The Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building” enters its fourth season with a fun trick — one that’s nearly impossible to pull off, but that can seem brilliant when it works.
We all know that every show and movie we watch is make-believe, a matter of scripts, acting and professionally produced illusion. But when the show becomes a beloved favorite, viewers can take it for “real.” So, there’s no better way to subvert that notion than to create a “show” about the show you’re already watching.
“Seinfeld” did this back in the 1990s, when the gang became the subject of an NBC show “about nothing.” Watching them portrayed by slick actors accentuated TV’s “fakeness” and reaffirmed our bond with the “real” Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine.
“Murders” does the same thing in the early going of season four. Molly Shannon (“SNL”) plays a bigshot Paramount producer who has optioned the rights to the “Only Murders” podcast and wants to buy the “life rights” of Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez).
Moreover, she’s already assembled a cast and confronts the podcasters with their Hollywood doubles. As Charles, Eugene Levy tries to engage in grim geriatric small talk about “everybody having sepsis.” Eva Longoria plays an “aged-up” Mabel, a decision driven by a focus group that felt her presence as a token millennial among aging boomers to be “creepy.” Zach Galifianakis has a slow-burn during his encounter with his character, Oliver. He’s enraged that the self-absorbed, failed producer has never seen “The Hangover” or any of his work and that Oliver’s references seem stuck in a Rolodex or Filofax from an earlier century.
In true “Jiminy Glick” fashion, Short, as Oliver, refers to Galifianakis as “Galifragalisticexpialodotious.” Consistent to a fault, he later makes a vaguely sexual joke about Julie Andrews (“Mary Poppins”), a crack Charles considers a step “too far.”
As if to underscore the fakeness, the gang also wanders through a production of a teen comedy being shot on a studio lot doubling for a “raw” version of New York that hadn’t been updated since the breakdancing craze of the early 1980s.
Of course, all these double takes occur in a story where Martin plays the washed-up star of a show called “Brazzos,” in which Jane Lynch portrayed his loyal stunt double, Sazz Pataki.
In addition to the Hollywood doppelgangers, look for guest spots from Melissa McCarthy, Richard Kind and Meryl Streep as Oliver’s unlikely love interest.
— Julie Andrews, the subject of Oliver’s tasteless crack above, appears in and narrates the “American Masters” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings) profile of her husband, the late Blake Edwards, creator of TV’s “Peter Gunn” and director of such movie gems as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Charade” and the “Pink Panther” films. Andrews discusses her life with Edwards as well as his longtime collaborators, composer Henry Mancini and actor Peter Sellers.
— Netflix’s ongoing sports documentary series “Untold” presents “Sign Stealer,” recalling Connor Stalions, an analyst for Michigan’s revered college football teams whose alleged ability to use high-tech “signal deciphering” software resulted in a 2023 winning streak and scandal. Dismissed midseason, his actions would result in the firing of the team’s head coach and general manager and raise questions about the team’s championship status.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— First round play at the US Open (7 p.m., ESPN) tennis tournament.
— Hobbs’ killers return on “FBI” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— Quarterfinals on “America’s Got Talent” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
— Current players and returning participants swap stories about Jenn on “The Bachelorette” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
— Feeling abused in Prague, an American student lashes out against local police on “FBI: International” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
— An active shooter strafes a college campus on “FBI: Most Wanted” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
Ossie Davis, the focus of today’s TCM’s “Summer Under the Stars” salute, appeared in director Spike Lee’s 1989 breakthrough film “Do the Right Thing” (8 p.m., TV-MA). TCM’s salute does not include Davis’ role in the 2002 horror comedy “Bubba Ho-Tep,” starring Bruce Campbell as a man who claims to be a still-living Elvis Presley holed up in an old folks home he shares with John F. Kennedy (Davis). “Bubba Ho-Tep” can be streamed on Tubi.
SERIES NOTES
“Beat Shazam” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “The Quiz With Balls” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … “Password” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG) … “Lucky 13” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Ryan Reynolds, Tony Hale and Jimin on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC, r) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts Kevin Nealon, Jessica Lowe and Dave Holmes on “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
