S5 E5: Tongue Tied

Summary

Only Murders in the Building Official Podcast

Episode: S5 E5: Tongue Tied
Date: September 23, 2025
Host: Michael Cyril Creighton
Special Guests: Jermaine Fowler, Don Darrell Rivera, David Patrick Kelly, Ben Smith, J.J. Philbin

---

Overview

This episode of the official Only Murders in the Building podcast, hosted by Michael Cyril Creighton (who plays Howard), dives behind the scenes of Season 5, Episode 5: “Tongue Tied.” The show explores the episode’s comedic take on workplace rebellion (against a robot doorman!), the human vs. machine theme, behind-the-scenes stories from cast and crew, character dynamics, on-set games, and insights from the writers’ room. The episode features interviews with guest stars Jermaine Fowler (Randall), Don Darrell Rivera (DDR), and David Patrick Kelly (Miller), as well as writers Ben Smith and J.J. Philbin.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Episode Recap and New Characters

• [00:13] Michael recaps Episode 5, highlighting the Arconia staff’s rebellion against Lester the robot, a chaotic building meeting, and Charles’s steamy date with Sophia.
• [01:30] The “help” (building staff) become central to the plot, providing both mystery and comedy.

Jermaine Fowler on Joining the Cast as Randall (The New Doorman)

• [02:33–12:26]
  • Jermaine discusses the surreal experience of acting alongside comedy legends:

    “You’re having this out of body sort of experience where you’re just like, wow... I’m here with people who really shaped my comedic sensibilities.” ([03:09] - Jermaine Fowler)

  • His admiration for Steve Martin, inspired by Martin’s book Born Standing Up, and how he finally shared this with Steve on set ([04:27]–[05:12]).
  • On set buddies: Michael and Jermaine reflect on their supportive friendship and comedic collaboration.
  • Jermaine confirms Randall’s “Lester die” graffiti was a rebuke of the robot, not the beloved human.
  • What it was like to work with (and act against) the robot doorman on set.

    “I had so much confidence in my job after working with this robot. I was like, I’m good. The robot was terrible at hitting marks.” ([06:17] - Jermaine Fowler)

  • First scene with Martin Short (“Oliver steals the ledger”): warmth and comedic beats, but also an “out of body experience” ([07:03]).
  • The set as “the nicest in the world” – “the warmest set I’ve ever, ever, ever been a part of.” ([07:53])
  • The unique anxiety and challenge of delivering single lines vs. big, chunky dialogue scenes ([08:47]–[09:38]).
  • Their game, “Name That Arconian,” showcases Jermaine’s growing knowledge of the cast’s quirky characters ([10:16]–[12:08]).

Howard and the Robot—Character Commentary

• [12:26]
  • Michael shares that Howard’s storyline centers on codependency with Lester the robot and his grief after the robot’s demise, humorously noting robot replacements are always on the way.

Don Darrell Rivera (DDR) Segment: Magic, Disney, and Surprises

• [13:29–16:22]
  • DDR, mistakenly booked due to initial confusion with DPK, shares his Disney roots and long run in “Aladdin” on Broadway.
  • Michael and DDR reminisce about magic tricks on set, including a live on-air card trick ([14:46]).

    “I read your mind. Literally read your mind.” ([15:04] - Don Darrell Rivera)

  • DDR’s love for mentalism and “card tricks is where it started.”
  • The magical connection: Steve Martin’s origins at the Disneyland magic shop ([15:55]).

David Patrick Kelly (DPK) as Miller—Metaphysical Trash Man

• [16:31–26:46]
  • Miller is introduced as the building’s mysterious trash man, “a survivor of the trash wars of the 1970s” and a reference to the New York Dolls ([17:03]).
  • Filming the wild building meeting with the whole cast:

    “It was the mixing of the upstairs, downstairs part of the building, the entire lifeblood... all pushing back on the changes that are happening and the revolt... against the onslaught of AI.” ([17:58] - DPK)

  • Vanessa (Ursula) led chants of “murder building” on set, stoking the scene’s mob mentality ([19:03]–[19:26]).
  • DPK and Michael discuss “outsider art” and the impressive “trash portrait” of Lester ([20:18]).

    “Steve’s improvised line at the time that he said, ‘outsider art’... I’ve always been a fan of art. Outsider art.” ([20:24] - DPK)

  • Behind the scenes: Steve Martin gives the cast a puzzle of Trash Lester as a wrap gift ([21:07]).
  • Miller’s perspective: respect and resentment toward the trio, empathy for Mabel, complicated dynamics with Howard ([21:39]–[22:54]).
  • Their “Dead Giveaway” game covers props and plot points—body bags, collages, shrimp tails, and more ([25:06]).
  • Returning to Lester the robot, DPK asserts:

    “Lester the robot is fascinating, but a huge threat and must be met with rebellion.” ([23:07])

Shared Interests – Bluegrass, Mandolin, and Broadway

• [23:30–24:37]
  • DPK shares musical roots with Steve Martin:

    “Our love of bluegrass music and art... I’ve played the mandolin since 1964.” ([23:32])

  • Tells of developing “psychobilly” (psychedelic hillbilly) music.

Writers’ Room: Ben Smith and J.J. Philbin

• [27:04–40:51]
  • Discuss collaborative writing, episode thematics, and returning to beloved building lore like Gut Milk and the staff plotlines.
  • Reinforce the season’s central themes: “disappearance of kind of these old New York institutions” and the "upstairs-downstairs" element ([28:01]–[29:12]).
  • The creation of Miller as a “trash psychic... a trash savant” who knows all the building’s secrets ([29:40]).
  • Fun with recurring (and unscripted) Arconia side characters.
  • Charles’s testosterone arc in Episode 5 was Steve Martin’s own idea:

    “It was Steve’s pitch... we reveal that he’s... brimming with testosterone.” ([31:45] - J.J. Philbin)

  • Hibachi date for Charles and Sophia was always planned for the comedic “yum yum sauce” payoff ([32:36]).
  • The writers share their approach to “building lore”—birdwatching, Lester’s birding reference, and the creative cycle of expanding small past jokes into actual storylines ([34:39]).
  • Personal touches: choosing names for Lester’s family from Ben’s own parents, clever ADR with Regis Philbin (J.J. Philbin’s father) as an in-universe clip ([35:35]–[36:14]).
  • The emotional core of Episode 9 teased as a series high point.
  • Fun, characterful closer: what jobs the writers’ pets would have in the Arconia universe ([38:16]–[40:06]).

---

Memorable Quotes

• Jermaine Fowler on set nerves:

  “I had so much confidence in my job after working with this robot. I was like, I’m good.” ([06:17])

• Michael Cyril Creighton on the set:

  “It is. We don’t talk about this a lot, but it is... the nicest set you could ever be [on].” ([02:52])

• David Patrick Kelly on rebellion:

  “Lester the robot is fascinating, but a huge threat and must be met with rebellion.” ([23:07])

• J.J. Philbin on Charles’s libido:

  “We reveal that he’s... just, like, brimming with testosterone. And it felt like this episode was the right episode to launch it.” ([31:49])

• Michael Cyril Creighton’s game show flair:

  “Okay. Put 60 seconds on the clock. Ready? Here we go.” ([25:33])

• Ben Smith on writing for the Cacchamelio Boys:

  “Probably there’s like 20 pages of the season that got cut of just their dialogue. Cause you could write them forever.” ([33:31])

---

Fun, Playful On-Set Moments

• [10:16] On-air “Name That Arconian” game between Michael and Jermaine.
• [15:25] DDR performs a card trick for Michael, surprising him with a successful mind-read.
• [25:06] DPK and Michael play “Dead Giveaway,” rapid-fire prop and plot guessing.
• [19:09] On-set chant led by “Ursula”: “murder building, murder building...”

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Recap & Episode Frame: [00:13]–[01:58]
• Jermaine Fowler Interview: [02:30]–[12:26]
• Jermaine & Michael’s Game: [10:16]
• Howard’s Character Arc (Narration): [12:26]
• Don Darrell Rivera (Magic & Disney): [13:29]–[16:22]
• David Patrick Kelly/Miller Segment: [16:31]–[26:46]
• Writers’ Room (Smith & Philbin): [27:04]–[40:51]

---

Conclusion

The episode is a lively, loving exploration of “Tongue Tied,” underscoring Only Murders’ trademark blend of comedy, heart, and layered ensemble storytelling. Listeners are treated to behind-the-scenes camaraderie, creative backstories, on-set pranks and games, and deep dives into both the series' evolving lore and the eccentric souls who inhabit and create the Arconia.

---

Next week: Appearances from Beanie Feldstein, showrunner John Hoffman, and the mysterious on-set mascot, Bernardo. Until then, as Michael says, “Don’t get killed!”

Transcript

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

How do you feel about Lester the robot?

[David Patrick Kelly]

Lester the robot is a huge threat and must be met with rebellion.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, I think he was met with a rebellion since you threw him off the roof.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Yes, I did.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You did.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Somebody had to do it.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, hello and welcome to Hulu's Only Murders in the Building official podcast. I am your host, Michael Cyril Creighton. I play your favorite trio's fourth wheel, Howard Morris. We're dissecting episodes, sharing behind the scenes stories and playing games with some of the amazing actors, writers and crew from season five of Only Murders in the Building, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney. Today's show is all about episode five, Tongue tied. We'll hear from the Arconia's new human doorman Randall, played by Jermaine Fowler, and how he handled having his job and his scenes stolen by a robot. We'll then check in with our old friend, actor Don Darrell Rivera, AK DDR and our new friend, actor David Patrick Kelly, AKA dpk. Huh. They both go by their initials. I'm sure that has no bigger implications. Finally, we'll sit down with writers Ben Smith and JJ Philbin to talk about Charles and Sophia's steamy little hibachi date. We'll go heavy on the yum yum sauce and that is for sure. But first, a quick recap of episode five. So if you haven't watched, just stop and come back after you've seen it. I will be here waiting with open arms.

[Jermaine Fowler]

This was really under the Arconia all these years.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

The trio shows Detective Williams around the now spotless velvet room and she suggests talking to the Arconia's staff.

[Ben Smith]

Talk to the help.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Rich people are constantly doing dumb in front of them. Charles takes Sophia to a hibachi place and interrogates her. They flirt and end up hooking up in her minivan. Mabel and Oliver learn the staff all hate Lester the robot.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Who's ready to fight?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. Yeah.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Who's ready for a revolution?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. Oliver calls a building meeting and Lester the robot is thrown off the roof. Miller gives them the trash they wanted and Mabel tracks Charles phone to Flatbush where they see Sophia hand a bag to Lester's widow Rainey. It is hard to imagine the Arconia without our beloved doorman Lester. But someone had to step up and take care of the building. I am here with our brand new doorman Randall, played by Jermaine Fowler. Hello, Jermaine.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Hey, buddy.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Can I have a hug?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yes, you can. Hello.

[David Patrick Kelly]

How you doing?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Good. We became on set buddies.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Yeah, yeah, we Was cool.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I really liked how open you were. To be honest. I thought you were just immediately so friendly and so open.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Thanks, man. It was extremely easy. You were wonderful to work with. So I appreciate you giving me your number and us like having those like, debriefs.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, it's sort of like. It is. We don't talk about this a lot, but it is a. It's the best job in the world. Yes. The nicest set you could ever be.

[Jermaine Fowler]

On that one particularly. Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

But you are always sort of on this other level of existence because you're always acting with legends.

[Jermaine Fowler]

This is true, right? Yeah. It didn't hit me till, I think, the first episode we shot, actually. I thought it was gonna be cool. I was like, all right, you know, Steve Selena, Richard Kyne, Martin, you know, we'll be fine. I'll be fine. Nathan Lane, I'll be fine. I'll be fine. And then we shot the scene. I was like, wow. You're having this out of body sort of experience where you're just like, wow. I'm here with people who really shaped my comedic sensibilities. And I've watched forever, since I was a kid till now, you know what I'm saying?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And then you're like, I think I'm okay. I think I'm getting you. Oh, hi, Diane Waste. Hi.

[Jermaine Fowler]

It is amazing, man. She was wonderful too.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. There's not a bad egg on the whole show.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Not at all. Not at all.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Speaking of your comedic sensibilities and stuff like that, you are a stand up, correct? Uh huh. And how have the people that we were working with on the show, have they. How did they shape your comedy in your world, Dude.

[Jermaine Fowler]

So when I first moved to New York, I moved to. I moved all around. I was in every borough but Staten Island. And I remember I finally got an apartment and the Heights and I slept on an air mattress and the bedbug thing was going on. So guess whose air mattress had that?

[J.J. Philbin]

Of course.

[Jermaine Fowler]

And it was awful. I had a DVD player, a portable DVD player, and I would just watch just movies all the time. And at one point I heard about this book, Born Standing up by Steve Martin, and someone told me to just check it out, read it. It's the best book about stand up ever. And I read it and I was like, I read it twice. It really, really motivated me, got me to. In the right, you know, headspace as far as like just being this broke artist. Just, you know, it was awful. But I was so excited to be on my own. But that particular book really, really, really helped me out.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Jermaine Fowler]

And then I remember talking to Steve on set about the book, and that was. That was crazy just to bring it up to him about how much that book meant to me.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Right.

[Jermaine Fowler]

And it's just. It's true, though. Like, I guess I never thought I'd be able to, you know, tell him that in person. So that was incredible.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I got a little suspicious of Randall in this episode because he's carving dye. Lester dye on furniture or on the wall. Right, yeah. What is that about?

[Jermaine Fowler]

He loves the human Lester. But you thought he was referring to our buddy Lester, when in reality it was about the robot.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Who is Howard's buddy. Yeah, Special buddy.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Very special buddy. So I don't think that was nice.

[Jermaine Fowler]

I'm sorry. It's just he's very territorial about his Lester and you are as well. I totally understand that. We have two different lessons in our lives.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

How did you like working with the robot?

[Jermaine Fowler]

It was so strange, I gotta be honest.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So slow.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Cause people are talking about, like, machines taking over our jobs. And if this robot is threatening, it was so unprofessional.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

We got a problem. This robot was like, I can't hit my mark if you're even an inch away from me. Exactly. I don't like mirrors. I am gonna stop liking.

[Jermaine Fowler]

I had so much confidence in my job after working with this robot. I was like, I'm good. The robot was terrible at hitting marks. It was.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And also good at hitting other stuff. It was very cool.

[Jermaine Fowler]

He's the goofiest robot.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Jermaine Fowler]

I thought maybe that's what its character was, a bumbling robot. But it wasn't. It was frustrating the director. It frustrated everybody. But.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

But I will say it was pretty cute. And the guy, Ryan, who programmed the robot, had the hardest job in the whole season.

[Jermaine Fowler]

I feel bad for Ryan.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Ryan, can you move an inch to the left?

[Jermaine Fowler]

He's just a robot.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, he's doing his best.

[Jermaine Fowler]

No, it was. I'm sure that was a very nerve wracking job for that. Cause he had to do that in front of Steve Martin. And Martin Short, too.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Yes.

[Jermaine Fowler]

You know what I'm saying? So I'm sure.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

What was it like filming that scene when Oliver steals the ledger?

[Jermaine Fowler]

That was my first scene with Martin short and it was very warm leading up to the snatching, the theft. You know something? I wish all the residents were as kind as you.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, I'm not that kind.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

This is the real Oliver Putney.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Sorry.

[Jermaine Fowler]

It was great. We hit these beats that were Comedic and also pretty, pretty emotional. Capped off by, you know, him stealing the ledger. I was having another out of body experience after that. I mean, during it, honestly. So it was, it was actually very. It was nice, man.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And how does it feel jumping into a show that's been, you know, is now in its fifth season, Has a sort of well oiled machine as far as the crew and the cast go. How did it feel being a newbie on the show but being such a prominent role?

[Jermaine Fowler]

Well, I didn't really know what I was going to get into when I joined the cast. So I remember I had a meeting with John Hoffman and what a collaborative, welcoming, just a sweet dude. He was so great to meet with. And I get on set and again I wasn't sure if it was gonna be, you know, just super Hollywood and standoffish. But no, that was the warmest set I've ever, ever, ever been a part of. It was beautiful. Crew is so artistic and they're so on it. Most efficient set I've ever been a part of.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Absolutely no waiting around.

[David Patrick Kelly]

No.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And you were just such a perfect addition. I told you this. But like I always have a buddy. Like every year there's like someone who's only there for a season or so. They die and they die, or they're a killer or they're just. They disappear. And I really appreciated your friendship this season because it was nice to have a buddy on set.

[Jermaine Fowler]

I feel the same way. I needed that and it was very helpful. There were times when, you know, I'd be in my head about certain lines or we were talking about it. Like sometimes you have these scenes where they can get bulky. And usually the bulky scenes are pretty, they're easy. Like, you know, you kind of get in a groove, rhythm. And how you want to depict these moments within these chunky, these chunky pieces of dialogue. But then you have these lines, just one line here and there within like this very like an ensemble piece where you gotta hit these just singular lines. And those can be sometimes a tough things to hit. And there'd be times when like, you know, you'd flub a line and you'd be like, oh, wow, I really can't get this one line. You know, it'd be frustrating. So we had that going on. And as far as like our just agreement about the whole thing, it was nice to share those moments with you. Cause sometimes you feel like you're in it on, you know, you're in it by yourself.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I appreciated that you would be like, you know what Would be funny. And you were always right. And sometimes I was right, too. You know, this would be a funny way to do that line. Or this would be a funny thing to add.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Oh, pitching you some of the.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, like pitching each other some ideas.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Cause you're funny. So there'd be these things where I just see in my head. I just see you saying these things perfectly, and I just. I'm so happy. You were so, like. You know, you were open to listening to them. Some people hate it, but I was so, like, man, maybe Mike could say like this. It'd be hilarious. And you would do it, and you would murder it. So I'd be like, oh, I'm glad it worked. Cause if it didn't, he'd hate me. But you murdered it, dude.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Thanks. I love murder.

[Jermaine Fowler]

It was easy to.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Okay, do you want to play a game?

[Jermaine Fowler]

Yes.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Okay. This game is called name that Arconian. That's Randall, the new doorman. You get to know all of the residents of the Arconia, but can you name them based on three words? What do you think?

[Jermaine Fowler]

I can try.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Okay, let's try.

[Jermaine Fowler]

And I'm the new guy, so I'm still learning it.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. You don't even know from his name, but we're gonna try. Okay. Minimal blue glasses.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Charles.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, there we go. Exactly. Metal doorman. Technology. Randall.

[Jermaine Fowler]

It would be Lester.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Therapist. Crypto. Venmo.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Yeah. The other black guy. Dr. Grover.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That's right. That's totally right. Russell. Birds. Conjunctivitis.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Richard.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

The actor. Yeah. Richard. Did you know that Vince Fish is an actor? Did you know that? From last season.

[Jermaine Fowler]

No.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Actor. Deli. Prison Tracksuit.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Oh.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

His name. You're looking for his name. You know, Nathan plays it, though, right? I feel like that means. Got it. Right. Yeah. Nathan Lanez. Character. Teddy. Teddy, Teddy, Teddy, Teddy. Okay, okay, okay. Glasses. Again. Snarky.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Howard.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Kleptomaniac.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Howard.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

No.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Oh, kleptomaniac. Oh, Uma.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yep.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Okay.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Scarf. Snort. Dips. Marty. Oliver.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Oliver.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Artist. Dry fashion.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Oh, Mabel.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yes, exactly. Your favorite co star. Teddy. I had the. You better answer, Howard.

[Unknown/Unclear]

There's no way.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I thought that was gonna be the answer.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Would you.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I didn't even know his character's name 10 seconds ago. Okay, Howard. Well, it was so good having you for this episode. I hope you can come back for a later episode. Maybe.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Yeah, if I'm alive, you know, not me. Hopefully it'll be alive, but Randall's char.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. See you next time.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Yes, sir.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And now, Michael Cyril. Creighton on Howard Francis Morris. Howard is on a quest for independence, but definitely becomes co dependent on Lester the robot. He becomes drunk with power and starts pulling away from the trio in a big way. When the building kidnaps Lester the robot and throws him off of the roof, Howard blames Oliver and he tells the trio that the robot is the only thing in the building that has given his life meaning. That robot gave me a place in this building. He is devastated by the loss of his loved one. He made me important. Until he gets a notice that there's a replacement on its way. Oh look, a new one's on its way. I gotta go get my charging dock ready. This robot is here to stay. And that was Michael Cyril Creighton on Howard Francis Morris. You're welcome. Our next guest is as surprised to be here as we are to have him. Please welcome don Darrell Rivera, aka DDR. You might remember him as from season three, the comic relief in Death the Musical. Welcome DDR.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

Thank you so much for having me. McC, how are you?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I'm good. How are you?

[Don Darrell Rivera]

That is so good to hear. I'm also good. I haven't heard much from you since we finished filming season three.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Was busy filming season four.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

Why am I here?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Well, you're here because I love you. Okay. I find you a great joy to be around. I think you have great energy and. Listen. Okay, I'm sorry. There is another actor on season five whose name is David Patrick Kelly. He goes by dpk. Someone got confused, they booked you and I didn't wanna unbook you, so here you are. I see.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

So, honest question. Is it possible that they meant to book me for season five and DPK here for this thing?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

No. DDR. Okay. You are part of the Disney family.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

It's true.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Why don't you tell people about that?

[Don Darrell Rivera]

Yeah. I've been in Aladdin on Broadway for the last 11 years.

[J.J. Philbin]

Holy.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

I'm the original Iago Moly.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

I have a 9 year old daughter and I've been doing the show longer than she's been Al. And you know, I just did some stuff for Walt Disney World and it was really fun. I love Disney. Proposed to my wife at Disneyland. This is literally my dream job.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

This is your thing. This is your thing. You're the most Disney guy I know. Yeah. But I also. It is good that you're here, honestly, because I know that you dabble in magic.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

I do.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That's great. And this season there is a pretty special deck of cards. There's a few magic Tricks that Brazos does.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

Yeah, I've been doing magic since the age of 10.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Well, you one time on set did some weird book thing where. Where you were like, pick a page, any page. And then I did. And you said, pick a word, and it was that word.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

Yeah. I read your mind. Literally read your mind.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, that's also. You like mentalist stuff? Yeah.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

I mean, you can buy that online. The book, the skill, I guess.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You can buy anything online.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. But, you know, mentalism is one thing that I love to go into, but card tricks is actually, like, really where it started.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Would you be willing to show me some of your tricks? Yeah.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

Okay. I'm just gonna flip through the cards just like that. And I want you to see one. Not this one. Cause that's cheating. I'll do it one more time.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Okay.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

You got one?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. Okay.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

From the middle of the deck, I believe maybe this is the card that you saw. Was that the card that you saw?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

No. No.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

What was the card that you saw?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

5 of spades. Get out of here. That one is not cool. How did you do that? You didn't even touch the cards.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

You just looked at them. You know who you should ask about these?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Who?

[Don Darrell Rivera]

Steve.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Steve Martin. Yeah. I have seen him do card tricks, and it's very impressive.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

You know, I actually visited the Disneyland magic shop where he worked.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Really?

[Don Darrell Rivera]

He worked at the Disneyland magic shop Years and years and years ago. 2019 or something.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. Not like 2003, right? Exactly. Well, this was the best. I loved having you on here. This was the best mistake anyone could make.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

Well, this, I have to say, thank you. Because I really love you.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I do, too.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

And I love.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I do, too. I love me, too. Good, Good.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

That confidence is key.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. I adore you. Thank you so much. Thank you, DDR. And on to our next guest.

[Unknown/Unclear]

Uh, Gary.

[David Patrick Kelly]

I'm Miller.

[Don Darrell Rivera]

Welcome to the building, Miller.

[David Patrick Kelly]

I started three years ago. Sorry I missed that.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

In this episode, the trio travels downstairs and sees some familiar faces among the Arconius staff. But there's a new face, too. He's oddly mysterious and maybe a little metaphysical. Trash Man Miller. Thanks for joining us. David Patrick Kelly, also known as dpk. Not to be confused with DDR. Hello, dpk.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Pleased to see you. Michael.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Good to see you. So tell us a little bit about Miller. Who is he?

[David Patrick Kelly]

Miller is a survivor of the trash wars of the 1970s, lionized by the New York Dolls in their famous song Trash.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

This episode, there's A building meeting that devolves into complete chaos.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Right.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And I believe you end up throwing Howard's friend Lester off the top of the building. Is that correct?

[David Patrick Kelly]

I didn't mean to, but.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

But you did.

[David Patrick Kelly]

It happened.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

It happened.

[Unknown/Unclear]

Lester's Arconia paperwork got uploaded into the robot. So basically, we just have to get our hands on that. That was the robot, wasn't it?

[David Patrick Kelly]

Two doormen in two weeks.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Let's walk the audience through a little bit what it was like to film that scene in the lobby, the building meeting, where everybody starts screaming. Do you remember that day? How do you feel about that day?

[David Patrick Kelly]

I like that because it was the mixing of the upstairs, downstairs part of the building, the entire lifeblood of the building, all pushing back on the changes that are happening and the revolt of the people against the onslaught of AI So I was really happy about that. And, you know, it spoke, even once again, we spoke about once, the emotional content of the show. So I love that too. You know, the fact that Lester, the ghost of Lester is in the background, and the human Lester, and then Lester, as we call him, the robot, is trying to take over.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, but.

[David Patrick Kelly]

So it was great.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

It's great. I also love those days because there's so many people on set. A lot of times the scenes in the show are very small. It's one or two people you're sharing a scene with. Just one or two scene partners. But this was almost everybody just screaming at that robot, screaming at each other. It was a wild day. I really had a fun time.

[David Patrick Kelly]

My favorite was Vanessa came up.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, Vanessa, who plays Ursula.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Plays Ursula. Came up with a wonderful moment. She makes everybody join her in a chant of murder building, murder building, murder building. You know that they're sick of that label. You know, they want to be just a human building and not a murder building. Known for that. And she urged us on, and it was really cool.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

It was great. It did sort of feel like filming that scene felt like mob mentality. Like, I was like, I was against all of you because I was protecting my little robot. But I turned around and looked at you all, and I was like, oh, this is. This is scary. They're gonna rip me apart piece by piece to get to this robot. So good acting. I remember the first time I met you was this episode, and you ran in with your trash bag and your. We'll talk about it in a minute. But your Lester trash portrait. And just the way you run, just the way you walk. The character is completely full. You didn't even had to have Said a word. And I knew exactly who this guy was just by how you carried your trash bag and ran in. It's a good thing. You're a very convincing trash man.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Thank you so much. Trash has meant a lot to me in my life.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Were you impressed with the portrait of Lester? The trash portrait of Lester they made? Is it what you imagined in your head when you read the script?

[David Patrick Kelly]

Yeah. And I loved Steve's improvised line at the time that he said outsider art.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Because I've always been a fan of art. Outsider art?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Ken, Michael Key and I both come from Detroit, and there's a fantastic outsider art assemblage in Detroit.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, really?

[David Patrick Kelly]

Called the Heidelberg Project. And people come from around the world to see it. They have the Diego Rivera mural and the Dia there, but they also have the Heidelberg Project, which is this amazing assemblage of stuff that this guy's found, you know, and so it keyed into that and, you know, stuff that people find in and make art of has always been a great fascination for me. So I thought they did a wonderful props department.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Woops. Props killed it. And also what I'm so excited about is we get to live with it for the rest of our lives because Steve Martin gave us a wrap gift, and it is a puzzle of Trash Lester. It's right here. So this was the wrap gift that Steve Martin always gives us, a puzzle every year. And it's a puzzle of Trash Lester, which I think is going to be absolutely horrific to put together.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Really difficult.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Very, very difficult. But I am very grateful to have it.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Beautiful.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I'm curious what you think Miller thinks of the trio, Charles, Oliver and Mabel.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Well, he respects them greatly. He reveres them. And he also is resentful of them and angry at them a little bit for their different habits. And I think he most aligns with Selina, you know, with her struggles, you know, and with Mabel and her struggles. He respects them and he likes their achievements. You know, he's a great fan of their achievements.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You know, sort of art imitating life. For me, that's that sort of situation.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Yeah. And the way he sort of memorializes them, you know, the way he wears Oliver's scarf that he found in the trash, you know.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[David Patrick Kelly]

You know, so, yeah, a great deal of respect, awe and resentment.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

How do you think he feels about Howard?

[David Patrick Kelly]

Howard, he's more shoulder to shoulder with, you know, because he has more communicativeness with Howard. You know, I think he doesn't let Howard get the better of him, even though Howard May think that he is way above his station and like Howard.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Does sometimes treat people subhuman. He's not particularly. He expects so much, and in return, he gives so little to other people. It's one of his beautiful flaws. And I think I know the answer to this question, but how do you feel about Lester the robot?

[David Patrick Kelly]

Lester the robot is fascinating, but a huge threat and must be met with rebellion.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, I think he was met with rebellion since you threw him off the roof.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Yes, I did.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You did.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Somebody had to do it.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Somebody had to do it. Now, I know that you have something in common with Steve Martin. Correct?

[David Patrick Kelly]

I do.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

What is it?

[David Patrick Kelly]

Our love of bluegrass music and art. And I tried to tell them the few chops that I have. I've played the mandolin since 1964.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Wow.

[David Patrick Kelly]

When my mother gave it to me on St. Patrick's Day. But I played it as a rhythm guitar Michael in my 60s rock band with a little pickup on it. So I was playing Jimi Hendrix on it and the Beatles on the mandolin.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Wow.

[David Patrick Kelly]

So I think I'm one of the beginners of what we call psycho billy music. Psychedelic hillbilly music.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[David Patrick Kelly]

And green bluegrass music, you know? But I also played it on Broadway in once, which was an Irish show.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Headline, which is a show that I saw several times. I saw it at new York theatre workshop. I saw it on Broadway twice. You're incredible in it. One of my favorites. Did you bring your mandolin today?

[David Patrick Kelly]

Funny as shit ass.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[David Patrick Kelly]

One of them is right here. Oh, but this actually is in the episode where you meet Miller.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Really?

[David Patrick Kelly]

And I find this in the trash. Everybody.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I'd like to play a game with you if you're cool with that. Now we're gonna play a game called dead giveaway. I have 10 things that you might recognize from this episode. I'm going to try to describe them to you. You're gonna guess them. And if you win, you know you have to get at least six to win. If you win. Our prize today is a big bag of trash you can make as much art out of as you'd like.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Fantastic.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

All right, are you ready?

[David Patrick Kelly]

Yes.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Okay. Put 60 seconds on the clock. Ready? Here we go. This is like a suitcase you. Maybe you put gym clothes in. It's a type of thing that you carry.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Body bag.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Like a body bag.

[David Patrick Kelly]

It's a garbage bag. Trash bag.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Duffel bag. Duffel bag. This is what that trash luster is a type of art where you tape things together, like cut out different things and paste them next to each other. Collage yes. Next thing. This is the bottom part of a crustacean that's in the show. Shrimp. Yep. It's the. Not the head, but the crusty thing. The tail. Yeah, the tail. Okay. This is something that I have a lot of and that Charles is on during the show.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Ketamine.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

No.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Testosterone.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yes, exactly. This is what Lester, the non human one is rule. But yep. This is a place in Brooklyn that is not hilly. But listen, we didn't do great, but we did the best we could and it was a lot of fun. Thank you so much for being here. I hope we can have you back.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Thank you.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Until then, have a great one.

[Unknown/Unclear]

What about Tommy? The tongue? Did you get anything on that?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Well, didn't get anything on Tommy, but I did get a little. Charles.

[David Patrick Kelly]

I was gonna say tongue.

[Unknown/Unclear]

Oh, my God.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Stop slut shaming me.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Great.

[Unknown/Unclear]

So we are still exactly nowhere on Tommy.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So we all know that the real star of Only Murders in the Building is the writing. It's a highly collaborative process, and I'm so very lucky right now to be sitting with two of the writers from our writer's room. Ben Smith and J.J. philbin. Hi, Ben. Hi, J.J. hi.

[Ben Smith]

Hello.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

How are you?

[Ben Smith]

Good. Thank you for reading that. Just how we wrote it.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Also, that's non union. You didn't write that, jj.

[Jermaine Fowler]

Yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You wrote this episode.

[J.J. Philbin]

I did.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Okay, so we get one of our favorites back, Detective Williams.

[J.J. Philbin]

Right.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

But we also get one of our favorite Arconia side businesses back, which is gut milk, which is now in pellet form.

[J.J. Philbin]

That's right.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

There's some debate about how you take it. How would you take it?

[J.J. Philbin]

You can go in any orifice you want. That was sort of what we were trying to really impart to the audience.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

A lozenge, a suppository, maybe like a little ear.

[J.J. Philbin]

You can put it in your ear. You can put it in your nostril.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Perfect, perfect. When do you say, you know what? We should bring back gut milk?

[J.J. Philbin]

I mean, when are we not saying that, first of all? But I think, you know, as I remember it, we had just done all these episodes with sort of the most powerful people in New York City, these billionaires. And we were having a hankering for getting back into the building, being with the people that Lester had worked with, spending time with Howard and his new paramour, the robot.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I love her.

[J.J. Philbin]

And then we started getting excited thinking about all the people like Ursula, who we hadn't seen since, I think, season two. Just being able to spend time with the staff of the building and Seeing how all these. Since a big theme of the season is sort of the disappearance of kind of these old New York institutions. And to go into the building and to really get to know the people who've been there for years and years and that are like, the lifeblood of this building. And seeing how it affected them, these changes in the building, that was sort of thematically what we were excited about. And then we just, you know, we, like, love arconia lore. It's like, what is consistent season to season.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I think people love, like, the upstairs downstairs of any show, which is. Brings me to this. I'm so glad we see Ursula again. We see Jose the super again, who.

[J.J. Philbin]

I don't think we've seen since season one.

[Ben Smith]

That's right.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Then we get a new character. Miller, the trash man.

[J.J. Philbin]

Yes.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Where did Miller come from? Played beautifully by David Patrick Kelly. What an interesting creature. How did he come about?

[Ben Smith]

I feel like you're to blame or deserve credit.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

It depends how you look at it. Yeah.

[J.J. Philbin]

I think in the script he's described as a mole person, but also maybe.

[Ben Smith]

Like a trash psychic.

[J.J. Philbin]

Yeah, like a trash savant. Someone who's been sort of behind closed doors. Like, we loved this idea of them kind of pulling back this secret door and being in this different world down there. And so someone who. This trash man character who knows them so well because he's been analyzing their trash for years and years. Like, we were just delighted by the whole idea of him.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

The way that David Patrick Kelly plays it, it's quietly unhinged and intensely unhinged.

[J.J. Philbin]

The intensity he brings to the laugh.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

The intense laugh he brings to the whole. Through the whole season is pretty amazing. But his reveal is pretty great, too. Is like a magic trick. Like, you just suddenly, like, out from under the garbage bag. Are there any characters that work in the arconia that you have pitched that have not made it in the show yet? Like, do you brainstorm in the room different?

[J.J. Philbin]

Remember we used to talk about. We used to talk about the floor buffer passing through the lobby.

[Ben Smith]

We had, like, the hedge man who was just, like, standing there clipping.

[J.J. Philbin]

We had attendants. I mean, we really. I think in the very first incarnation of this, it was totally unshootable. But we just. You. These roads, you know, kind of for ourselves. Yeah. We had a valet guy. I think we had the person who's outside clipping the hedges. The person who tends to the fountain.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Who could have played by, like, George Clooney. Yeah, exactly.

[J.J. Philbin]

No, we could have really gone on and on.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, this is a Very important thing that I want to talk about. And I've been thinking about it a lot. Charles is so horny in this episode. Charles is so.

[Ben Smith]

You've been thinking about it a lot.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I've been thinking about it so much. But, like, it's so crazy to see horny Charles. He's on testosterone. He's with his Betty Grable, Yum, yum yum, or whatever he says. How did the decision to put Charles in testosterone come about? How did we get into this world where he's sort of seething with testosterone?

[J.J. Philbin]

Yeah, well, it was Steve's pitch.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh.

[J.J. Philbin]

And he came to the writers early and said, like, I have this idea. And, you know, it was such a funny idea that he was just acting a little bit off. And, you know, we reveal that he's, like, you know, just, like, brimming with testosterone. And it felt like this episode was the right episode to launch it, because we knew he was going to be questioning Sophia and that there was an attraction there when they met in the first episode. And so him teed out of his mind was how we're talking about it.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And then they go heavy on the yum yum sauce. Heavy on the yum yum sauce. In hox, was it always hibachi? Was that always their first date?

[Ben Smith]

It was. I think it was always hibachi.

[J.J. Philbin]

It was always hibachi. And them being, like, sexed up and catching food with their mouth was.

[Ben Smith]

I mean, you. When you, like, kind of lodge, you're like, okay, he's on t. He's on a date. What? Where do you want to see them? And I feel like once we said hibachi, the scene got very fun for us to, like, imagine.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Right. Hysterical.

[Unknown/Unclear]

I was starting to think he'd never.

[Ben Smith]

Called, and I was starting to think.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That maybe I tried salad. Is this chicken? The spicy kind.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Do they have noodles and butter?

[Unknown/Unclear]

I had to bring them. Mikey's birthday's 36 today, but they're going to sit at their own table like real adults. Waiter, another martini. Another round. Don't be afraid to make these ones dirty.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I have a big crush on all the Cachmelio boys. How fun are they to write for the best?

[Ben Smith]

Incredible. And probably there's, like, 20 pages of the season that got cut of just their dialogue. Cause you could write them forever.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Birding gets a lot of attention in this season. Was there a birder in the room?

[J.J. Philbin]

Tragically, no.

[Ben Smith]

I was gonna say, you know, Madeline George, who's an incredible writer and playwright, who, you know and who Wrote on the show, seasons one through four, big birder. And I think.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I didn't know that, but that makes sense.

[Ben Smith]

Would, I think, pitch birding ideas every season? And the tragedies that this year we did it. And then the whole time we're like, what do we know about birders? In that fantasy sequence in episode five when they're recreating the run from the Dudenoff apartment back to Oliver's or Charles', you run through the lobby and Charles makes some reference to a bird call and Lester's in that scene. And when we were kind of like filling out the Lester character this season because we've only seen him in snippets, but we're like, okay, he's our victim. We're gonna learn a ton more about him. One, it seemed like birding might be a little hobby of his, but we were like, oh, I guess there was a slight reference in a previous season. So we kind of built upon that.

[J.J. Philbin]

When you write that line, it's just this throwaway joke. And then the next season you kind of fill in a story to that, like, is launched by that. You never know which of those lines is going to come back.

[Ben Smith]

Every season we kind of have to like, go back and do like an audit of our previous seasons. What if we said research and like, Lester's kids are named Frank and May, which are my parents names. And that's just because when we were doing a rewrite in season two, in the Blackout episode, Nina is with Lester and he's like, she knows family details about him. It's like a way of showing that she was learning. And the history with Bunny and we just needed names and I threw those in. And now we're like, the opening of the whole season is reading this obituary and we're like, well, I guess survived by. And we're like, those are the names.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And I was like, are your parents so excited and proud to be in the show?

[Ben Smith]

They're very excited, yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. I met your mom. That's so true. She's a big Howard fan.

[Ben Smith]

She is.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Love her. We love her. We love her. We love everybody who loves Howard. And you have some family in the show this season.

[J.J. Philbin]

I. I do.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Did you talk about that? Are you comfortable talking about that?

[J.J. Philbin]

To set it up, it was the moment where Charles is cooking and he's lost great Grand's recipe. And Bash is able to say, I can get that for you in one second. It's sort of a moment where technology kind of comes to save the day and he instantly Comes up with a clip of Brazos cooking and then Amazing.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

With Regis.

[J.J. Philbin]

With my dad. With Regis.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[J.J. Philbin]

And so, amazingly, that clip kind of did exist. Steve was on my dad's show a day that my mom happened to be co hosting with my dad.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And so I thought it was not real.

[J.J. Philbin]

No, it was real. And we used that clip, and with just like, a little bit of ADR and a little bit of tweaking. I mean, you know, ideally, what we wanted was the cooking segment, you know, with my dad in the apron and the hat. Like, that was, like, the thing that I was imagining. But something similar did exist, which was Steve coming on, I think, to promote, gosh, I don't know, Parenthood or, like, one of his great, like, early 90s movies.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[J.J. Philbin]

And so we used a little bit of, like, ADR and a Regis impersonator to fill in some of the lines that could make it actually about this deco l' orange plot point.

[Ben Smith]

There's some stuff in 9 and 10 that was something, at least for me. Some of the favorite stuff that we got to write.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, you came through big time.

[Ben Smith]

Are you scared when you get a script? I'm turning this on you. What's the experience when you get a script? Do you read it right away? Do you?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I do control find for Howard.

[Ben Smith]

Yeah, that's helpful.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

If I have, like, three lines in an episode, I know it's gonna get cut out and I won't be in that episode. I look to see how much he's in there. Then I read. Then I don't read those lines. I read the whole episode. And then I am always happy. I've never been unhappy with what's crossed my desk. Sometimes I'm like, where is this going? Always go somewhere good. Always go somewhere good. I did read an episode that made me cry. This.

[Ben Smith]

Can you Say what number?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Nine. Yeah, a lot.

[J.J. Philbin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot. Nine was an emotional episode.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, nine's a good episode.

[Ben Smith]

All you viewers watching five.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. You gotta keep watching through nine one month from now. And then you should watch 10, which you two are.

[J.J. Philbin]

That's right.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And this is the final question I've asked everybody. One I'll ask you, and then I'll ask you, Ben, do you have an animal?

[Ben Smith]

Yes.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

What is the animal?

[Ben Smith]

I have. My wife and I, we have two cats, Fox and Scully. They're exf. Cats.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

What would their job be?

[Ben Smith]

Okay, we have answers. Our cat, Fox, we have, like, a little mat, and he lies on it with his toys, and we call it his office. And so he goes in and he clocks in, and he works at the toy factory. And Scully never goes. She just sits in her perch above it, like in a bucket. So she's a manager at the toy factory. She just, like, observes Fox playing on his mat. And on the weekends, we roll it up and we put it away. And he has.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

He's off the weekend.

[Ben Smith]

Yeah. Like, he has union hours and all that stuff.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Reading newspaper, doing that kind of thing. That makes sense.

[Ben Smith]

Yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Jj, do you have an animal?

[J.J. Philbin]

All right, well, you're gonna have to help me with these, because I bring my dogs, I smuggle them onto the Paramount lot, and I've actually, like, gotten in big trouble. But some. Some days when we just really can't make a story work, the dogs have to come snuggle with us in the room. So, yes, they're Henry and Louisa.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Good names.

[J.J. Philbin]

And I think Henry, I think maybe. Is he, like, a professor? I think he might be, yeah. Yeah, he's sort of.

[Unknown/Unclear]

He's very different.

[Ben Smith]

He's so lucky to be in Henry's class.

[J.J. Philbin]

Yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. What would he teach?

[J.J. Philbin]

Like, the classics. You know, he's very dignified. And then Louisa is kind of a disaster. Well, we've often said that she's in the Navy.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Is that true?

[Ben Smith]

We often.

[J.J. Philbin]

She's just very. And strong.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, Louisa's butch.

[J.J. Philbin]

Yeah. She's a butch lesbian. Both of my dogs are gay.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, nice.

[David Patrick Kelly]

Yeah.

[J.J. Philbin]

Henry is gay and Louisa is gay. So they have just different vibes. But, yeah, I think she's. She's from sort of.

[Ben Smith]

I see that.

[J.J. Philbin]

Do you? Yeah, we.

[Ben Smith]

Well, we went. We were with Luisa by a lake, and Luisa sprinted into the water, which, like, had very navy energy, but that's.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

A very lesbian thing to do.

[Ben Smith]

And she got stuck on a rope, and I'm like, oh, like, this is not, like, new to the Navy. Over eager.

[J.J. Philbin]

She's in the Navy, but she's bad at it. Like, she's always on the brink of.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That's even more charming. It's like she could have her own sitcom. That's what we're gonna do when this is all over.

[J.J. Philbin]

We're gonna write Bad Naval Cad.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I just want to thank you both for writing such great words, writing such a great season, running such a great room and being here today. So it's really nice to spend time with you, and I can't wait to talk to you again.

[Ben Smith]

Thank you.

[J.J. Philbin]

Thank you, Michael.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Thank you.

[J.J. Philbin]

Thank you for having us.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Well, that's it for today. Thank you so much for tuning in. And if you haven't already. Subscribe and follow us wherever you're listening or watching from. Join us next week when we and we got another visit from the one and only Beanie Feldstein, AKA Mabel's Frenemesis thee. We will also check back in with co creator and showrunner John Hoffman and you will meet someone very special. The unofficial Only Murders on Set mascot, Bernardo, the production assistant. Which one of them is most integral to the show's existence? We will see. Until then, don't get killed. Watch and listen to Only Only Murders in the Building official podcast, available on Hulu and wherever you get your podcasts. And don't miss Only Murders in the Building now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers terms apply.

[Ben Smith]

Maybe When I watched the season, the single moment I laughed the hardest was when the robot came flying. That little voice of like, oh no.