Only Murders in the Building does a lot of things well. It creates a fun little mystery and drips and drops out clues over the course of the season. It plays to the strengths of its stars — Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez — in a way you’d think would be obvious to every show but is shockingly hit-or-miss out there. It’s become a cozy little relaxing watch in a sea of dark and gloomy and humorless options across the very many streaming services that exist.
But I think my favorite thing the show does well is the way it folds in guest stars. This season alone we had appearances by Mel Brooks and Matthew Broderick as themselves, with the latter popping up to poke a whole lot of fun at himself. But the biggies were Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd, the former who played a struggling actress and murder suspect, the latter who played an egomaniac movie star who was the season’s victim. My god, did it ever look like they were having a blast.
Two things are important to note here:
- The concept of Meryl Streep convincingly playing a struggling actress who flubs lines is brilliant and maybe required the best performance any actor has given this year
- I need everyone to see Paul Rudd’s character absolutely devour a cookie in his dressing room after a day’s worth of stress and fasting broke him
Looking at this guy.
This is what I mean about everyone having a blast. And what I mean about the show using its pedigree and big-name cast to lure in terrific guest stars. And it’s kind of what inspired me to write this list of potential guest stars I think would make for fun additions to the cast either in season four or just going forward, generally.
Three notes before we begin:
- Some of these are maybe reaches, for a variety of reasons, but I got excited and it’s good to have fun
- I am going to rip through each option quickly, with three bullet points under each person, just because we aren’t made of time
- I am very serious about the last item on this list, which I have teased here and put at the bottom in the hopes you’ll scroll through dozens of other lunatic suggestions
I am a professional. Kind of. But I swear some of these are good. Let’s go.
Jon Hamm
Some notes:
- Jon Hamm would be so good on this show
- I like to picture him playing like a goofy version of himself who rents a place in the building while in Manhattan for another project
- Jon Hamm has been guest starring in so many shows and this would be such a Jon Hamm move that I actually had to Google to be sure he wasn’t already in a previous season
Next
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Some notes:
- JLD has been awesome for like three-plus decades
- Veep is done and she has time
- I want her to be the murderer
Next.
Wesley Snipes
Some notes:
- This one is fun
- Let Wesley Snipes have fun
- He could play like a dude who was on a season of Brazzos with Steve Martin and holds a grudge about something
Next.
Amy Poehler and/or Maya Rudolph
Some notes:
- Tina Fey is already on the show as a cutthroat rival podcaster with blonde hair
- These two are the best and any show could use them
- Maybe just let Maya Rudolph do the voice she does in Big Mouth?
Next.
Walton Goggins
Some notes:
- Walton Goggins has never been bad in anything
- He’s so silly as Baby Billy on The Righteous Gemstones and I think we could put him in a different wig here and make it work
- I still kind of can’t believe how nice he was when I interviewed him
Next.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Some notes:
- Yes
- Picture Steve Martin and Phoebe Waller-Bridge in a scene together
- Tell me I’m wrong
Next.
Donald Glover
Some notes:
- Donald Glover is so talented and can kind of do anything but it’s good to remember he got his start being goofy as hell
- I like the idea of him as another rival podcast or maybe a private detective who mucks up the investigation for everyone
- He should grow a mustache for this part
Next.
Tommy Lee Jones
Some notes:
- Tommy Lee Jones going full The Fugitive with Steve Martin and Martin Short
- He’s good at comedy and we know this from the Men in Black movies
- My dad suggested this one
Next.
Aubrey Plaza
Some notes:
- Aubrey Plaza doing her little eye rolls at Martin Short’s antics
- Maybe she plays an old classmate or cousin of Selena’s character
- I would like this a lot
Next.
The Muppets
Some notes:
- Picture Kermit and Miss Piggy moving into an apartment in the building and blammo now the Muppets just exist in this universe
- Or maybe there’s no mention of them ever at all and then Statler and Waldorf are up in the balcony for a performance of Martin Short’s musical
- I will keep suggesting we put the Muppets into things until I die or someone takes my internet access away
Next.
Ayo Edebiri
Some notes:
- Ayo is the best
- Let her do whatever she wants
- I would also accept Richie from The Bear, like that exact character just blooped over from another Hulu show
Next.
Jason Statham
Some notes:
- Statham is so good at comedy and rarely gets a chance to show it
- It would be funny to watch like “New Yorker Shouts & Murmurs Comedy Hour” broken up with periodic scenes where Jason Statham kicks someone in the throat and then blows up their house
- This one is just for me
Next.
John Wick
Some notes:
- Not Keanu Reeves
- Like, actually John Wick, on the loose in their building
- They would have so many murders to investigate
Next.
Edi Patterson
Some notes:
- Edi Patterson is so freaking funny
- I have this visual of the team trying to interrogate her and her going Full Chaos Mode and I can’t stop smiling
- She should be in more things anyway so this is as good a place to start as any
Next.
Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson
Some notes:
- Get them on the show
- Yes, it would be weird because Sam Richardson already investigates murders on the also-terrific mystery-comedy The Afterparty
- I do not care
Next.
Rihanna
Some notes:
- Imagine if a future season opens up and someone murders Rihanna — like, actually Rihanna, as herself — and they have to investigate amidst the news coverage calamity
- Get another megastar in there next to Selena Gomez
- Let Rihanna act in a bunch of silly little flashbacks
Next.
Helen Mirren
Some notes:
- Helen Mirren is fun, as we know from Barbie and Red and all of that
- I would like there to be a show that has both Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren in it
- She’s the murderer but she killed someone with a machine gun
Next.
Rhea Seehorn
Some notes:
- Rhea Seehorn rules
- She would be great as an investigative reporter trying to figure out why so many murders keep happening in this one fancy Manhattan apartment building
- RHEA SEEHORN RULES
Next.
Nick Offerman
Some notes:
- Full Ron Swanson mustache
- Doing his little giggles
- Maybe he’s the contractor who is building them a new studio?
Next.
Andy Daly
Some notes:
- Definitely a rival podcaster
- I know I’ve suggested that a lot
- But still
Next.
Ali Wong
Some notes:
- Hey
- Remember how good Ali Wong was in Beef?
- This is a good idea
Next.
Stephen Root
Some notes:
- I have yet to encounter a television show that cannot be substantially improved by the presence of Stephen Root
- He would a great murderer on this show
- Maybe he’s the new building manager and is trying to clean up its image and things go sideways
Next.
Rick Moranis
Some notes:
- Why not?
- We can put Rick Moranis in this show
- There’s nothing stopping us
Next.
Natasha Lyonne
Some notes:
- She would be so good playing off of the three main characters in the show
- In a trench coat, smoking a cigarette, going Columbo Mode
- It’s fun to picture her voice and Martin Short’s voice having a conversation
Next.
Jiminy Glick
Some notes:
- Okay, look
- This was kind of just an excuse to post this highlight reel of Martin Short as Jiminy Glick that I’ve been watching a lot lately, but I would really like to see the podcast get so famous that they start making the publicity rounds and then Martin Short pulls double duty interviewing himself about murder
- I feel okay about making you scroll all the way down for this one
Thank you.
