Renee Zellweger in The Thing About Pam at the Whitby Hotel

Her spindly legs over sky high heels, Renee Zellweger, both star and a producer on NBC’s series The Thing About Pam, commanded the stage at the Whitby Hotel this week after a screening of the first two episodes of the 6-part series. Based on a true-life crime podcast, already well known, about a 2011 murder in small-town Troy, Missouri, The Thing About Pam is so tongue-in-cheek, you have to laugh at the shenanigans of bungling law enforcement and grieving citizens, as a beloved wife and mom—and daughter—is found dead of multiple knife wounds in her living room. The two-time Academy Award winning actress plays Pam, hardly recognizable with her pudgy face and physique, her legs like elephant trunks, who slurps endlessly on a giant sugary beverage further sweetened with cherry syrup. The camera can’t get enough of her fat face and squinty eyes as she figures out her next shady moves.

The excellent supporting cast includes a flawless Judy Greer, handsome and charming Josh Duhamel, and a scene stealing Celia Weston. A character actor of note, Weston plays Pam’s mother and in the space of a minute she delivers a zinger that lets you know instantly how Pam became the scheming Pam. Kudos to Zellweger and showrunner Jenny Klein who not only worked well together, but did the work to delve into the deeper recesses of the manners, tics, and psychology of these characters. It’s all in the drink—and as the Whitby bartender served up sparkling waters in large slurp-worthy containers, he reminded everyone to take a straw.