Peacock Cancels POKER FACE, but Rian Johnson Eyes a Two-Season Comeback With Peter Dinklage Taking the Lead
Peacock may have folded its cards on Poker Face, but Rian Johnson isn’t ready to walk away from the table just yet.
The streaming service has officially decided not to renew the hit mystery series for a third season, ending Natasha Lyonne’s run as Charlie Cale. But fans shouldn’t lose hope as Johnson, along with his producing partner Ram Bergman, Lyonne, and MRC, are already moving to keep the series alive elsewhere.
Peter Dinklage will set to step into the role of Charlie, the human lie detector who can instantly tell when someone’s being less than honest.
Johnson’s long-term vision for Poker Face is to recast the lead every two seasons, turning the show into an evolving anthology anchored by its “human lie detector” premise.
Dinklage, best known for Game of Thrones, and recently seen in Wicked and Roofman, will be the first actor to carry that torch. It seems like a fun approach!
Deadline confirmed the news and shared this joint statement from Johnson and Lyonne, who will stay on board as an executive producer:
“We’ve been germinating this next move together since writing the season two finale. We love our Poker Face and this is the perfect way to keep it rolling. Give us a beat and we may just see Charlie Cale again down that open highway.”
The creative team is shopping the series to other broadcasters, hoping for a two-season pickup that would keep the mystery road trip going, with a fresh twist.
It’s unclear whether Tony Tost will return as showrunner or if Johnson plans to shake things up behind the scenes. Either way, Poker Face remains his brainchild. Poker Face followed Lyonne’s Charlie, a former casino worker turned fugitive, whose uncanny knack for spotting lies helps her solve murders across America while evading danger in her 1969 Plymouth Barracuda.
Despite rave reviews and strong viewership, Poker Face’s second season came in slightly below its debut in ratings, and Peacock reportedly weren’t happy with the high production costs. Still, the series ranked among the streamer’s most-watched shows and snagged multiple award nominations, so the decision to cancel it is surprising.