious, charming, and slightly smug realtor handling the sale of the Morgan home. He’s acutely aware of the gem he has on his hands and knows how to keep prospective buyers interested in this sought-after piece of real estate.
Anna Maria Horsford (Pose, B Positive, Friday) plays Dennis’ mother, Denise, a loving but critical woman who’s a little too involved in her son and daughter-in-law’s house-hunting journey.
The L Word’s Kate Moennig plays the beautiful, sharp, and aloof Gwen, a high-end developer and Margo’s potential business partner. Both are intrigued by the Morgan home, which could prove to be a lucrative investment.
Theater veteran Linda Lavin (Being the Ricardos, Naked Singularity, Alice) plays Phyllis, Paul and Lydia’s overly involved neighbor who’s always a little too aware of the goings-on in the community.
And finally, Wyatt Aubrey plays Paul and Lydia’s teenage son Jacob, who’s dealing with some difficulties navigating adolescence.
How can I dive deeper into No Good Deed?
With the help of Skip Intro, of course. Kudrow stopped by the podcast to discuss how easy it was to say “yes” to No Good Deed, working with her on-screen husband Romano, and so many more secrets behind Derby Drive. Listen to the episode below.
Who is behind No Good Deed?
Feldman also serves as the series’ executive producer, alongside her Dead to Me collaborator Silver Tree — who directs No Good Deed’s pilot and additional episodes — and Christie Smith. Will Ferrell and Jessica Elbaum are also EPs; their production company, Gloria Sanchez Productions, has blessed us with several movies, including May December, Booksmart, and Hustlers.
Feldman credits her writers’ room with helping her craft the imminent surprises of No Good Deed, which she always pictured as a mystery. “They helped me expand on that and helped me dig out the most complicated, fun, twisty version of that,” she says.
If you’re on the hunt for more information about No Good Deed, make sure you keep checking back with Tudum for the latest updates.
