# Only Murders in the Building **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, disney-hulu\ **Created:** [September 6, 2021, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152 "2021-09-06T00:37:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/1 "2021-09-06T00:37:20Z")
Anybody watching? Just finished the second episode, and enjoying it so far. It’s interesting. It’s more drama than comedy, and very character driven. Steve Martin is the straight man here, and Martin Short as a flamboyant but unsuccessful Broadway director is more sad than funny, in my opinion. Looking forward to seeing where it all leads. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/2 "2021-09-06T00:40:52Z")
Watched the first two today myself. I’d say it’s pretty evenly balanced between comedy and drama; the stuff featuring Mabel (Selena Gomez’s character) has skewed heavily toward the dramatic, while the scenes with Charles and Oliver (Martin and Short) have been much funnier. Definitely looking forward to learning more about these characters; I get the feeling that Charles is hiding things. That verbatim quote from his show can’t just be because he wrote it. Mabel will be fascinating to learn more about. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/3 "2021-09-06T00:52:53Z")
My comment from another thread: > [@Series you've recently watched, are now watching or have given up on](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/265): > > I had watched one at the time of my first post and all three so far now. It isn’t bad. Much less comedic than I expected, given the leads. Each of the three are given mysterious/complicated pasts of their own that are being revealed more centrally to the story than the actual murder mystery, which is almost just a MacGuffin. It has elements of what I’m not sure what to call it-- not quite “magical realism” because it (probably) doesn’t happen from the character’s POV and is seen only by the aud… ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/4 "2021-09-06T01:33:55Z")
I was wondering whether to try it, and this thread convinced me to give it a look. I just finished Ep 1 and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s tempting to keep watching, but I’ll try to pace myself. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/5 "2021-09-06T09:22:01Z")
I really like it. The tone is right up my street. I find Martin Short can be hard to take sometimes, but here he seems to be playing into his stereotype when he’s being a flamboyant theatre Director, and extremely affecting when he plays it more straight about a serious topic. I’m unfamiliar with Selena Gomez aside from recognising her name as some kind of teen star, but she’s not what I would’ve expected. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/6 "2021-09-06T12:16:15Z")
My wife and I have watched the first few episodes. I’ve been enjoying it, my wife not as much. It’s a real love letter to the city of New York; it’s practically the 4th major character. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > I’m unfamiliar with Selena Gomez aside from recognising her name as some kind of teen star, but she’s not what I would’ve expected. Yeah, she has a very deadpan delivery that I wouldn’t have expected. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/7 "2021-09-06T16:51:51Z")
I watched the first three episodes yesterday, and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I always love Martin Short, but Steve Martin can be hit-or-miss for me. So far, though, I’m loving all of the characters and the show itself. For me, it’s striking the right balance between drama, broad comedy, and fantasy (though I could do without a reprise of the _A Chorus Line_ bit: once was funny, twice was too much). I’m looking forward to E4 today. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/8 "2021-09-07T05:33:31Z")
I’m loving it! I love a whodunnit. Martin Short is very funny. I wish Mabel didn’t have a secret about Tim and they were all in this organically but oh well. This is Steve Martin’s first TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/9 "2021-09-07T14:07:46Z")
I thought that Sting’s appearance in the third episode was going to be the extent of it, but he was also in last night’s fourth episode. And the mystery continues. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/10 "2021-09-07T15:03:55Z")
I’ve watched the first two eps, the third only dropped today on Disney + (in Europe). Apparently we’re a week behind. The show is comfortable entertainment, which is probably intentional given its reference to true crime podcasts and cosy mysteries. The writers very slyly dropped enough mystery in the story up to now to make me keep watching. It reminded me a bit of _Russian Doll_, which is probably only because (as @solost said) NY is quite prominently present in the background. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/11 "2021-09-07T15:15:45Z")
I hope that this is a fair play mystery. I’m watching for clues, and I would really hate an out of left field solution…. Though I’m not discounting the possibility it was suicide, and the real mystery is why. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/12 "2021-09-07T20:16:22Z")
So Steve Martin mentions _Roxanne_ (the song, not the movie, but…) Deliberate easter egg? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/13 "2021-09-08T06:31:36Z")
Just watched episode 4 and still liking it a lot. A question: so far it seems like the “Cinda Canning” character is recurring. That being the case, why isn’t Tina Fey being given significant billing? Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez are all big draws, but Tina Fey is at least as much of a reason to watch something. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/14 "2021-09-08T06:40:11Z")
I have never found Martin Short funny in anything. His characters nearly always seem to have a cringeworthy sadness about them. Having said that, on episode 3 so far and it is mostly enjoyable, so will give it another episode. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/15 "2021-09-08T07:05:27Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > I have never found Martin Short funny in anything. His characters nearly always seem to have a cringeworthy sadness about them. Definitely true in this show, but that’s okay - I don’t think we’re intended to see his character as lightheartedly amusing with no depth. He is supposed to have a strong element of “cringeworthy sadness” about him. Which he unquestionably does. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/16 "2021-09-08T12:21:18Z")
Did you guys catch the Cinda Canning-related plot twist in ep 4? It was a quick scene so it was kind of easy to miss: In a flash-forward (a caption said ‘x’ months later-- didn’t catch the exact # of months) Cinda is talking on her podcast about her upcoming podcast subject, which will involve the Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez characters, and be called “Only Murder_ **er** _s in the Building”. The investigators become the investigatees! ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/17 "2021-09-08T12:24:27Z")
Re: Episode 4 (possible spoiler ahead) One thing that had been bugging me about the Mabel character and her secret history with Tim Kono was that neither of the Martins recognized her from the past as being a child around the building, or acknowledged the girl falling to her death 10 years ago. It would seem that anyone living in the building would have a sense of that history. So, it was refreshing to have Martin Short’s son talk about that history, as if it were common knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/18 "2021-09-08T13:21:46Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Did you guys catch the Cinda Canning-related plot twist in ep 4? Remember the flash-forward scene at the very start of the pilot? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/19 "2021-09-08T13:23:49Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Remember the flash-forward scene at the very start of the pilot? No, actually I don’t. I’ll have to go back and rewatch the beginning, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152/20 "2021-09-14T19:31:18Z")
Episode 5 was a fun one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-murders-in-the-building/950152.md?page=2)