Steve Martin required that each season of Only Murders in the Building end with a definitive answer to the central whodunit, co-creator John Hoffman told the New York Post, a stipulation Hoffman says established the show’s seasonal framework.
Hoffman said Martin told him at the outset: “There’s one thing I would ask, which is that at the end of every season, the end of that 10th episode, you give the people the answer, you tell them who did it, and then you move on. I don’t want ambiguity in that thing. It feels much more satisfying to have the answer.” Hoffman called that prescription “the trick of the show,” saying it guides how the writers shape each 10-episode arc.
Hoffman said the writers typically identify the killer early in the season-writing process and then work backward to determine the who, how, why and why now. “It’s usually the first stop and sort of looking at that,” he said. “Once we get further into the season and we sort of feel out what we’re doing…we may question it. We always poke at things as we go along and think like, is there an alternative or added thing or something like that. But ultimately we really aim to land the killer early.”
The Hulu mystery-comedy, which follows retired actor Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), struggling actor Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and aspiring podcaster Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), has grown in profile since its 2021 debut, drawing high-profile guest stars and multi-season arcs built around a single central mystery each year.
Hoffman said the challenge is balancing surprise with satisfaction across the season’s episodes. “Ten hours of a one mystery story that has to twist its way and keep people a bit on their toes and surprise you, it’s always a dance around that,” he said. The creative team aims to land a resolution that feels earned while also finding fresh ways to shake up the leads’ dynamics and settings.
The series has attracted an array of guest talent across its run. Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd were among the notable additions in earlier seasons; Rudd’s character died in Season 3 and returned in Season 4 as a stunt double. Other guest stars have included Christoph Waltz, Renée Zellweger, Téa Leoni, Keegan-Michael Key, Logan Lerman and Beanie Feldstein, Hoffman said.
Hoffman described an often collaborative writers’ room in which Martin, Short and Gomez are active contributors. Martin, who co-wrote the pilot with Hoffman, remains involved throughout the seasons, offering broader guidance. Short and Gomez, five seasons in, bring detailed insight into their characters’ voices and motivations, Hoffman said.
“I love when either they come and suggest something or more often than not, it’s us suggesting to them and getting their very much gut reaction,” he said. When the cast raises concerns about whether a line or action fits their character, Hoffman said the writers reexamine and adjust.
The first three episodes of Season 5 debuted on Hulu on Sept. 9. Hoffman said the show’s formula — a fixed-season mystery that concludes with a revealed killer — remains central as the team looks for ways to surprise viewers within that structure.
Hoffman summed up the approach as both pragmatic and creative: identify the endpoint early, then design twists and character beats that lead there in an unexpected but satisfying way. That constraint, he said, helps the writers deliver the answer viewers expect at the season’s close while still allowing the series to explore new settings and character arcs each year.