The third season of the American mystery comedy-drama television series Only Murders in the Building premiered on August 8, 2023, on Hulu. The series follows 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 murders in their apartment building, and producing their own podcast about the cases.
Michael Cyril Creighton was promoted to the main cast for the season after featuring in a recurring role in the previous seasons. Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep star in a special guest capacity in the season, and are credited with the main cast in the episodes they appear in.
In July 2022, Hulu greenlit Only Murders in the Building for a third season. Filming began in January 2023 in New York City, and wrapped in April 2023. The season consists of ten episodes, and had a two-episode premiere on August 8, 2023. The season received critical acclaim, receiving 21 nominations at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, with three wins.
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On July 11, 2022, following the premiere of the second season, Hulu renewed Only Murders in the Building for a ten-episode third season. The season was announced with co-creators Steve Martin and John Hoffman serving as executive producers, along with stars Martin Short and Selena Gomez, and Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal.
In August 2022, it was announced that Paul Rudd had joined the cast for the third season, after appearing in a cameo at the end of the second season. In October 2022, Jesse Williams was cast in a recurring capacity for the season. In January 2023, Meryl Streep was cast in an undisclosed capacity for the season. In February 2023, Ashley Park joined the cast in a recurring role for the season. In March 2023, Jeremy Shamos, Linda Emond, Wesley Taylor, Don Darryl Rivera, Allison Guinn, and Gerald Caesar were cast in recurring capacities for the season. In April 2023, Michael Cyril Creighton was promoted to series regular for the season, after featuring in a recurring role in the previous season.
The episodes in the season were written by John Hoffman, Sas Goldberg, Ben Smith, Joshua Allen Griffith, Matteo Borghese, Rob Turbovsky, J. J. Philbin, Tess Morris, Noah Levine, Madeleine George, Ben Philippe, Jake Schnesel, Pete Swanson, Siena Streiber and Elaine Ko.
Filming for the third season began in January 2023, in New York City, and concluded in late April of the same year.
An album for the third season was released on September 15, 2023, followed by a deluxe edition on October 4. The soundtrack for the season was wholly composed by Siddhartha Khosla.
The third season premiered on August 8, 2023, on Hulu. Subsequent episodes released weekly until the season finale on October 3, 2023.
For the third season of Only Murders in the Building, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 96% approval rating with an average rating of 7.95/10, based on 114 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Relocating the action to the theatre, Only Murders in the Building can take a bow for yet another twisty mystery handled with a good-humored touch." Metacritic gave the third season a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 based on 33 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
The third season received 21 nominations at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, with three wins at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Notable nominations included Outstanding Comedy Series, Martin and Short for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Selena Gomez for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Paul Rudd for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, Meryl Streep for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, Matthew Broderick for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. The song "Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?", which was featured in the eighth episode of the third season, won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, with two of its four songwriters, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, becoming the 20th and 21st EGOT winners.