Only Murders In The Building Gets Season 5 On Hulu, Here’s Why The Show Is Such A Hit

What makes Only Murders in the Building so popular has to do in part with the experienced comedy duo Steve Martin and Martin Short. In addition to acting in the show, Steve Martin is one of the show’s creators along with John Hoffman, a writer and producer for Grace and Frankie. Martin and Short have a long history of working together on projects, first collaborating on Three Amigos and then going on to work on SNL together as well as the Father of the Bride trilogy.

With such a dynamic pair in the mix, adding Selena Gomez is like comedy alchemy. The three are able to play off of each other, blending the wacky style that Steve Martin and Martin Short bring to the table with Gomez’s more reserved, sardonic sense of humor. While Martin and Short are older, Gomez is often the more serious character, reigning in the nutty, neurotic pair.

It’s no wonder that Only Murders in the Building is so popular, with a 97 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes for all four seasons. So far, the show has collected 49 Emmy nominations, spanning categories like Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Comedy Series.

Giving the characters so much to sink their teeth into, while allowing the actors to bring their unique flavors to the roles they play has made the series a collaborative achievement, blending the elements of a murder mystery with a satirical comedy to bring fans a well-rounded and satisfying series.

Centering on the Arconia, a fictional New York apartment building where Hollywood types live side by side with regular folks, Season 1 of Only Murders in the Building follows the exploits of an unlikely trio of podcast detectives as they investigate a murder that takes place where they live.

The three, Oliver (Martin Short), Charles (Steve Martin), and Mabel (Selena Gomez), discover that they have a common interest: solving murders. Each subsequent season of the series finds the team drawn into another mystery, taking them to Broadway for Season 3 and LA for Season 4.

Joining Martin, Short, and Gomez on Only Murders in the Building are Meryl Streep as Loretta Durkin, Jane Lynch as Charles’ stunt double, Sazz Patacki, and Michael Cyril Creighton as an eccentric resident of the Arconia who wants to join the trio on their amateur detective adventures. Tina Fey appears in the series as a rival podcast host, Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Detective Donna Williams, and Paul Rudd as Ben Glenroy, an actor in Oliver Putnam’s musical, Death Rattle.

Season 4 includes performances from Eugene Levy as himself playing Charles, Zach Galifianakis as himself playing Oliver, and Eva Longoria as herself playing Mabel. Now that Only Murders in the Building, available through Hulu, has been renewed through its fifth season, there’s no telling how crazy their adventures will get.