Rotten Tomatoes Critics Give Season 3 A Standing Ovation

If there’s one thing nearly every critic can agree on, it’s the sheer joy of watching the unlikely comedic trio at the heart of “Only Murders in the Building.” Co-showrunner Steve Martin has always combined delightfully with Martin Short and Selena Gomez. Their chemistry is a bit like combining random things from your fridge into a sandwich, only to discover you’ve created a new favorite meal.

In Season 3, critics found that even when the jokes aren’t landing and even when the story sags, the characters of Charles, Oliver, and Mabel are still a delight to witness in action. As Joshua Rivera at Polygon put it, “I want them to get along with each other (and me, if they were so inclined) maybe even more than I want to see them solve a murder.” The Chicago Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper enthused, “Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez are never short of wonderful together.” And for Looper, Cynthia Vinney wrote, “‘Only Murders in the Building’ is like getting together with old friends. By this time, Oliver, Charles, and Mabel are like pals you can’t get enough of …”

When “Only Murders in the Building” bowed its debut season, many speculated that pairing boomer icons like Martin and Short with a millennial household name like Gomez was a cynical attempt to manufacture a demographic-spanning hit. But it turned out to be a winning recipe, and it seems like critics and fans alike will keep tuning in for as long as they want to keep charming us.