Only Murders In The Building is Hulu’s most-watched comedy premiere of all time

Only Murders in the Building, Hulu’s latest mystery comedy series, is the streaming service’s most-watched comedy launch of all time.

The series, which stars comic legends Steve Martin and Martin Short alongside Selena Gomez, features an odd age gap in its protagonists, but it appears that this blend of old and young is working. Only Murders has found strong public support after only three episodes, as of this writing.

Storyline

Following an apparent death in the luxury Manhattan building where Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) live, the three strangers are brought together by their shared love of true-crime podcasts.

Together, they realise that there’s more to Tim Kono’s alleged suicide than meets the eye, and they set out to learn everything they can while putting together their own podcast on the subject.

As former celebrities consigned to lives that are slightly less glamorous than what they’ve experienced in the past, both Martin and Short are particularly enjoyable, while Gomez keeps the show’s mystery alive with a past that isn’t completely clear, yet packed with what seems like contradictions.

Despite the fact that the series is still in its early stages, it has already caught the interest of a number of Hulu subscribers.

Record Breaking Premiere

Only Murders in the Building’s record-breaking premiere shows how popular it is right now. According to The Wrap, the new series has overtaken Hulu’s acquisition of Seinfeld in 2015 as the most-watched comedy premiere of all time.

However, Hulu only had roughly 9 million customers back then, compared to its current total of over 43 million. Even still, Only Murders’ success is significant for a show in which two-thirds of the cast is largely unfamiliar to younger fans.

More Mystery Than Laughs

Only Murders in the Building’s general lack of continuous laughs could be one of the show’s biggest flaws, especially for fans expecting the type of comedy Martin and Short are known for.

This isn’t to suggest the two aren’t funny in the new show; it’s simply that there’s more suspense than laughs. Even still, for a show that has only recently begun, there is much to interest viewers who aren’t familiar with Martin and Short but enjoy seeing a good mystery develop.