Steve Martin
Charles-Haden Savage
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Episode Guide
- 10. Opening Night Oct 3, 2023
- As the musical thrills its audience, the trio brave further twists from all around the stage.
- 9. Thirty Sep 26, 2023
- The trio have amassed a plethora of clues, suspects and theories but find no concrete answers.
- 8. Sitzprobe Sep 19, 2023
- The pressure mounts; a familiar official returns; Charles must finally sing his number.
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Aug 31, 2021 · True Crime: Directed by Jamie Babbit. With Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Aaron Dominguez. Upper West Side neighbors Charles, Oliver and Mabel bond over a shared love of true crime. When a fellow resident dies in their building, the trio determine to solve the mystery and record an accompanying podcast.
- (5.7K)
- Jamie Babbit
- TV-MA
- Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Overview
- Full Summary
- Cast
- Notes and Trivia
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"True Crime" is the first episode of the first season of Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short. It originally aired on August 31, 2021, alongside the series second and third episodes.
An emergency services unit enters the Arconia and makes their way upstairs. They exit the elevator and tell the residents to close their doors and stay inside their apartments. They use a battering ram to open a door.
Oliver Putnam and Charles-Haden Savage panic as they run down the stairs, saying they have to get her. They enter Mabel Mora's apartment, where they find her kneeling over a dead body. She says it's not what they think.
Two Months Earlier
Charles walks through the city as his voiceover talks about people who worry about living in a big city because of the crime. Any true crime aficionado can tell you it's the boondocks you should worry about. Nobody every discovered 19 bodies buried in the back of a 14th story apartment building. Eyes are on you all the time. As Charles talks about New Yorkers having a special way of communicating, he tips his hat to Uma Heller, who gives him the finger in response. People are packed in tightly on top of each other, like those who live in the Arconia. A guy on the street, Kev, recognizes Charles. Charles confirms that he's Brazzos. Kev used to watch the show with his dad. He has Charles say his famous line. The conversation turns dark when Kev says his dad is on hospice now. Charles offers a picture and Kev has Charles take a picture of Kev and Ana.
Mabel walks down the street as her voiceover talks about New Yorkers being a lot. There are eyes on you all the time. As she passes a stand, a guy catcalls her. She ignores him as she talks about women being assaulted often. She has a recurring dream in which she wakes up to a man standing over her. She kicks him in the balls and then stabs him with her knitting needle. Thinking about it helps her sleep.
Oliver walks down the street as his voiceover talks about everyone struggling to find their place in New York. He talks about a dance piece he saw recently about a man trying to climb a staircase, never able to make it to the top, but always finding a way to get back up. And just when you think everything's the same, you get hit with something you never saw coming.
Starring
•Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage •Martin Short as Oliver Putnam •Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora •Aaron Dominguez as Oscar Torres (credit only) •Amy Ryan as Jan Bellows (credit only)
Guest Starring
•Vanessa Aspillaga as Ursula •Ryan Broussard as Will Putnam •Julian Cihi as Tim Kono •Quincy Dunn-Baker as Kev •Tina Fey as Cinda Canning •Jackie Hoffman as Uma Heller •Jayne Houdyshell as Bunny Folger •Maulik Pancholy as Arnav Kapoor •Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Donna Williams
Co-Starring
•Teddy Coluca as Lester •Adam DeCarlo as Guy On Street •Drew Leary as ESU Cop #1 •Allie Vazquez as Ana
General
•The title sequence to this episode shows a literal Easter egg design above the doorway to the Arconia. •This episode is a rewrite of the pilot episode pitched to the networks. There are several differences between the pilot script and the episode as broadcast: •Charles and Oliver are referred to as Steve (no surname given) and Marty Pepper. They are presumably named after Steve Martin and Martin Short, who play the characters in the show. •Instead of a knitting needle, Mabel uses an Apple Pencil against the attacker in her dream. •The Arconia was originally called The Arcadia. •Tim Kono was originally called Tim Lee. •Charles lives on floor 18, Oliver lives on floor 15 and Mabel on floor 17. Tim gets on at floor 11, and off at floor 14. •The podcast is scheduled to release at 7, not 5. •Oliver's dog Winnie was originally called Pete. •Cinda Canning is jokingly referred to as "Tina Feyning" (a reference to Tina Fey, who plays her in the series) before being named as Cinda Corning. •Detective Williams is male, his name is given as Donnie, and he is "straight out of The Wire". •There is a short scene in the pilot between Detective Williams and the main trio where he details a previous case in which he lost part of a finger. •Mabel's tattoo is of a Bird of Paradise rather than a whale. •Bunny is referred to as Jayne (a possible reference to Jayne Houdyshell, who plays Bunny). •Mabel says that she solved mysteries with her Hardy Boys in the complex they all lived in "in Singapore", but Charles thinks the last part "sounds like a cover". •In a short scene at the end of the episode, Charles looks out across the courtyard and sees a man enter his room and put on a tie-dye hoodie that is lying on the floor. The man looks out of his window, seemingly at Charles, who quickly turns his lamp off, so the man can't see him
Goofs
•The "All Is Not OK in Oklahoma" podcast episode mispronounces "Chickasha" as "Chick-a-shuh." This is later addressed by Cinda in Performance Review.
Cultural References
•The Hardy Boys – Hardy Boys novels mentioned •Dateline – Mabel says New York City is a place to binge this show, to find out how to not end up on the show.
Episode Stills
Photography by Craig Blankenhorn for Hulu.
Behind the Scenes
December 7, 2020
Aug 31, 2021 · By Abdullah Al-Ghamdi. Published Aug 31, 2021. Only Murders in the Building co-creator John Hoffman reveals that the Hulu series was partially inspired by a tragic real-life experience. Warning: Spoilers for Only Murders in the Building.
- TV News Writer
Aug 31, 2021 · A trio of Upper West Side neighbors and true-crime devotees stumbles upon an actual murder and proceeds to make a podcast about it in this shrewdly funny Hulu series.
- Glen Weldon
Aug 31, 2021 · The premiere of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building from co-creators Martin and John Hoffman explores secrets, loneliness, and the true-crime craze of the 2010s, all set in an iconic...
The main plot focuses on a trio of strangers (played by Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez), all with a shared interest in true crime podcasts, who become friends while investigating a succession of suspicious murders in the Arconia, their affluent Upper West Side apartment building, and producing their own podcast about the cases ...
Aug 26, 2021 · Hulu's Only Murders in the Building is a Playful True-Crime Romp. Nick Allen August 26, 2021. Tweet. The good news about Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” is that 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 ...
