True crime has taken over the podcasting industry. With popular podcasts like “Crime Junkie” and “True Crime Obsessed,” listeners can dive into a world of dark, interesting and — unfortunately — true stories.
As fun as it is to listen to murder mysteries, true crime is all about real-life murders. Hulu has decided to take the idea of combining these true crime stories with reality, to create a tv series that revolves around the infatuation of true crime listeners.
On Aug. 31, 2021, Hulu released the first season of “Only Murders in the Building,” starring Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin. The three play a group of individually true crime-obsessed podcast listeners who find themselves in their own murder mystery when a person dies in their apartment building.
Each episode involves elements that poke fun at and showcase the culture behind podcast listeners and their loyalty to certain shows. With unique characters, witty remarks and an intriguing plot, this show has already become a hit on Hulu, with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The show also includes very modern New York-style clothing with a high-fashion costume design that incorporates the unique personalities of each character.
Gomez plays Mabel Mora, an aspiring interior designer with a big secret; Martin plays Charles-Haden Savage, an older gentleman and former actor with bizarre habits; Short plays Oliver Putnam, a struggling director with a large personality. They each come from different backgrounds and vary in age, but all share a love for a certain true crime podcast.
The characters get to know one another during a self-appointed quest to solve the murder that occurred in their Upper West Side apartment complex while creating a true crime podcast of their own. It’s a true crime junkie’s dream — getting to solve a mystery from the very beginning.
For Gomez, this marks her first regular series role since her time on Disney Channel. While she connected greatly with her previous role as teenage wizard Alex Russo, she said that she can also relate to Mabel Mora through her love for true crime podcasts.
“There’s this itch I always have to scratch — true crime, mystery, figuring something out,” Gomez told Refinery29.
Like Gomez, there is a large amount of people in the world who love a good true crime podcast. According to a study by ABC, over 44% of podcast listeners have indulged in some form of a true-crime podcast. True crime continues to grow and “Only Murders in the Building” is a reflection of the large community of true crime podcast listeners and the flexibility of the podcasting industry in general.
You can watch season one of “Only Murders in the Building” on Hulu to solve the mystery alongside Gomez, Martin and Short. Let us know what you think, @VALLEYmag, on Twitter.
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