The second season of the American mystery comedy-drama television series Only Murders in the Building, often abbreviated as OMITB, premiered on June 28, 2022, on Hulu. The series follows a trio of strangers (played by Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez), all with a shared interest in true crime podcasts, who become friends while investigating murders in the their apartment building, and producing their own podcast about the cases.
The season adds Cara Delevingne and Adina Verson to the main cast. In September 2021, Hulu greenlit Only Murders in the Building for a second season. Filming began in December 2021 in New York City. The season consists of ten episodes, and had a two-episode premiere on June 28, 2022. It was critically acclaimed, receiving 11 nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards and one win.
Cast and characters
Episodes
Production
Development
On September 14, 2021, following the release of the first season, Hulu renewed the series for a ten-episode second season. Series star Selena Gomez stated that series co-creator John Hoffman had begun developing ideas for the second season towards the end of filming for the first season.
Casting
Following the announcement of the second season, it was also announced that Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Gomez would reprise their roles. In December 2021, it was reported that Cara Delevingne joined the cast as a series regular for the season. In January 2022, Short announced that Shirley MacLaine and Amy Schumer were cast to guest star for the season. In February 2022, Michael Rapaport joined the cast in a recurring role for the season.
Writing
The episodes in the season were written by Hoffman, Noah Levine, Kristin Newman, Ben Smith, Valentina Garza, Rachel Burger, Matteo Borghese, Rob Turbovsky, Joshua Allen Griffith, Stephen Markley, Ben Philippe, Madeleine George and Kirker Butler.
Filming
Principal photography for the season began on December 1, 2021, in the Upper West Side of New York City, and continued through January 2022.
Music
On July 15, 2022, "Angel in Flip-Flops", an original song that was played briefly in the fourth episode of the season, "Here's Looking at You", was released online. It was performed by Martin as his character Charles-Haden Savage, and written by Martin and Butler, with Paul Shaffer as producer. An album for the season was released on August 12, 2022. The soundtrack for the season was wholly composed by Siddhartha Khosla.
Release
The second season premiered on June 28, 2022, on Hulu. Subsequent episodes released weekly until the season finale on August 23, 2022.
Reception
Audience viewership
According to Parrot Analytics, which looks at consumer engagement in consumer research, streaming, downloads, and on social media, the second season of Only Murders in the Building was the third-most in-demand streaming original series in the U.S. during the week of August 13 to 19, 2022, as well as during the week of August 20 to 26. According to Whip Media's viewership tracking app TV Time, it was the most-streamed TV series across all U.S. platforms during the week ending August 7, 2022, and during the week of August 28. According to the streaming aggregator JustWatch, it was the third-most streamed TV series across all U.S. platforms during the week ending July 3, 2022.
Critical response
For the second season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10, based on 119 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "Only Murders in the Building gets a new lease on life with a knottier sophomore outing that retains the series' core charm and wit." Metacritic gave the second season a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on 25 critic reviews, signifying "generally favorable reviews".
Accolades
The second season received 11 nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, with one win in a technical category. Notable nominations included Outstanding Comedy Series, Martin Short for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Nathan Lane for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, and one nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
Notes
References
External links
- Official website
- Only Murders in the Building at IMDb
