Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steven Martin in a scene from “Only Murders in the Building” 2021. IMDb photo
How do you get viewers to watch a comedy with a dumb title? Just tell them Martin Short and Steve Martin star in it. Done.
SERIES INFO
‘ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING’
Comedy, crime, drama
Three strangers who share an obsession with true crime suddenly find themselves caught up in one.
Creators: John Hoffman, Steve Martin
Stars: Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez
Into this streaming comedy series, add Selena Gomez (“Wizards of Waverly Place,” “Hotel Transylvania”) to the mix. Now you’ve got them hooked.
With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 100 and audience score of 97, Hulu smells a hit.
“Only Murders” is about to become the hot new hit on Hulu and give the streaming service with the funny name some respect.
Welcome to the Arconia.
We meet three characters who live in the same building on different floors, in the old, once-upon-a-time fashionable Arconia apartment building, now teetering on ancient legs, full of carpeted hallways, mysterious corners, mahogany doors. Think “Rosemary’s Baby”.
The Arconia is a stately building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. ( This reviewer’s old neighborhood) that houses the once famous Broadway names, now on Actors’ Equity pensions.
If you’ve tuned in, it’s because of the three stars.
Charles, (Steve Martin) once a famous television detective, is having social agoraphobia and living on residuals.
Oliver, (Martin Short) a former famous schlock Broadway director, who is famous for producing “Splash,” a musical where he had eight dancers dive into an on-stage swimming pool sans water quickly becomes the biggest presence.
Mabel, (Selena Gomez) a smoky, cynical artist with a background full of mysteries, lives just upstairs from the boys but soon falls into their world.
The opening scene bursts open with armed men storming the building with Charles and Oliver searching frantically for Mabel.
Cut to the streets of Manhattan and it’s two months earlier and we view the three meeting in an elevator as it’s any ordinary day.
That is until someone pulls the fire alarm, throwing the kit and caboodle into the street.
When our trio all end up in a nearby restaurant, our stars clandestinely find seats at the same booth and start comparing notes.
Wouldn’t you know they’re all mystery fans?
Returning to the front doors, the apartment’s doorman informs them a suicide has occurred.
Who? Tim Kono of course (Julian Cihi) has put a bullet in his ear. We’re gonna learn more about him very soon, including some dope from Tim himself.
As comic stars and mystery buffs will do, Charles and Oliver decide to create a mystery podcast and make some dough off this mishap.
Mabel is reluctant, but she, like all of us, is seduced by the charm and wit of Charles and Oliver.
“Only Murders in the Building” is opening with four segments of the first of the series and will continue each Tuesday night thereafter.
Is it worth waiting for? Yes, especially when one of the tenants is the great Nathan Lane, as a wealthy producer who lives with a deaf son (is it his son?)
Keep an eye peeled for guest drop ins, like very funny Tina Fey conducting her own mystery podcast
And wait a minute, wait a minute. Isn’t that the great music genius Sting in the elevator, having his $500 boots licked by Oliver’s bulldog? Yes, it is, and he’ll be back, and who knows who’ll join him?
“Only Murders in the Building” currently streams on Hulu.
J.P. Devine of Waterville is a former stage and screen actor.
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