Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez investigate Only Murders In The Building for Hulu

Aiming at that New Yorker tote demo, Selena Gomez join Martin Short and Steve Martin in an Upper West Side comedy

By Matt Schimkowitz | June 23, 2021 | 1:45am

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Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez investigate Only Murders In The Building for Hulu

Martin Short, Selena Gomez, and Steve Martin Screenshot: Hulu

Perhaps tired of their song and dance show, Steve Martin and Martin Short are picking up Selena Gomez and heading for New York City’s Upper West Side. “From the comedic mind of Steve Martin,” Only Murders In The Building, a new murder mystery comedy series for Hulu, lives up to its New Yorker-esque poster, with a typeface that matches the magazine and a smattering of round Fran Lebowitz glasses. Still, like an issue of the New Yorker, the show does look inviting.

Here’s the synopsis:

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From the minds of Steve Martin, Dan Fogelman and John Hoffman comes a comedic murder-mystery series for the ages. “Only Murders In The Building” follows three strangers (Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. As they record a podcast of their own to document the case, the three unravel the complex secrets of the building which stretch back years. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living amongst them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it’s too late.

You know what, sure. Maybe we’re getting soft in our old age, but it’s nice to see Steve Martin and Martin Short in this mode again, mixing it up in a high-concept broad comedy with a third wildcard. In this case, they finally went ahead and replaced Chevy Chase with Selena Gomez—something fans have been clamoring for. Nevertheless, it’s hard not to be charmed by these doofuses doofus-ing it up, even if it only elicits a couple of chuckles and a call from your parents about how nice the show is. It does look nice, mom.

Only Murders In The Building debuts on Hulu on August 31.