Only Murders in the Building

Gomez gets a lot of good dialogue and nails it every time.

A splendidly funny, involving and one might even say youthful series. ... The parts fit the players so well that one would suppose each had designed his own.

Only Murders in the Building feels fresh and interesting and you should absolutely watch every new episode as it drops on Hulu (or Disney+ if you’re reading this from outside the U.S.).

"Only Murders in the Building" works because it embraces such entrancing details, but even more so because its creators recognize what grants any piece of art the potential to become classic: it's in the marriage of old and new. ... Any show can string together a decent whodunnit, but examining loneliness as a universal mystery is the more captivating concept enriching the three-part harmony wrought by Gomez, Martin and Short's combined performances.

The plot is satisfyingly twisty and engaging, and our heroes all feel wholly three-dimensional in short order. ... Prepare for these to become your new favorite weirdos, and Only Murders to become your new addiction.

A credit to the deft balance of comedy, mystery, and natural development written on the page, but the fact that “Only Murders in the Building” is comfort TV at its most comfortable brings us back to its meticulously constructed world.

Only Murders In The Building engenders curiosity, first and foremost, whether it’s about your neighbors, what’s in the cultural zeitgeist (be it a podcast or the latest murder mystery show), or why someone might keep others at arm’s length. If you find personal revelations as thrilling as the resolution of a crime, it could even become your next TV obsession.

Though the characters like to complicate things, Only Murders in the Building itself keeps things simple; it’s a pleasant and enjoyable series that’s clearly made with a lot of heart.

This ten-episode charmer, streaming on Hulu, is a fine sendup of media culture, in particular the true-crime genre. ... No deep feelings are stirred, yet the laughs come steadily, especially because of Short, a master at embodying the helpless narcissism of Broadway’s show-biz denizens.

It’s the most affectionate of whodunits, set in a snow globe of New York City. This truffle of a show needs no trigger warnings.

Only Murders in the Building is a trifle. Each episode is a mere 30 minutes or so and largely given over to scenes in which Martin and Short bounce off one another. But it’s a bonbon that goes down a treat and is packed with sugar-spun cameos.

In pitting Martin and Short’s established routine opposite her [Selena Gomez's] wild-card casting, the show evolves from a straightforward parody of true-crime podcasts and their devoted listeners into a goofy yet endearing examination of the generational divide. ... The detective work is satisfying, but watching the investigation force the characters to reveal themselves and build an unanticipated bond is the real reward.

“Only Murders” delights in its many (rather predictable) twists, but moreso in the chemistry between its three leads. ... The intricacies of the people and setting of “Only Murders” are what ultimately make the show such a pleasure to dive into, and so easy to marathon without necessarily intending to.

Effectively, but not effortlessly — you can still sense the moments where Only Murders works better in concept than in execution, the places it leaps and then lands with a bit of a wobble. But its flaws do not make it any less charming. For a show that seems born out of the spirit of “wouldn’t it be fun?”, the answer is clearly “yes.”

It’s just about as funny and charming as one would expect from a murder mystery involving Steve Martin, Martin Short, and an inspired addition to the duo’s renowned comic chemistry, Selena Gomez.

Ultimately Only Murders in the Building doesn’t break new ground so much as it deftly embraces what makes the mystery genre so universally compelling.

Their collective sleuthing is focused on unraveling the show’s central mystery, but there’s so much more going on that manages to be deeply, movingly serious. Ultimately “Only Murders in the Building” is an investigation of friendship. And grief. And regret.

As a writer, Martin has always exhibited eclectic tastes, and "Only Murders" reflects a playful extension of those sensibilities.

A whip-smart and wryly observational gem.

Escapist and sweet, it has the same engrossing appeal as the podcasts the characters love so much.

It’s all more a series of chuckles and surprises than farcical big laughs, with only as much melodramatic menace as Woody Allen’s similar “Manhattan Murder Mystery.” But this trio clicks, and everything “Only Murders in the Building” lightly mocks — New York living, New Yorkers, modern “relationships,” podcasters, podcast fanatics, snooty celebrities, snootier wannabes — is funny because we’ve been laughing at this or that for decades.

It’s a little bit Rear Window, a little bit Manhattan Murder Mystery — and a lot of fun, actually.

Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez turn DIY true crime investigators in Hulu's delightfully droll new series.

Only Murders delivers above-average laughs, a clever mystery, and a starry cast. But it's hard to shake the feeling that the show missed an opportunity to be something special, if only Martin and Hoffman had allowed it to be a little less kooky and a little more thinky.

It won’t expand your mind or change your life, but it might temporarily lower your blood pressure a few points.

It’s a breezy, warm, largely forgettable, but generally enjoyable mystery set in a city of strangers who are just waiting to be sleuths.

A pleasant, fizzy trifle with dashes of semi-compatible substance.

It’s a cute, novel trifle that could have used some punching up but worth watching for its comedy legend stars.

It’s disappointing that they sometimes feel constrained by the writing that forces them to repeat the same character beats since they’re capable of so much more, but there are just enough times that they break through their confines and produce genuine, character-driven laughs. Every episode of “Only Murders in the Building” has just enough unexpected humor to keep it moving.

Fitfully amusing. ... Series cocreator Steve Martin is the most endearing as Charles. ... Martin Short has the most fun. ... Selena Gomez deadpans effectively but often deadens the pace of an overlong misadventure that might have made a snappier movie. [13 - 26 Sep 2021, p.17]

For a series about obsession, Only Murders in the Building has curiously shallow hold on one’s attention. Like the true crime podcasts that inspired it, the show appears to be figuring things out as it goes. Whether or not you’re along for the ride depends on one’s affinity for the performers – and how much time you’re willing to invest on a mild, moderately rewarding journey.

All of those seasoned performers provide moments of pleasure, and the various narrative threads play out with polished proficiency. But “Only Murders” doesn’t gel into something beyond the ordinary. Part of the problem is the time devoted to the show’s sentimental side ... That material takes some of the life out of what’s otherwise a slight but charming comedy, and it doesn’t do any favors to Martin, whose performance is a little dour and closed off, or to Gomez, who looks uncomfortable and occasionally terrified.