Here’s some good news amid the recent spate of TV cancellations: Hulu announced Tuesday that “Only Murders in the Building” has been renewed for a fourth season.
The comedy-mystery series is an offbeat charmer starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as hosts of a true-crime podcast. Their comic chemistry makes “Murders” one of the most enjoyable series on TV.
Martin’s character, Charles Haden-Savage, had been the star of a 1990s crime drama, “Brazzos,” but those glory days are long gone. Short’s highly theatrical Oliver Putnam is a director who is struggling to get back to Broadway. Gomez portrays an artist named Mabel Mora.
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All of them live in an upscale Upper West Side apartment building where murders keep happening — hence, the title.
The onscreen rapport between Martin and Short is not surprising. They are longtime friends, and performed together onstage in “An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life.” I interviewed them both in 2016, when they were performing the show at the Wang Theater.
But Gomez is vital to the atmosphere of “Only Murders in the Building.” I really get a kick out of her impassive demeanor and monotone delivery. Even when Mabel is not literally rolling her eyes at her partners, you get the strong sense that she’d like to. Yet her affection for the quirky older duo she’s teamed up with always comes through.
Don Aucoin can be reached at donald.aucoin@globe.com. Follow him @GlobeAucoin.