When Only Murders in the Building premiered on Hulu during the summer of 2021, everyone was amazed and the dark comedy series was a surprise hit. Co-created by Steven Martin, it reunited him with long-time collaborator Martin Short as they played aging has-been celebrities living in a posh Manhattan apartment complex who initially dislike each other but find a mutual bond on their love for true-crime podcasts. They become friendly with the young and mysterious Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez in a surprisingly wonderful role) and when another residents dies by a reported suicide, they have their doubts and work to find out what really happened.
The show has worked well as a wonderful satire of the true-crime podcast phenomenon and how people lose track that lives were lost and people are grieving while others hope to make bank on their misery. Because Charles-Haden Savage (Martin) and Oliver Putnam (Short) both have some shallow selfishness to their persona, we can laugh at them when they get things wrong, which they do a lot, but both men and Mabel have their own trauma of past events they’re trying to run from or make amends.
That has been what has made the show so enduring over the last few years. Charles, Oliver and Mabel all have their limits. They know there’s a line they shouldn’t cross. But sometimes, they do it unwillingly. The fact that they’re kinda hated by their neighbors helps make them relatable. We’ve all seen those people who live in our college dormitories, apartment buildings, neighborhoods, etc., who feel they are the most important people around but they are actually blind to how much people really don’t like them but tolerate them just because it’s better to be civil.
Murders seems to be the best replacement for Schitt’$ Creek, which was about similar characters, which was the best replacement for Community, which was about similar characters. You loved seeing the characters succeed but you also loved seeing them fail mostly because of their own selfish attitudes. Unfortunately, one recurring character in Murders seems to bring down almost every episode they’re in. And that character is Cinda Calling, played by Tina Fey.
Now, let me start out by saying that Fey is a good comedy writer. But that doesn’t always translate into good acting. Even by her own jokingly admissions, she’s not good at performing comedy. In a Saturday Night Live skit, she was trying to play a real-life political journalist but walked off the set when she was mistaken for herself saying she can’t be seen as any other person. And her own self-parody at the Golden Globes Ceremony in 2015 where she totally messed up a Bill Cosbuy impersonation shows she’s never really been good at impersonations the way her fellow SNL cast members Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig have.
By her own admissions, Fey said she was a mean girl herself growing up in the 1980s. And I think that might have been what made her work so well on SNL‘s Weekend Update. She had that great snarky Mid-Atlantic/Midwestern stuck up persona most news anchors of the eras were having as cable news station tried to appeal to better viewers with more “attractive” anchors. They were former beauty and prom queens who felt that they were better than the “Queen of Corn” titles they were given and tried for the big times, but were reduced to appear on local affialite news stations. There was almost a distaste Fey brought to it as she felt she was destined for better things like a lot of the news anchors themselves stuck being weekend anchors.
Considering Fey was replacing Colin Quinn who wasn’t too well liked as he had been brought in to replace the well-liked Norm MacDonald who had been fired, it was a breath of freshness. But I think SNL producer Lorne Michaels saw Fey as something different. He could finally have a pretty face on the show that most men found attractive. For the most part, women in comedy were considered “unattractive” even though most women SNL alum are or were beautiful women. But for the most part, the show was basically a “Boys Club” for the first 25-30 years with a few women cast members.
Following SNL, Fey wrote and co-starred in Mean Girls and created and starred in 30 Rock, basically playing a version of herself. While her parody of Sarah Palin is great, it’s not hard to parody Palin and most people had already mentioned how Palin and Fey looked alike before the first skit ever aired. Most of her movie roles have been minor successes but mostly forgotten without a quick Google search. And I’d argue she benefitted from her co-stars. Movies like Date Night, Baby Mama and Sisters may have made some money, but you probably don’t remember them.
Her lead role in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot got some good reviews but it bombed. Then, she appeared in a supporting role in Wine Country with SNL alum Poehler, Rudolph, Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer but was a letdown considering the cast. Granted, Fey should’ve remained more behind the camera the way Jennifer Crittenden and Carol Leifer have. She doesn’t have the abilities to do what her comic actress do. Most of them can escape into their characters making them their own, but she seems to just play herself playing a character.
That’s not to say it’s entirely her fault with Cinda Calling, the smug, mean-spirited host of podcasts who has started her own media franchise. This type of character has been done to death, pardon the pun, time and time again sometimes better, a lot of times worse. I’m getting so tired of writers thinking that making rich people jerks, especially celebrities, is provacative, especially if you can’t do anything with the character above making them a one-dimensiaonal character. And sadly, that’s what Calling is – one dimensional. Worse, they even gave her a scat joke in season two, something Fey probably rolled her eyes at (as in the famous gif online) when she read the script.
At the close of the second season, I thought they had moved on as three episodes of the third season had Calling nowhere to be found. But she was brought back for the fourth episode which didn’t add much to the series. Where’s Meryl Streep’s Loretta Dunkin? Show more of Andrea Martin’s Joy and Kimber Min (Ashley Parks) is a wonderful addition to the third season. Let’s see more of them. We don’t need anymore of Calling.
Most TV shows have characters who the showrunners just keep bringing back that no one liked. The Walking Dead was one of the worst offenders of this. I would go as far as saying Carl Grimes on that show is a perfect example of a one-dimensional character that never really adds anything to a show and just keeps popping up with nothing much to do. I never caught on with Breaking Bad, but I’ve heard fans say the same thing about Skylar White.
Maybe it’s because the producers have an actor stuck in a contract and the writers don’t care for the character and can’t come up with some good plots for them because they don’t like the actor. I think Fey might have been part of stunt casting they did to attract more viewers but Gomez has worked so well Martin and Short they’re stuck with a big-name celebrity in what is a glorified cameo.
If there is a fourth season of Only Murders in the Building (even though three murders so far is kinda getting out of hand), I suggest they kill off Calling’s character bringing it full circle since Charles, Oliver and Mabel were big fans of Calling’s podcast All is Not OK in Oklahoma.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 