I watched three more episodes of Only Murders in the Building, a series I'm finding to be a real mixed bag. Sometimes it's sweet and genuinely funny, other times too soft and formulaic.
When I say formulaic, I don't mean the plots are formulaic, though in some cases they are. The subplot about Steve Martin's character flirting with a bassoonist neighbour seems designed to steer people away from shipping him and Selena Gomez's character. Though I suspect the bassoonist will end up being the murderer.
The formula I'm talking about is the damned disease of politics that's gotten all over everything. So much of the banter between the three leads feels like a carefully balanced concoction. If Gomez makes a crack about old age, Martin or Short has to laugh to confirm it's okay. If Martin or Short makes a crack about millennials, it has to be attached the old men doing something foolish.
The third episode, though, got several genuine laughs out of me. It was written by Ben Smith whose credits on imdb are all things I've never head of. But he's responsible for the scene where Steve Martin and Selena Gomez interview a suspect who has a frozen cat in his freezer. Martin musters his considerable talent for physical comedy trying to dig an ice pack out of that freezer when the suspect accidentally cracks his head.
Later, Martin remembers he has the poor cat's leg in his pocket while talking to Martin Short. A few more episodes like this and I'd be happy to keep watching this show.
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