Murder, he wrote: Huge stars join Steve Martin’s whacky whodunnit
By Debi Enker
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last year, actor, producer, author, comedian, musician, artist and cartoonist Steve Martin suggested that Only Murders in the Building might be his screen swansong. “When this television show is done, I’m not going to seek others. I’m not going to seek other movies. I don’t want to do cameos. This is, weirdly, it.”
Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short, the three amigos of the whimsical and nutty Only Murders in the Building, which has just returned for a third season.Credit: Caitlin Cronenberg/Hulu
Given the 77-year-old’s prodigious talent and seemingly bottomless reservoir of delightfully off-beat yet spot-on ideas, that seems unlikely. Yet if the award-winning comedy-murder-mystery, a sparkling spin on the traditional whodunnit, is his last TV production, it would be a fitting finale.
For starters, the jewel-coloured caper, set in a Manhattan apartment complex, again teams Martin with his long-time friend and collaborator, Martin Short. They first worked together in 1986 on Three Amigos! and since then have co-starred in a variety of productions, while also touring since 2015 with a succession of two-man stage shows.
Martin quit the stand-up circuit in 1981, when he was one of the biggest drawcards in the business. Reflecting on his friend’s transition from stand-up star to box-office attraction, Short observed, “I think Steve learned the joy of collaboration. All through his stand-up life, he was by himself. Now, when he has success, he can celebrate with someone. And when something bombs, he can really laugh about it, as opposed to just being alone with it.”
Only Murders sprang from an idea of Martin’s that came up during a lunch conversation with producer Dan Fogelman (This is Us). Originally it involved three ageing male amateur sleuths who try to solve killings in their apartment block. Fogelman liked the idea and brought in writer-producer John Hoffman (Grace and Frankie) to develop it with Martin. The three male characters subsequently became two and were joined by a younger woman, with Selena Gomez becoming the third amigo.
At the start of the series, these residents of the Arconia, a sprawling Beaux Arts building on the Upper West Side, are lonely strangers. Reclusive former TV star Charles-Hayden Savage (Martin), flamboyant failed Broadway producer Oliver Putnam (Short) and artist Mabel Mora (Gomez) are initially united by their passion for the true-crime podcasts hosted by Cinda Canning (Tina Fey).
The third season of Only Murders in the Building ventures outside of the Arconia apartment block, to Broadway where producer Oliver (Martin Short, left) has a shot at redemption after the failure of a musical version of Splash!Credit: Patrick Harbron/Hulu
Then comes the discovery that they all shared an elevator with fellow resident Tim Kono (Julian Cihi) before he met his untimely death. And so a quirky band of self-appointed detectives is born and Oliver, sensing a business opportunity and desperately needing money to prevent eviction from his apartment, turns their adventures into a podcast.
Playfully toying with the tropes of the genre, the series expands the classic locked-room whodunit into an entire apartment building while presenting an array of quirky characters and nutty plot twists. Graced by snappy one-liners and zinging with pop-culture references, it surrounds the central trio with a winning assortment of family members, romantic interests and fellow residents, the latter including the wily, wonderfully grumpy Uma (Jackie Hoffman) and pernickety cat-lover Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton).
It’s also boosted by a glittering parade of guest stars that includes Nathan Lane, Jane Lynch, Amy Ryan and Shirley MacLaine. One gets the impression of a troupe of eager friends and admirers of Only Murders waiting in the wings for an invitation to join the cast and cut loose with their own eccentric character.
And when they pop up, like Lane’s spiky deli owner or Ryan’s murderous bassoonist, they seem to be having a fine time. That carries through to the new third season, in which Matthew Broderick drops in to play himself and delivers another in the series’ knowing and hilarious spoofs of actors.
Through the first season, Charles, Oliver and Mabel grow into a de-facto family, coming to understand and rely on each other. “Our trio is the heart of everything and the reason for the success of this show,” showrunner John Hoffman has said. “The emotional stories for our three main characters, that is our true connective tissue.”
One of the series’ strengths is the undercurrent of emotion that runs beneath the madcap antics, and it’s anchored in the idea that these loners, each with their own private pain and regrets, have found a loving and accepting place, and a sense of purpose, in a surrogate family. “We dig underneath everything to find love in the most unexpected places and redemption, truth and justice for victims and people who have had hard times,” Hoffman has explained. He’s also justifiably noted that “there are unknowns that catch you off-guard emotionally”.
In season two, as this Scooby gang investigates the death of Arconia board president Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell), the idea of family is expanded, developing Oliver’s relationship with his estranged son, detailing Charles’ separation from a girl he came to love like a daughter, a storyline that explains his obsessive omelette-making, and revealing Mabel’s anguish about her father’s death.
The 10-part third season finds Mabel at crossroads: her aunt is selling the apartment that she’s been living in and renovating, and she worries that she’s yet to find her direction in life. Charles is happily involved with make-up artist Joy (Andrea Martin), until she moves in with him. And Oliver, capitalising on his new-found podcast fame, has been released from “Broadway jail” following years in exile after the disaster of a musical version of Splash! He’s at work on his next extravaganza with his customary enthusiasm and Howard as his assistant. It’s to be a murder mystery set in a lighthouse on a remote Nova Scotia island and the prime suspect is a baby. Yes, really.
Sting was one of the many notable guest stars and cameos in season one of Only Murders in the Building.Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu
A casting call unearths the long-neglected talent of Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep), whose audition for the nanny is a revelation. Charles has been cast as a cop and the leading man is Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd), the most recent resident of the Arconia penthouse previously occupied by Sting and then Amy Schumer. Ben is the self-absorbed star of a movie franchise, CoBro, in which, as he explains to Loretta without a hint of irony, he plays “the friendly zoologist who morphs into a 20-foot cobra and helps the cops save the day”.
Much of the new season is set in the Goosebury Theatre, where the hijinks surrounding Oliver’s play unfold, and it’s infused by a love of the stage and particularly the bright lights of Broadway as it details the traditions and superstitions of theatre folk. These include “the white room” (sheer terror causing blackouts on stage), ghost lights (which must stay on at all times), patter songs (with rhyming lyrics delivered in rapid-fire tempo) and sitzprobe (the first cast rehearsal with an orchestra). This all feels entirely appropriate as the series’ cast has featured stage veterans such as Hoffman, Creighton and Houdyshell.
Meanwhile there’s conflict in the de-facto family and the relationship between Oliver and Loretta develops in ways that allow for some wonderful scenes between Short and Streep. In a few scenes where Oliver reveals his ugly side, Short is extremely convincing and deeply unsettling given the series’ generally upbeat tone.
It’s hard to imagine Martin quietly bowing out, putting down his pen or, in the case of Charles Haden-Savage, his omelette pan. “I just want to deliver entertainment,” he’s said. “I want them to go, ‘Oh, that was so good.’ That’s what I’m after.” Whatever happens beyond the third season of this beautifully crafted romp, mission accomplished.
Only Murders in the Building (season three) is on Disney+.
Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.