Steve Martin

News and Quick Comments

“Only Murders” is back and better

The streaming world is full of brief pleasures — movies … six-episode series … epics that take two years between seasons.
But then there’s “Only Murders in the Building” (shown here). Each summer, it brings a fresh, 10-episode season; each seems even better than the previous ones.
That’s especially true of this fourth season, which arrives Tuesday (Aug. 27) on Hulu. It’s fresh and different, yet richly mines its past. Many actors return from previous seasons … even some whose characters were killed or jailed. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 26, 2024
News and Quick Comments

Emmycast was listless (that’s good), often hostless (that’s not)

Near the end of the Emmy awards, Pete Davidson suggested a round of applause for Kenan Thompson.
My instinctive response was, “Who???”
Oh yes, he was sort of the host. He told a couple jokes, joined an ill-advised dance number and later told some more jokes, including some good ones. Then he mostly vanished.
There’s a reason we need stand-up-comedy types to host awardcasts. They can punctuate a show with quick quips at odd moments. Thompson’s a terrific comedy actor, but this isn’t in his skill set; you need someone like Steve Martin (shown here with “Only Murders in the Building” colleagues Martin Short and Selena Gomez). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 13, 2022
Stories

Condo crime comedy for these amigos

Let’s think of this as “Three Amigos Go Manhattan.” Only with a murder mystery. And a new amigo.
“Three Amigos,” in 1986, was the first pairing of Steve Martin and Martin Short; the third star was Chevy Chase. Now comes “Only Murders in the Building,” a droll, 10-part series that starts Tuesday (Aug. 31) on Hulu; the third star (shown here) is Selena Gomez.
Yes, one of these is not like the others. Martin is 76, Short is 71 … Gomez is 29. “I had no idea who they were,” she joked, at a Television Critics Association virtual press conference. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 29, 2021