As “only Murders in the Building” fans await a fourth season of the hit Hulu comedy, they can relive the antics of the show’s first season via a broadcast run on ABC this January.
As it prepares to start returning new episodes of its strike-delayed series starting in February, the Alphabet net will fill the January gap with episodes of “only Murders in the Building” on Tuesdays. All ten episodes of the show’s Season 1 will air back-to-back, starting with the first three episodes on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
According to insiders, ABC will follow broadcast standards and practices rules on the episodes, and the network has been working with the show’s producers on edits that need to be made (likely, mostly language that runs afoul of FCC rules). In terms of timing, episodes will not be edited down. To fit the timeslot, credit windows will only air once a night, and recaps will only appear at the top of the night’s first episode after week one.
Also that night, “Celebrity Jeopardy” will move to Tuesdays at 8 p.m. — a new night — with a new semi-final episode. That will follow with two-hour blocks of “only Murders” from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Jan. 2, Jan. 9 and Jan. 16, and the one-hour finale on Jan. 23. Here’s the full schedule:
- Tuesday, Jan. 2, 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (Episodes 1-3)
- Tuesday, Jan. 9, 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (Episodes 4-6)
- Tuesday, Jan. 16, 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (Episodes 7-9)
- Tuesday, Jan. 23, 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Episode 10)
ABC’s regular Tuesday lineup returns on Feb. 20, with new episodes of “Will Trent” (8 p.m.), “The Rookie” (9 p.m.) and “The Good Doctor” (10 p.m.) In the fall, ABC has been airing “Dancing with the Stars” and “Press Your Luck” on Tuesday nights. (Staring on Dec. 12, “The Great Christmas Light Fight” airs for a limited time.)
“only Murders in the Building” is the latest streaming series to get a broadcast run — in this case, to fill programming holes due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. CBS found great success by bringing “Yellowstone” to the network. In other cases, streaming series have made their way to broadcast to help bring more eyeballs to those shows. “only Murders” doesn’t need help when it comes to awareness, but this can’t hurt spread the show’s coverage, and perhaps attract a few new fans, particularly for awards campaigning.
Hulu notes that “only Murders in the Building” is its most-watched original comedy series ever. The series is co-created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman (“Grace & Frankie,” “Looking”). Martin and Hoffman executive produce along with Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Jamie Babbit, “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal. “only Murders” is produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios.
The show’s first season won three Emmys, including Outstanding Guest Actor for Nathan Lane. This year, “only Murders” is nominated for 11 Emmys this year, including comedy series, lead actor (Martin Short), guest actor (Nathan Lane), writing and casting.
