In the midst of revivals and reboots, Only Murders in the Building, a new Hulu original series, is exactly the fresh and engaging content we need to add to our entertainment roster. This suspenseful and comedic murder mystery series successfully combines new and trending interests such as true crime podcasts with old fascinations such as the hidden lives of New York City’s inhabitants much in the same way its starring actors Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez draw in audiences from either side of the generational bridge as they investigate a murder in their own apartment building.
Only Murders in the Building was created by John Hoffman and Steve Martin, who serves double duty as one of the show’s main characters. Martin plays Charles Haden-Savage, a washed-up TV detective who commonly blurs the line between fact and fiction as a product of his seemingly perpetual loner status. Martin’s frequent on-screen partner Martin Short plays Oliver Putnam, an older, out-of-work theatrical director with a personality rivaling the Broadway shows of his professional aspirations. To round out the group, Selena Gomez plays Mabel, the guarded outsider with a true crime obsession that may hit a little too close to home for her.
The show takes place in modern day with brief flashbacks to give more background to each of the three main characters and to their connection or lack thereof to the victim, notoriously disliked apartment building resident Tim Kono. Its opening scene gives the audience a sneak peek at the climax of the show. It draws you in and sets the suspenseful tone before backtracking to two months prior in order to introduce the characters and trace the murder mystery back to its origin. It was a strong choice to start the series in this way. It establishes the show as a thriller, despite the possible opposing expectations that come along with watching Martin and Short together on the big screen.
A show like this comes at a very fitting time. Appropriately named, Only Murders in the Building primarily takes place within the walls of their shared apartment building, the Arcadia. While perhaps not an intentional choice, this confined setting is relatable to everyone in the real world who is now no stranger to the words “quarantine” and “lockdown.” Staying in our houses or apartments, whether passing the time with true crime podcasts or not, has been a natural setting for us. That’s what makes a show set almost entirely in one building successful and requires little to no suspension of disbelief on the audience’s part. The elements of mystery and adventure and discovering what secrets these neighbors are keeping behind their closed doors gives us that small sense of adventure that after lockdown we all crave to some degree. Therefore, this show is so uniquely fitted to the world in 2021 without having to resort to COVID-specific storylines or influence like many other television shows have done.
This story’s premise and script, while littered with a bit more expletives than is truly necessary to ensure a modern-day city feel, is one that allows each character to shine individually and complement as a team, garnering the show its wide-spread appeal.
The primary marketing appeal for this show is the celebrity cast. Martin, Short, and Gomez are the hook for this show and its suspenseful storyline is just juicy enough to reel you in for a taste and leave you wanting more. The show’s intense storyline is broken up and balanced with lighthearted comedic banter from Martin and Short and well-timed sarcasm from Gomez that would make Alex Russo, her most well-known character from her Disney channel days, proud.
Martin is known for his leading roles in classic comedies like The Jerk, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther, Father of the Bride, and many more. Coming from the same generation, with a complementary acting style to Martin, Short is known for his roles in a variety of work from Santa Clause 3 to Three Amigos! and Father of the Bride, both alongside Martin, to voice acting in Big Mouth and The Addams Family, to recently as Dick Lundy in The Morning Show. Gomez, being the younger and more sarcastic voice for the show, is known for her early role as Alex Russo on Wizards of Waverly Place, movies such as Ramona and Beezus, Monte Carlo, Spring Breakers, The Fundamentals of Caring, Hotel Transylvania and its sequels, in addition to a highly successful and lengthy music career and other business ventures.
This trio seems highly unexpected until you see the natural chemistry they have with each other. It could be due to good writing, but it also seems likely due to kinetic comedic improvisation and the energy that feeds off those interactions. Martin and Short’s strong connection is to be expected coming into this show, and it’s not until Gomez’s interactions with them that the audience realizes what the older duo’s connection lacks to stay current and relevant. Gomez’s character’s Millennial-centric outlook gives the two the 21st century reality check many multi-generational families or friendships can understand and appreciate.
When Martin’s character spends entirely too long on trying to figure out whether “Dear Mabel” or “Greetings Mabel” is the most appropriate for a text message and signs off his text message with a salutation and his name, it’s Gomez’s character that reminds him, in an all-lowercase quick response, that she knows its him by the contact name. He doesn’t need to sign all his texts with his full name, an experience almost everyone has been on one side or the other for in today’s tech-savvy age.
While Martin and Short are bantering over the correct pronunciation and syllable stress to use for the opening line for their newly hatched podcast, Gomez is doing the dirty work of digging through the apartment’s trash. In more ways than one, her character keeps the show and her two scene partners grounded in the story while hiding some of the mystery’s much-needed hints.
And if all that’s not enough to draw you in, there’s also Sting, frozen cats, stolen jewels, and a Hardy Boys obsession. To get those references, watch the first several episodes of season 1. New episodes of Only Murders in the Building are added to Hulu every Tuesday.