I recently concluded that I’ve never watched Steve Martin do anything that I didn’t enjoy.

By recently, I mean some time in the past couple of years, back when I started watching ‘Only Murders in the Building.’

There are few other people who fall into that category completely, but there are people who I like so much that I will usually try to give any project they do a shot because I usually enjoy them.

Ray Romano falls into that category.

I’ve watched most of what he’s done because I like him.

Lisa Kudrow is close to that category. I never watched ‘The Comeback’, but as I write this I figure maybe I should give that a shot some day. But I’m always charmed by her when I hear her in interviews, and though I was never a ‘Friends’ fanatic that always makes me appreciate the work she did on that show even more.

Anyway, when I saw there was a new show with both of them in it - ‘No Good Deed’ - it seemed like something I should watch for my first new show of the new year.

When it comes to these shows - this one is a Netflix show, like ‘Man on the Inside’, which I’ll also be mentioning here - I often go in blind. Unless I just happen upon a review or some kind of write-up about a show, or if there’s a lot of hype in general, I won’t know what the show is about when I start watching it. (If it’s clearly horror or anything that would make me too anxious, I can usually gather that and not watch it, so this strategy usually works for me.)

I think it’s important to say here that I think ‘No Good Deed’ is a pretty good show overall.

It just wasn’t for me - which I’ll explain here. (This is what I do. I mean, if you want a professional review, you can go find that. These are my thoughts about what I’m watching and I don’t claim to be an expert on anything except what I like.)

I think the best way to explain my thoughts is that ‘No Good Deed’ has a dark undertone and there’s kind of a tension through all eight episodes. Sometimes ‘Only Murders in the Building’ has some tension, but they kind of built up in me a trust that they’ll safely guide me through that tension and get me to safety. ‘No Good Deed’ didn’t build that trust with me, and in fact blatantly did not earn that trust almost immediately.

[This is not a spoiler other than a little bit for the first episode so if you want to skip this paragraph feel free:] Here’s what I mean: 20 minutes into ‘No Good Deed’ Ray Romano’s character is working at a table saw. There are two kinds of shows: One in which there is a table saw and there is an accident and one in which the table saw is just a prop in a scene. This table saw scene is not innocuous.

Another disconcerting aspect: Denis Leary plays a menacing character. (See: table saw scene) I got nervous every time he came on the screen. So good job, Denis Leary, I guess.

Actually, good job everyone. The actors are good. There were just - a lot of them. That was one thing I felt right away - there were almost too many characters. I suspected everyone would end up tying all together but I had trouble keeping everyone’s names straight and I still don’t know if you called a character by their name I could tell you which one they were. It wouldn’t have suffered if a couple were trimmed out.

A good indication of how much I like a show is whether I’m tempted to binge it. ‘Ted Lasso’ was like that - when one episode ended, I couldn’t wait for the next one. ‘Man on the Inside’ was also great - I thoroughly enjoyed each episode, but I watched it last year so it doesn’t qualify for a post in 2025. But go watch it. It’s sweet and lovely and entertaining.

But I did not feel like binge-watching ‘No Good Deed.’ In fact, after each episode I was like, “OK, that’s enough for now.” (Why did I watch all 8? Well, it was only 8 episodes, 8 days for me, and I could handle that. And like I said, it wasn’t bad. Just not for me.)

So if this show is not for me, who is it for? Well, maybe if you like ‘Only Murders in the Building’ but wish it was much darker. And less funny.

As for my Ray Romano theory, I guess he’s just not Steve Martin material. I maybe only like funny Ray Romano. Although I did very much like ‘Men of a Certain Age’, a short-lived show that dates back almost 20 years now, I’d guess, in which his character was (if I’m remembering correctly) kind of sad-sacky. He likes playing sad-sacky guys I guess. And he does it well. So maybe I’ll give his next show another shot. It just won’t be ‘No Good Deed’’s second season, which I suspect will be coming down the pipe.

Luckily, if it’s not in 2025 I won’t feel obligated to watch it.