Solving the murder of doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca), found dead in the fourth season finale, is no open-and-shut case for the familiar trio of podcasting neighbors dwelling in the Arconia, a NYC building with a shockingly high homicide rate.
The quirky comedy-drama’s fifth season premieres with three episodes today and sees actor Charles (Steve Martin), theater director Oliver (Martin Short), and artist Mabel (Selena Gomez) questioning Sofia Caccimelio (Téa Leoni), who last season asked them to search for her missing mobster husband Nicky (Bobby Cannavale). The suspects include “new mob” billionaires: a lifestyle queen (Renée Zellweger), longevity expert (Christoph Waltz), and pharma bro (Logan Lerman).
“Charming, funny and exciting,” is how Gomez describes the season to TV Insider in a charming and funny interview alongside Martin and Short. (Watch the video above, where we also asked the trio to use their legendary comedy skills to create a limerick to describe the season).
Another mystery the trio must solve is how to handle their love lives. Newlyweds Oliver and Loretta (Meryl Streep) “find out things they didn’t know about each other,” Short says, while Charles tries a dating app. “He’s making a deliberate choice to try and get out there more,” Martin says. “I remember doing that in my own life, actually. Say, ‘I’ve got to go out and meet people.’” Mabel tries to help him, and what she sees leaves her both amused and bemused. “She says, ‘Let me look at your profile so I can have a few laughs before I fix it,’” Gomez says.
As the case unfolds, Mabel pushes the trio’s limits. Gomez says, “Mabel’s gotten a bit bold in her investigating. There’s a moment of panic – this feeling of doing something you’re not supposed to. She loves the danger and she’s willing to get the answers that she needs to get.”
Watch the video to hear more from the trio about shooting flashback sequences (Gomez laughs describing teen Mabel’s look, “I had these horrible blue highlights that I also did in real life back in the day. I couldn’t pull that off. In fact, I still can’t.”) and how Short’s character Oliver’s paranoia makes him resemble a character from a certain classic 1950s sitcom.
Only Murders in the Building, Season 5, Tuesdays, Hulu
