Sting — yes, that Sting — is the new prime suspect in a new clip from Tuesday’s episode of “Only Murders in the Building,” and Oliver has a plan to find out more.
The Police frontman made his first appearance on the show at the end of episode three, playing a version of himself who lives in the Arconia and has an awkward run-in with Oliver (Martin Short) in the elevator. Having made his distaste for Oliver’s dog Winnie plenty clear, Sting becomes the prime suspect when Winnie ends up poisoned.
Oliver’s plan is to ambush Sting at his apartment before the musician leaves for a hastily rescheduled tour. “So we’re going to bring Sting a morning turkey?” Charles (Steve Martin) asks. “Yeah, I know. It’s weird. But I figure, if we also brought coffee,” Oliver replies.
“He ran with everything we asked him to do — he was completely into it,” co-creator John Hoffman said of the cameo in an interview with EW. “And beyond that, he came on set so prepared.”
Hoffman said the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer improvised part of his dialogue in the elevator, adding the line ,”I have a dog. I don’t like him either.”
“He threw it in, in a first take,” Hoffman said. “Marty and I were talking right after the first take: ‘Oh my God, he’s hysterical!’ He just dove in. He didn’t surprise us all because he’s brilliant. But I think the gamesmanship was clear from the moment he stepped on set.”
“Only Murders in the Building” hails from Steve Martin, Dan Fogelman and John Hoffman. The trio executive produces alongside Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Jamie Babbitt and Jess Rosenthal.
The Hulu comedy follows three strangers (Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez) who “share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one,” Hulu’s description reads. “When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. As they record a podcast of their own to document the case, the three unravel the complex secrets of the building which stretch back years. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living amongst them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it’s too late.”
Episode four of “Only Murders in the Building,” titled “The Sting,” drops Tuesday, Sept. 7.