Has Only Murders In The Building been actually inspired by true crime podcasts? Here's what we know

Only Murders In The Building has been a major draw for Hulu for a number of reasons. It was one of the few times comedians Martin Short and Steve Martin joined forces for a comedy-drama that offered them plenty of space to work their magic. They were joined by Selena Gomez, who completed their oddball trio.

They all played Manhattan residents living in a long-known high-rise building for their own reasons. Steve Martin played Charles-Haden Savage, who is unfortunately farther from his glory days. Martin Short joined him as Oliver Putnam, an on-and-off Broadway director struggling to make ends meet, while Selena Gomez played Mabel Mora, a young artist living in an inherited apartment.

John Hoffman, who co-created it with Steve Martin, showed all these characters consumed by their mounting loneliness. That's why the Hulu show often entered a tragicomic vein, following their bond that evolved over their mutual love for true-crime podcasts. It led the three to start their own podcast to investigate a case of a neighbor's shocking murder.

The true-crime podcasts gave them a way to unwind from their lonely routines to find the thrill of something unexpected but true. That has often been the reason people enjoy true-crime shows, movies, books, or podcasts. That's what brings a millennial and her two boomer pals to start their own podcast.

Within the first season, it becomes clear that Only Murders In The Building is inspired by similar true-crime podcasts, the growing fascination with them, and how people find comfort in these projects. However, it also includes some elements likely inspired by specific true crime podcasts that the genre fans may have already guessed.

Only Murders In The Building may have been some of the most shocking true crime podcasts

The true-crime genre thrives on building suspense about something that people know to be at least partially inspired by a true-life incident. Only Murders In The Building has always made use of this mystery that doesn't let you rest until you find out the mastermind behind the operation. In these stories, what's tragic also becomes poetic, since we don't learn just the details, but also realize their effect on the characters.

Similarly, a Cinda Canning podcast, dubbed All is Not OK in Oklahoma, matters so much to Mabel, Oliver, and Charles-Haden that they would leave everything they are doing to listen to her, whenever she drops one of her new episodes. In the show, Tina Fey played Canning, which many fans believe acts as a version of Sarah Koenig's podcast, Serial.

Koenig's podcast was not just popular but also won a Peabody award, as she was one of the most important voices in the podcasting industry. According to Oxygen True Crime, there are a few similarities between All is Not OK and S-Town, the true-crime podcast that followed an investigative case in a Southern state of the US.

The publication also believes Only Murders In The Building might be inspired by a few more podcasts, whether it's the Dateline NBC or the Murdaugh Murders podcast.

Only Murders in the Building recently returned with its fifth season on Hulu. After its three-episode premiere, it will be streaming one episode per week.

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Also read: “Nothing is at its end”: Only Murders in the Building’s Creator hints at show’s future beyond Season 5

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