Only Murders In The Building Has One Big Problem With Every New Season
"Only Murders in the Building" is a cozy mystery show about three unlikely friends teaming up to solve a murder in their apartment building. In season 1, the show was firmly focused on the residents of the Arconia, introducing us to a fun cast of eccentric New Yorkers played by largely-unknown actors. By season 4, though, the series was almost entirely focused around celebrities, with actors like Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria starring as themselves.
Major celebrities also played original characters, like how Paul Rudd played the murder victim Ben in season 3. Kumail Nanjiani similarly played a suspicious neighbor in season 4, while Molly Shannon portrayed an eccentric Hollywood producer that same season. It's a common trend in TV: as a show grows more popular, it adds more and more famous names to its cast. But once you've got A-list stars joining your series, how do you raise the bar from there?
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, "Only Murders" casting director Tiffany Little Canfield explained how she felt about the growing celebrity focus on the show. When asked if she felt any pressure to "up the ante" with the stunt casting in each new season, she replied, "Absolutely, I think we all feel that pressure because we want the audience to be as tickled when they start to see the cast announcements roll out. I think that's part of the fun of it."
The Only Murders casting director has had a few white whales in mind
It's hard to deny that the celebrity casting has helped keep "Only Murders" in the spotlight. In the lead-up to every new season, there'll be a string of fun headlines about how this and that celebrity will be playing a potential killer. It's fun to learn that actors like Christoph Waltz or Keegan Michael-Key are joining the show (as they both are in season 5), which also means they may get the chance to ham it up hard in the season finale with a villainous monologue.
When asked if she had any casting "white whales" for the show, Canfield replied, "We already got it! Meryl." Indeed, Meryl Streep was not only delightful as the long-struggling theater actor Loretta in season 3, but her ongoing romance with Oliver (Martin Short) made for a fun storyline in season 4 and will hopefully do the same in season 5.
Canfield also gave a shoutout to Daniel Day-Lewis as another big actor she'd love to cast, although she noted that "it seems impossible since he's retired very publicly." But given that Day-Lewis recently un-retired to star in his son's upcoming directorial effort "Anemone," perhaps this dream of Canfield's isn't entirely dead.
Fans have their own white whales for the series. If you go on the "Only Murders" subreddit during the off-season, you'll see no shortage of people posting about how a particular celebrity they like should totally join the show. "Only Murders" may not switch up its cast to the same extent as other murder-mystery franchises like "Knives Out" or "The White Lotus," but its fandom maintains a similar excited energy when discussing the casting possibilities for each new installment.
Has the stunt casting on Only Murders gone too far?
Although the constant celebrity casting has generated a lot of buzz for the show, not every "Only Murders" fan is happy about this trend. By season 4 especially, many people were frustrated by how sidelined the original Arconia residents had become. Outside of Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton), pretty much every Arconia character introduced in season 1 has since been either reduced to a few brief lines a season or cut out of the show entirely.
Some of this feels like a natural result of the series trying to keep its formula fresh. After season 2, the show's writers seemed to realize that it would be repetitive (and somewhat implausible) if the murders all revolved around Arconia residents, so seasons 3 and 4 both focused on the murders of people who don't live on the premises. This is good in that the series doesn't have to explain why the Arconia residents aren't more terrified by their neighbors dying like flies, but it's also bad in that those characters have come to feel increasingly tangential to the main storylines. Because of this, seasons 3 and 4 lacked that cozy, communal feel of the show's earlier seasons.
Season 5 seems to have addressed this complaint, dialing back the celebrity casting (at least slightly) and returning the mystery back to the Arconia itself. It's a shame that the longtime doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca) had to die for the show to finally give him the attention he deserves, but if nothing else, this means the show may be properly returning to its roots.
"Only Murders in the Building" streams exclusively on Hulu.