Based on a True Story is an American dark comedy thriller television series created by Craig Rosenberg, starring Kaley Cuoco, Chris Messina, and Tom Bateman. The series premiered on Peacock on June 8, 2023. In October 2023, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on November 21, 2024. In April 2025, the series was canceled after two seasons.
Contents
Cast and characters
Main
Kaley Cuoco as Ava Bartlett, a pregnant real estate agent who is passionate about true crime
Chris Messina as Nathan Bartlett, Ava's husband and a tennis coach at the Beverly Club who used to be a famous tennis player before a career-ending knee injury
Tom Bateman as Matt Pierce, a plumber who befriends Nathan
Priscilla Quintana as Ruby Gale (season 1; guest season 2), Ava's affluent friend
Liana Liberato as Tory Thompson, a pre-law student and Ava's younger sister who lives with her and Nathan
Natalia Dyer as Chloe Lake (season 1), a bartender who catches the eye of Matt and Nathan at a bar one night
Recurring
Li Jun Li as Michelle (season 1), Nathan's colleague at the country club who briefly dates Matt
Annabelle Dexter-Jones as Serena, one of Ava's best friends
Aisha Alfa as Carolyn, another of Ava's best friends
Alex Alomar Akpobome as Ryan (season 1), a client of Ava's who is looking to buy a mansion
June Diane Raphael as Romy Lipinski, one of the hosts of the Sisters in Crime podcast
Brandon Keener as Paul (season 1), Serena's husband
Miles Mussenden as Detective Quincy Burrell (season 1)
Jessica St. Clair as Rochelle Lipinski, the other host of the Sisters in Crime podcast
Aaron Staton as Simon, Ruby's husband with whom she has an open marriage
Sebastian Quinn as Carlos (season 1), Ruby's paramour
Kellen Patino as Ollie, Matt's young son
Melissa Fumero as Drew/Olivia Carter (season 2), a single mother whom Ava befriends
Sara Paxton as Paige (season 2), Chloe's sister
Guest
Pierson Fodé as Jamie (season 1), Chloe's date
Timm Sharp as Richard (season 1), Carolyn's husband
Yvonne Senat Jones as Detective Jessie Peterson (season 1)
Lizze Broadway as Dahlia Stone (season 1)
Ever Carradine as Melissa Lake (season 1), Chloe's mother
Claire Holt as a TV writer (season 1)
George Sear as Jacob (season 1), Tory's Bumble date
Kingston Rumi Southwick as Jaden (season 2), a teenager whom Nathan coaches for a tennis match
Stephanie Allynne as Christa (season 2), Jaden's socialite mother
Casey Wilson as Boobie Bev (season 2), the host of a popular breastfeeding podcast
Briana Cuoco as a park mom (season 2)
Josh Stamberg as Danny Merrick (season 2), a famous tennis player and Nathan's rival
Joe Williamson as Detective Drew Stephens (season 2)
Willa Holland as Matt's stepmother (season 2), whom he murdered when he was younger
Episodes
Production
In April 2022, it was announced that Peacock had given a straight-to-series order to a comedy thriller series created by Craig Rosenberg and Jason Bateman. In August, it was announced that Kaley Cuoco had joined the main cast as a realtor, Ava Bartlett. In October, it was announced that Chris Messina had been cast as Nathan, the husband of Ava, with additional casting including Tom Bateman, Liana Liberato, Priscilla Quintana, Natalia Dyer, and Li Jun Li announced the following month. In October 2023, Peacock renewed the series for a second season. In March 2024, Rosenberg had been replaced by Annie Weisman as showrunner for the second season. He still remained as an executive producer, but he wanted to pursue other projects as well.
The series was executive produced by Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan through Aggregate Films, and Craig Rosenberg. Roxie Rodriguez served as co-executive producer for Aggregate Films. Production companies for the series include Aggregate Films and Universal Content Productions.
Release
All eight episodes of the first season were released to stream on Peacock on June 8, 2023. The eight-episode second season was released on November 21, 2024.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating for the first season of 74% based on 50 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "True crime enthusiasts have been satirized more sharply, but engaging leads and a lightly humorous touch make Based on a True Story worth investigating." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 59 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
The second season has an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 12 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10.
