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Only Murders in the Building

 "Only Murders in the Building" is ostensibly a murder mystery, and it's clearly a love letter to Hitchcock's "Rear Window" (especially in the opening credits). But, at its core, the series is a portrait of Manhattan, and it shows (gracefully) how a big residential building can behave like a small town.


A main figure in the current season is Bunny, who has been murdered. In life, Bunny was a grouchy co-op president, difficult to talk to, but committed to the common good. ("Do you have a permit to sell that merchandise in my courtyard?") Bunny is the sort of boss you affectionately mock; when you're scolded, you shiver with pleasure and say, "I've just been bunny'd!"

Nearby Bunny's former space is Amy Schumer, playing Amy Schumer. In the series, Ms. Schumer is a vampiric, status-crazed narcissist. ("We all have to learn by doing....That's how I mastered stand-up comedy...in one day. It took me one day....I was also just very good....") This is New York life: You encounter celebrities, and you must pretend they are normal people, and everyone is painfully aware of the act. (If you work with Brooke Shields's children, there is a constant farce: "Look, it's just another parent in yoga pants!")

Lonely souls struggle to reconnect with their adult kids. One aging director has advice for his director-son: "No one cares about the Tin Man. Just cast the fattest kid as the Lion. You'll score a hit...." A washed-up TV star tries texting with his mysterious daughter; when she discloses that a mutual friend will soon marry, she ends her thoughts with a cryptic comment: "bet." Is she betting on the marriage? Is she betting against the marriage? Is the new spouse named "Bette," or "Bettina"? Has autocorrect simply taken a coherent response and made it new, and bizarre? These questions are never answered -- as, in life, our questions are so rarely answered.

Each week, I look forward to this show; I appreciate that it's funny, and it's not a lightly fictionalized re-rehearsal of Bill/Monica, or Pamela/Tommy. Someone invented this Arconia world. I'm inspired by that.
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