If you told me that two of the “Three Amigos!” (1986) would someday solve Manhattan murder mysteries with the kid from Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” (2007), I’d say you were crazy. Then I’d say, “I’d watch that!”
The delightful Hulu comedy series “Only Murders in the Building” returns for Season 3 on Tuesday with the first two episodes dropping together before moving to weekly installments through Oct. 3 in time for Halloween.
Created by Steve Martin (“The Jerk”) and John Hoffman (“Grace & Frankie”) with Executive Producer Dan Fogelman (“This is Us”), the series follows an unlikely trio of neighbors who produce true-crime podcasts about unsolved murders at The Arconia, an affluent apartment building on the Upper West Side of New York City.
If you loved Steve Martin in Carl Reiner’s “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” (1982), you’ll enjoy him as Charles-Haden Savage, a washed-up TV actor from the cop show “Brazzos.” After an Emmy nomination in Season 1 for his cooky romance with quirky bassoon player Jan Bellows (Amy Ryan), Season 2 showed childhood flashbacks of him being neglected by his philandering father, no doubt affecting his relationship with his own daughter, Lucy (Zoe Colletti).
Meanwhile, Martin Short has earned two Emmy nominations hamming it up as struggling Broadway director Oliver Putnam, recalling Dustin Hoffman refusing to play a tomato in “Tootsie” (1982). It’s hilarious seeing the posters of his failed productions in the background like “Splash! The Musical” and “Newark Newark!” Season 2 revealed that his son, Will (Ryan Broussard), was actually fathered by neighbor Teddy Dimas (Nathan Lane).
Rounding out the trio is Selena Gomez as spoiled young artist Mabel Mora, who’s lived at The Arconia from a young age. Her dry dialogue delivery won’t be for everyone, embodying all of the cliched criticisms of aloof Millennials, but she provides a necessary smartass straight-woman to the antics of Martin & Martin. Her sarcasm thawed ever so slightly in Season 2 thanks to her romance with avant-garde artist Alice Banks (Cara Delevingne).
While the cast is stellar, the mysteries are intentionally silly with twists and turns. Season 1 explored the death of neighbor Tim Kono with Sting playing himself, Jane Lynch as Martin’s stunt double, Tina Fey as rival podcaster Cinda Canning, Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Det. Williams, and pivotal father-son scenes between Emmy-winning Nathan Lane and James Caverly, a deaf actor from D.C.’s Gallaudet University and Maryland’s Olney Theatre.
Season 2 brought them all back (behind bars, on probation), except for Sting, replaced by Amy Schumer. The central trio became suspects in the death of Arconia Board President Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell), a case involving Michael Rappaport as Det. Kreps, Shirley MacLaine as Rose Cooper, and Adina Verson as Canning’s podcast assistant, Poppy White, who factored into a finale that saw Martin hilariously move in slow motion.
Now, Season 3 adds Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd as actors in Oliver’s new play, as Rudd died on stage in the Season 2 cliffhanger. If you thought Season 2 was a bit of a slog rehashing the fresh concept of Season 1, Season 3 is a welcome shakeup of scenery with a theater whodunit like “See How They Run” (2022). The trailer also shows Gomez in a wedding dress, so we could see an homage to Martin and Short’s gem “Father of the Bride” (1991).
Speaking of Diane Keaton, I’m glad Hulu took a chance on this goofy throwback to Woody Allen’s “Manhattan Murder Mystery” (1993), which includes one of the genre’s greatest lines: “Try giving her the present.” If “Only Murders” is too cute for you, check out B.J. Novak’s “Vengeance” (2022), a more serious social commentary about our nation’s unhealthy obsession with true-crime podcasts with surprisingly deep monologues by Ashton Kutcher.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll be watching the first two episodes of Season 3 tonight!
Break a leg, folks.
