‘Only Murders in the Building’ Cast and Creator on Season 4’s Bold New Direction

Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez are back with another intriguing murder mystery in the fourth season of their popular Hulu comedy, Only Murders in the Building.

This season, the beloved trio ventures beyond their New York apartment building, setting the stage for new adventures in Los Angeles during the premiere episode. This change of scenery marks a first for the comedy series, known for its New York roots.

At Thursday’s Hollywood premiere at Paramount Studios, the show’s cast and showrunner John Hoffman discussed the exciting expansions they’ve made in this season.

“Obviously, we have a great cast and we are going to Hollywood,” said Gomez, expressing her excitement about the new direction. “It was fun to shoot here for a blink of a second.”

Martin also reflected on the shoot, sharing, “It was so much fun coming out here to shoot … where I grew up and [Short] lived here for so many years.”

Hoffman elaborated on the season’s premise, revealing that this time the victim is a Hollywood stunt double. The trio’s successful podcast brings even more attention their way. “It didn’t feel like too far a leap to think that Hollywood might be tapping at their door to make an adaptation,” Hoffman explained. “So all of that felt like a good reason to come to Hollywood for a moment, but take it right back to New York because we are a definite New York show, and it will always be that.”

The season also breaks new ground with an experimental episode shot entirely on cell phones, security cameras, and other unconventional devices.

“It was really fun, because it was real mini cameras, iPhones, and hidden cameras,” Martin said, describing the unique filming techniques used in episode six. “And it was really fun because once you’ve got it, you’ve got it.”

Hoffman added more context, saying, “Episode six is our sort of more experimental leap we took, which basically sprung from a season in all forms of looking at film and movies and what they’ve done.” He continued, “Films have only been around for a little over a hundred years, so I thought, let’s experiment with an episode that is all through cameras, and let’s see what that feels like.”

Martin added with a laugh, “The sloppier it is the kind of better, which fits in with Marty’s performance style. No, we had a good time shooting those scenes.”

One notable moment comes from Michael Cyril Creighton, who plays Howard Morris. For part of the episode, he serves as the cameraman, filming with an iPhone.

Creighton shared his experience: “For one scene, I actually am the cameraman. And there are a couple of scenes where the camera is on me and I do flip the camera, but for the most part, it was doing a dance with one of our incredible camera operators, Dan.”

Initially, Creighton had reservations about how the experimental episode would come together. “We would shoot every scene three or four different ways, and it was wild,” he said. “I had no idea how they were going to pull it off, and then when I saw it, I was amazed. The vision of the director, the editors, the writers, it came to life in a really good way.”

Hoffman echoed this sentiment, stating, “Everyone took to it. And it does give a bit of a jolt to the season in some way that feels different for the show.”

The fourth season of Only Murders in the Building premieres on Hulu on August 27, with new episodes dropping weekly thereafter.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Hulu