Write On: 'Only Murders In The Building' Co-Creator & Showrunner John Hoffman

“There's no greater laugh than when you're at your most
vulnerable. You're at a funeral, or you're in church and
something's happening and there's great reprieve from the most
human moments through humor. And even in those moments, something
is funny or human and fumbling. And that scene itself [when
Charles discovers Sazz’s ashes], when I was watching it, I really
felt like this scene is encapsulating the whole experience of the
best of this show for me when he is standing there and then
watching him wipe her ashes off and he’s in deep pain over it,
but caring so much. And then she pops in the doorway. I don't
know, things like that just made me happy to have been able to do
anything like that,” says John Hoffman, co-creator and showrunner
for Only Murders in the Building, about balancing the humor and
the grief in the show.


In this episode, we go deep into Season 4 of Only Murders in the
Building with co-creator, showrunner and writer/director John
Hoffman. He talks about writing from theme, shares details about
that rip-roaring fight scene between Meryl Streep and Melissa
McCarthy, and exploring visual motifs this season. 


“The twins and the reflections made me think of so many of my
favorite films and the way cinema is used to show reflections and
to do parallels and the Bergman-esque stuff. And I mean, granted,
none of that might relate to what you're watching on this show.
But playing off that theme felt really good. We are a show that's
about three isolated, very lonely people in New York City and
finding connection and so I think that recognition of we're more
alike than we're apart also plays a huge part in the telling of
the stories of Season 4. I like organizing them that way,” he
says. 


Hoffman also shares his advice for writing great scenes: “Know
what a scene is and know that a scene wants to move in a certain
way, and flip in a certain way. It might not take you in the
direction you thought it was going to, but sometimes it will give
you something of great comfort. Check yourself over and over
again… is it honest? And check yourself on the truth of a
character's motivation. Would a human being do that, ever? And if
not, what could compel them to do it? There are all those things
that are just very basic to me,” he says. 


To learn more about Hoffman’s writing process, listen to the
podcast. 


Please note: this episode contains mention of suicide.