By Gus Saltonstall
Well, we just became a little less excited about the new season of “Only Murders in the Building.”
This past weekend, Craig Erwich, the president of the Disney Television Group, confirmed to DEADLINE that the fourth season of the hit Hulu show will take place in Los Angeles, instead of on the Upper West Side within “The Arconia” building.
That means the star-studded cast of Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Meryl Streep and more will be solving some sort of mystery — and podcasting about it — in sunny California, instead of West 86th Street.
“Well, I’m very excited to see Steve, Martin and Selena take a little break from the apartment building and come to Los Angeles,” Erwich told Deadline. “So in the same way that John Hoffman used the canvas of Broadway to tell what I think was one of the most unique seasons you’ve ever seen, the same unique ‘Only Murders’ will be applied to Los Angeles, which I’m really excited about.”
There were signs of a trip to California at the end of season three, as Streep’s character was receiving acting offers in Los Angeles, despite Short’s character saying he could only handle the West Coast in small doses.
Relatable.
In the first three seasons, “Only Murders In The Building’s” central filming location was the real-life Belnord building at 225 W. 86th St, which is the eye-catching address with the massive entryway and gate between Broadway and Amsterdam avenues.
The Belnord was designated as a New York City landmark in 1966 and is one of the rare NYC buildings where a car can enter and do a loop around the courtyard to exit.
The building is called “The Arconia” in the Hulu show.
There are no reports of the fourth season being the final for “Only Murders in the Building,” but we will curiously await when it chooses to peel itself away from sunnier shores. Erwich added to Deadline that the show will return to “The Arconia” on the Upper West Side at some point, but he did not specify when.
There is also no premiere date set yet for the fourth season.
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NYC too expensive. That’s why the show is leaving.
Of course this will be the final season. No one in his or her right mind will want to watch a story based in LA and ratings will plummet.
I guess that’s why “Curb Your Enthusiasm” has been such a dud.
Big time . first 2 episodes of CYE were meh!
I could be wrong, but I think the OP was being facetious.
If Only Murders is going to now stay in Los Angeles, it’s very disturbing to think that they only used the Upper West Side and the Belnord as a springboard. This is a New York story in a New York building on the Upper West Side. What happened to “Once a New Yorker, always in New Yorker”? It seems the way of the world now — always wanting different, always wanting more, never satisfied or appreciative of what got you to where you are. Alas…
Such a typical Hollywood decision. I guess I saw my last “Only Murders . . . ” last season, for I’ll let it pass this next.
I’m devastated with this news of the location for “Murders in the Building” is moving to California. I’ve lived on the upper westside since 1972. Regularly go to Broadway/Off Broadway/Off Off Broadway shows (37 last year); Carnegie Hall; have 2 subscriptions to the Met Opera (16); volunteer at the N-YHS. I have followed the careers of Steve Martin, Martin Short and when I learned that they were going to be part of a television series, purchased “Lulu” on my Spectrum account. Living on the corner of Broadway and 83rd Street, it was exciting to know “Murders” was being filmed close by. So sorry the show is leaving Manhattan.
What a terrible and unfortunate decision! The first three seasons of OMITB thrilled us by using the incredible resources – locations, crew, support services – of the metro NY area plus the phenomenally talented (and woefully under-used) pool of Broadway actors that are available here (much like THE GILDED AGE continues to do). Now we have to see the same-old same-old LA locations and talent. This is the dumbest decision ever made for a show that was so incredibly smart, and is the LAST thing New York needs right now as far as TV & film production goes. We just survived (barely) a 6-month+ shut down in production because of the dual actor’s and writer’s strikes. Now this. Awful…
I get why none of us want to see the show move, but without further insight into the decision-making and artistic processes, why don’t we see where the art takes us? After all, we are New Yorkers. If you’re a fan of the show you’ll still watch, as I will, until or unless that changes due to the final product.
“There are no reports of the fourth season being the final for Only Murders in the Building…”
I can guarantee you – if it does move to LA, this definitely WILL be the final season!
😢
I’m happy to see it go. The first season was great, the second so-so, and the third was awful, especially Meryl Streep. LA deserves it.
They’ll be changing the name to “Only Plastic Surgery In The Building”
I’m sure the neighborhood and residents of the Belnord need a break. Shooting is any neighborhood is disruptive and sometimes money consuming. They need time to recuperate.
Traitors! I won’t be watching.
It is the quirky secondary and tertiary characters who make the show so great. And quirky New Yorkers are much more interesting and entertaining than quirky people from LA.
LA actors can’t act quirky? The secondary and tertiary NY characters are actors.
I’m amazed at the reactions to this decision. Get a life, people – it’s only a TV show.
Please let us have this. Navalny is dead, the Atlanta trial is unraveling in real-time…we just need a few minutes to worry about where Martin Short will get his dips and then we’ll be right back to reality with you.
Meanwhile, we still have the three L&O franchises which are shot all over the city.
It will be the end of the show. The City of New York was an important character in and of itself & the show won’t survive without her.
Reading this with much dismay. The fact that it has been situated in NYC was a big part of the attraction, as I live on the UJWS. While I’m acquainted with the Belnord, the facade and interior hallways are so very similar to the Ansonia – plus in the show it’s called the Arconia – I always thought that was where it was shot.
And, yes, I know they’re both designed by the same architect(s). Will do a little digging to see which one was built first. Whichever one it was, the fact they’re so very, very similar, to me means they knew they had a winner of a design! Are there any other buildings in the city that all but replicate these two magnificent structures?
Good, they won’t try to stop me again from walking down 86th St during rush hour. NY’s subsidizing of the TV and film industry was just found to be a huge waste of money:
https://www.empirecenter.org/publications/billions-in-film-tv-subsidies-yield-zero-or-less-for-ny-economy-state-sponsored-study-finds/
“The Film Production Tax Credit is by far the largest ongoing business tax incentive offered by New York—or any state. But in fiscal terms, net revenues from the massive giveaway don’t begin to cover its costs, according to an independent study commissioned by the state Department of Taxation and Finance.”
Yes, the tax credits shown to be a ripoff. As far as relocation from nyc to la—-who cares. It’s a tv program- you’ll survive the move