S5 E8: Cuckoo Chicks

Summary

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Only Murders in the Building Official Podcast

Episode: S5 E8: Cuckoo Chicks
Host: Michael Cyril Creighton (Howard)
Guests: Russell G. Jones (Dr. Grover Stanley), McKenna Thurber (Co-Writer), Mila Kalovich (Set Decorator), Tiffany Little Canfield (Casting Director)
Date: October 14, 2025

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Overview

This episode of the “Only Murders in the Building Official Podcast” dives deep into Season 5, Episode 8: "Cuckoo Chicks." Host Michael Cyril Creighton guides listeners through behind-the-scenes stories, writers’ room secrets, casting delights, and design inspiration with an emphasis on how a playful "ladies night" in the Arconia brings energy, comedy, and mystery to the show. Guests include actor Russell G. Jones discussing his pivotal therapy scene, casting director Tiffany Little Canfield on assembling Arconia’s eclectic residents, co-writer McKenna Thurber on her journey from production assistant to scriptwriter, and set decorator Mila Kalovich revealing the tangible touches that make the Arconia feel so real.

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Episode Recap and Main Themes

Theme: The interplay of chaos and community at the Arconia, explored through a vibrant "ladies night" featuring powerhouse actresses, evolving set design, and comedic therapy — all while secrets, betrayals, and evidence gather steam as the season approaches its finale.

Key Plot Points (00:48–01:47):

• It’s ladies night at the Velvet Room with Mabel, Loretta, Detective Williams, and Rainey.
• Camilla is one apartment away from owning the Arconia — 51% is in escrow, closing at midnight.
• Oliver and Charles try to stop Dr. Grover Stanley from selling but are too late: “12:15. Escrow's closed.” — Russell G. Jones (01:47)
• Loretta discovers Sophia was cheating on Nikki and finds the bloody elevator crank in Nikki’s office.
• Surveillance footage ties Randall to a key piece of evidence on the night Lester died.

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Russell G. Jones: Dr. Grover Stanley’s World

Guest: Russell G. Jones
Segment: 02:00–14:18

First Days & History (02:30–05:24)

• Reminiscences of the show’s COVID-era beginnings and Russell’s first scenes with Michael and Bunny (Jayne Houdyshell).
• Russell shares he didn’t know Jamie Babbitt was directing until he got to set, revealing a charming personal connection:

  “Jamie came, and she's like, Russell, you should audition for the play. It'll be so good.” — Russell G. Jones (04:08)

Character Insights and Legacy (05:34–06:56)

• Dr. Stanley as the “economic indicator” and resident “normalcy” within Arconia’s chaos:

  “He's always trying to find a way to get another stream of income or another way to feel valued in the community.” — Russell G. Jones (05:48)

• Instrumental in Howard’s (Michael’s) character arc: encouraging Howard’s romantic pursuits.

The Therapy Scene with Charles and Oliver (07:24–08:47)

• Russell was thrilled to finally play Dr. Grover as an actual therapist, sharing how he learned about “the therapy scene” from castmates Steve Martin and John Hoffman, piecemeal:

  “That's how information gets disseminated to us on set…except us.” — Michael Cyril Creighton (08:15)

• In awe of Martin Short and Steve Martin’s “love and respect,” and what it’s like to work opposite Devine Joy Randolph:

  “The energy that she brings is so confident…you can just play off of it because you know that she's actually going to be where she says that she's going to be.” — Russell G. Jones (09:50)

On Becoming a Murder Victim (10:44–12:12)

• Debate: Is it better to be a murder victim on “Only Murders”?

  “On this show, I think it's better to be a murder victim because then you get a whole nother season about you even if you're not there.” — Michael Cyril Creighton (10:46)

Game: Dead Giveaway (12:32–14:12)

• Fast-paced game where Russell guesses items from the episode (Peloton, casino, magic, psychic, etc.), with plenty of playful banter about psychic readings and Venmo.

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Tiffany Little Canfield: The Art of Casting the Arconia

Guest: Tiffany Little Canfield
Segment: 14:18–20:13

Assembling the Cast (14:42–16:17)

• Tiffany discusses the challenge of bringing together new trios (like this season’s billionaires) for comedic dynamics:

  “Comedy, dynamic energy is so important to keep surprising the audience.” — Tiffany Little Canfield (15:24)

Casting Billionaires & “The Five Brothers” (16:22–17:33)

• Chemistry over celebrity: “Who would be fun together?” resulted in the unexpected, winning billionaire trio.
• The five brothers’ physical comedy was carefully cast for just the right blend of family resemblance and variety.

Favorite Wins and Wishlist (18:32–19:58)

• Tiffany felt “Miller the trash man” was one of her greatest casting successes—choosing a legendary New Yorker over a celebrity cameo.
• Dream casting for future seasons:

  “Daniel Day Lewis”. — Tiffany Little Canfield (19:51)
  “He's retired, though.” — Michael Cyril Creighton (19:57)
  “But, you know, these are big dreams.” — Tiffany Little Canfield (19:57)

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McKenna Thurber: From PA to Co-Writer

Guest: McKenna Thurber
Segment: 20:28–33:41

Unlikely Beginnings (20:53–22:11)

• McKenna started as the office PA (“I was tasked with lunch for everybody… including you!”) before becoming script coordinator, then co-writing this episode.

Writers’ Room Dynamics (23:16–24:13)

• The “Secret Santa” tradition helps bond the writers and was when McKenna learned she’d co-write episode 8 with Kristen Newman:

  “Kristin had tears in her eyes. She was so excited. And I did too.” — McKenna Thurber (24:07)

Building the Episode: “Ladies Night” (24:14–25:26)

• The only thing settled at first: “It would be a really fun energy to have some type of chaotic feminine night.” — McKenna Thurber (24:45)
• Mabel takes center stage in a night of feminine chaos.

Writing Process & Collaboration (25:38–27:23)

• Collaborative breakdown by acts between Kristen and McKenna, with plenty of group pitching for jokes—resulting in an overlong hilarious draft whittled down to essentials.

Writing for Oscar Winners (27:28–28:44)

• Writing for Meryl Streep, Diane Wiest, Renee Zellweger, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, plus director Jessica Yu:

  “She had these pitches that really helped us… with so many women that we needed to serve, she knew how to give everyone their proper screen time.” — McKenna Thurber (28:08)

Memorable Moments & Jokes (29:41–31:01)

• Favorite bits: Loretta’s multiple character roles (“Celery Wisp” and the Cajun “Emily Lawler”), and Charles’ line:

  “Have you not been to a therapist?” “Yeah, once. Waste of time. He said you only hear things you want. And then he told me a bunch of stuff I didn't even want to hear.” — Steve Martin’s Charles, as recalled by McKenna Thurber (30:28)

Howard as the Show’s “Swiss Army Knife” (31:07–31:45)

• Howard is known as the “Swiss army character” who grounds and rescues plotlines.

Game: Bird Is the Word (31:56–33:41)

• McKenna aces the “real or fake bird names” challenge, thanks to bird research for the show.

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Mila Kalovich: Behind the Visual Feast

Guest: Mila Kalovich
Segment: 34:07–42:32

The Role of Set Decorator (34:30–35:42)

• Mila breaks down the collaborative set creation process — from floors to wallpaper, furniture, lighting, art, and those “smalls” that fill out the background.
• Props are what actors handle; everything else is set decoration.

Creating the Velvet Room Casino (36:52–37:32)

• As the department’s only gambler, Mila had hands-on fun authentically dressing the casino set for “ladies night.”

Transforming Spaces (37:45–39:20)

• Mabel’s new apartment (formerly the Dudenoff place) showcases her “thrifty, femme, but also strong” style; the redesign unspools over the season with personal artifacts and hints from previous seasons.

Fleshing Out the Arconia (40:08–41:43)

• Furniture, collectibles, birding books — all meticulously chosen to enrich character worlds.
• Consulted with wardrobe to channel “Gaga, Sia, and Olivia Rodrigo” vibes into the penthouse redesign for a certain rockstar character.

Downstairs Details and Easter Eggs (41:43–42:13)

• Mila delights in creating detailed “downstairs” locker rooms, each filled with personalized knick-knacks and hidden carvings for attentive fans:

  “There's definitely some interesting things in there if you look close.” — Mila Kalovich (41:45)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Directing Styles and Set Confusion:
  “You're gonna walk over there, you're gonna do this, you're gonna do this. And you have no idea what they're saying.” — Michael Cyril Creighton (03:30)

• Morbid Career Advancement:
  “On this show, I think it's better to be a murder victim because then you get a whole nother season about you even if you're not there.” — Michael Cyril Creighton (10:46)

• On Building the Show’s Community:
  “We always refer to Howard as the character that saves us because…you are the Arconia.” — McKenna Thurber (31:07)

• Secret to Endlessly Big Guest Stars:
  “The Met Gala does a really good job of introducing the new ones every year.” — Tiffany Little Canfield (18:06)

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:48 – Episode 8 recap and plot points
• 02:30 – Russell G. Jones' S1 memories and history with Jamie Babbitt
• 05:48 – Dr. Grover Stanley’s role in the Arconia
• 07:24 – The epic therapy scene with Charles, Oliver, and Detective Williams
• 12:32 – Game: Dead Giveaway
• 14:42 – Casting with Tiffany Little Canfield; assembling the billionaires and brothers
• 20:53 – McKenna Thurber’s origin story and ascension to co-writer
• 24:45 – The genesis and goals of "ladies night"
• 27:28 – Writing for four Oscar-winning actresses
• 29:41 – Favorite jokes/moments from the season
• 31:56 – Game: Bird Is the Word
• 34:30 – Mila Kalovich explains set decoration
• 36:52 – Building the Velvet Room casino
• 37:45 – Creating Mabel's new apartment
• 40:08 – The philosophy behind rich set details

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Conclusion

This episode offers a delightful and insightful journey into the making of “Cuckoo Chicks” — from writer’s brainstorms and actor camaraderie to the artfully dressed sets and surgically precise casting. The lively banter, heartfelt stories, and reverence for both the craft and chaos of the Arconia make it a can’t-miss for fans who want to understand the fine web of mystery, comedy, and character that holds "Only Murders in the Building" together.

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Next week: Jermaine Fowler (Randall), Jackie Hoffman (Uma), assistant costume designer Abby Geegan, and executive producer Jess Rosenthal.

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End on Host’s Signature:
“Until then, stay alive. Don’t get killed.” — Michael Cyril Creighton

Transcript

[McKenna Thurber]

We thought it would be a really fun energy to have some type of chaotic feminine night and that we wanted to call it ladies night.

[Russell G. Jones]

Oh, totally.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I've never been so sad not to be a lady. Welcome to Only murders in the building, the official podcast. I am your host, Michael Cyril Creighton. I play your favorite trio's fourth wheel. The man's still sore he wasn't invited to ladies night. 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.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

It's a ladies night for important ladies like moi.

[Mila Kalovich]

And it's literally in the building.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Today's show is all about episode eight, cuckoo chicks. We'll talk with actor Russell g. Jones about Dr. Grover's impromptu therapy session with Charles and Oliver. We'll talk about ladies night with co writer of episode eight, Makena Thurber. We'll talk with set decorator Milla Kalevich about the visual feast that is the Arconia. And we'll hear from casting director Tiffany Little canfield about how the show keeps bringing in the most impressive actors season after season, present host included. But first, a quick recap of episode eight. So if you haven't watched, stop. Come back after you have. I will be here waiting with open arms. It's ladies night at the velvet room, and Mabel, Loretta, Detective Williams and Rainey all go. Camilla is one apartment away from owning the Arconia. What? So Camilla owns 51%? Not yet. It's still in escrow. Closes tomorrow, which is at midnight. So Oliver and Charles try to convince Dr. Grover Stanley not to sell, but they're too late.

[Russell G. Jones]

12, 15. Escrow's closed.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Camilla tells Loretta that Sophia was cheating on Nikki. Then Loretta finds the bloody elevator crank in Nikki's office.

[McKenna Thurber]

There's blood.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Did you just find the murder weapon? The team learns that Lester's bird whistle sets off a camera aimed at the fountain. Footage from the night Lester died shows Randall picking up the bloody elevator crank. One classic Arconia resident we see again this season is Dr. Grover Stanley, played by the amazing Russell G. Jones. Hey, Russell, how you doing? Good to see you. Welcome back to the arconia. It's nice to have you here.

[Russell G. Jones]

Thank you.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So let's go back all the way to season one. What was your first day?

[Russell G. Jones]

My first day was a scene in the lobby where the residents are trying to figure out what's going on. I'm Dr. Grover Stanley, and I'M sure we're all grieving the loss of Tim Kono. If you need to talk privately about Tim or whatever. I live on six, and I take Venmo.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So my same first day. Right. The building meeting with Bunny.

[Russell G. Jones]

Yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Where she tells us to stop murdering.

[McKenna Thurber]

Yes.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

If you're a murderer, stop murdering. What do you remember about that day?

[Russell G. Jones]

I remember. I mean, it was during the COVID days, so I remember being super masked and zone and no contact with anybody. And I remember, like, just being so excited to be involved in a comedy at that time and just, like, how the whole thing just sort of buoyed my spirits.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. And I remember being directed like this. And Steven, Marty do impressions of it all the time. It was like, okay, you're gonna walk over there, you're gonna do this, you're gonna do this. And you have no idea what they're saying. You just nod and go, okay. Yeah. But the interesting thing about that is our director for the pilot and the second episode of season one and who does every finale we have was Jamie Babbitt.

[Russell G. Jones]

Jamie Bab.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

How do you know Jamie Babbitt?

[Russell G. Jones]

I know Jamie Babbitt because we went to junior high school and high school together, and we had a really thorough theater program. So we had a junior acting ensemble, and we had a senior acting ensemble. And Jamie was one of the usual suspects of that community, and she's always been just, like, effervescent and charming. And, in fact, the reason why I got involved in that theater program was because they were doing a Cheaper by the Dozen, and they were having auditions, and, like, no boys were auditioning, so it was all girls. And there were a couple roles that were boys but played by girls. And me and another friend, Chris Callister, were in the hallway outside of the theater doing a stupid game where we throw our backpacks at each other and run, and then you run around the whole rotunda. And I was coming back, and Jamie came, and she's like, russell, you should audition for the play. It'll be so good. And I was like, you think so, Jamie? She's like, yeah, it'll be so good. And I was like, okay. And I went and auditioned. They're like, great. You know, you're playing Larry, the youngest boyfriend of the smallest. Whatever. And that was my beginning. That is amazing organized theater, really.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. So Jamie Babbitt is sort of your acting whisperer.

[Russell G. Jones]

She is.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

This show is the first time you're working with her. Yeah.

[Russell G. Jones]

And I didn't know that she was on. I didn't know that she was involved. It was just an audition, really. And then I showed up to the set and she was like, hey. And I was like, put that down.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

What are you risking everything? Yeah. That was a weird time.

[Russell G. Jones]

I'm sure we're all grieving the death of our dear Evelyn. And just a quick reminder, I live on Six and Venmo.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So I have a question about Dr. Grover Stanley. Yes, I know a little bit about him. I know he loves Venmo. I know he loves. I'm wondering if you have sort of a backstory for him or if there's any lore you can give me about Dr. Grover Stanley.

[Russell G. Jones]

Yeah, I mean, I didn't really make up a backstory about him, but what I learned from him about the script and what I think he brings to the sort of tapestry of the building is like, he's a very stable sort of resident, but he also is, like, an indicator of the economics of the situation. It is like he's always trying to find a way to get another stream of income or another way to feel valued in the community, but he's also, like, not trying to ripple too many waves.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Russell G. Jones]

So he feels like a sort of baseline resident. And like, the other characters get compared to that sort of normalcy.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, yeah. He's sort of a normal guy in a wild building. Yeah. I just remember that he's instrumental in Howard's sort of blossoming because Dr. Grover Stanley is the one that's like, go ask that guy out. In season two, you were instrumental in me asking Jonathan out on a date. Oh, isn't he something? The power may be up, but there are sparks flying off of that one.

[Russell G. Jones]

So ask him out.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yes. So thank you for that.

[Russell G. Jones]

Yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I thought it was part Howard's sexual awakening.

[Russell G. Jones]

Well, I mean, Howard's not the only person that Dr. Grover has helped with their sexual awakening.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, it's helping a lot.

[Russell G. Jones]

Blossoming.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. Who else? Who else would you say?

[Russell G. Jones]

Well, you know, you don't kiss and tell.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Don't kiss and tell. Uma. It's Uma. Okay, so in this episode, I want to talk a little bit about this. You have this great scene, this therapy session between you and Charles and Oliver.

[Russell G. Jones]

So who wants to start?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Then Detective Williams comes in and sort of sizes you all up.

[Mila Kalovich]

Right.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So where were we? Charles want to fuck his mom? Ok, proceed from there.

[Russell G. Jones]

Yeah, I mean, the scene is really funny on the page, but I didn't really know, like, how it was going to play out. And I've been pining for Dr. Grover Stanley to actually be seen, you know, doing his thing as a therapist. And so they sort of like, I guess I was working on 504 or something, and Steve, I think John was like, oh, there's a good scene coming up for you. And I was like, okay, great, great. And then later that day, Steve was like, 508's gonna be watched.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Funny.

[Russell G. Jones]

I was like, okay. And then Marty was like, we're gonna do the therapy scene. It's gonna be great. And I was like, oh, I'm doing therapy in 508 and it's gonna be us.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That's how information gets disseminated to us on set. It's like, everybody knows what we're doing later in the season except us, right? Yes. Yes. So that was exciting.

[Russell G. Jones]

Right?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You got to know you were with them. Had you had a big scene with the two of them before?

[Russell G. Jones]

Not by myself, no.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

No. Right.

[Russell G. Jones]

No. Most of my characters exchanges have been in the group scenes and sometimes playing off of them, but never just us and never the therapy thing. I thought that was really important. He got established. We got to see him doing the thing that we've heard that he does.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Totally. And how was filming that scene?

[Russell G. Jones]

You know, it's hard to not be in awe of these two, you know, just. And it's not just. It's not just that they're skilled, but it's actually. I was thinking about it. It's actually like, how much love is involved.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Totally. And then when you throw Selena into the mix, when it's the three of them in a scene, it's overwhelming almost. There's so much love for the show, so much love for each other. For each other, and so much respect to the actors that they're working with, all three of them, it's incredible.

[Russell G. Jones]

There's a lot of love, a lot of respect, and, you know, you see what it looks like when you stay the course and you sort of commit yourself fully to something.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, whatever.

[Russell G. Jones]

But it's like that friendship between the two of them and the fact that they never stop.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Well, yeah, it's unreal. It's unreal. And then you add Divine into the mix, who is just phenomenal. Had you worked with her before?

[Russell G. Jones]

We were in a scene together, I think, in season two. But I have seen her before. I met her a couple of times. She was great in that Dolemite Is My Name movie. I thought that was terrific Eddie Murphy movie. And just, like, she can hold center. The energy that she brings is so confident that, like, you can just play off of it because you know that she's actually going to be where she says that she's going to be.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Russell G. Jones]

So she brings this energy into the scene. We're doing this thing and then the whole energy shifts and it becomes this cipher, this sort of unexpected cipher. And it's just moment, moment, moment, moment. And then we're all just like, ah, yeah, yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Wait, what's happening?

[Russell G. Jones]

We're in the middle of a therapy session. Would you like to join?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, yes. Do you think that Grover Stanley will ever be a murder victim?

[Russell G. Jones]

Is it better to be a murder victim?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I think on this show, I think it's better to be a murder victim because then you get a whole nother season about you even if you're not there. They're talking about that.

[Russell G. Jones]

The backstory.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Like, I don't know if, you know, I never know anything. So, like, I don't know until the very end who did what or who's getting what or. I think it's not a bad place to be is to be a murder victim, I think.

[Russell G. Jones]

I think so.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Unless there's going to be like, you know, a million seasons in a spin off, you don't want to die. But who could tell? Who could tell?

[Russell G. Jones]

I'm also. But I'm thinking about my mother because I did a Law and Order way, way back and at some point I was found in the trunk of the car. And you know, my mother doesn't watch all the things, but like, she watched the Law and Order. Cause the first Law and Order. She was like, oh, I got all these calls from these family members that we haven't heard of and you're bringing the family together, Russell. And I was like. So I did this other one and she called me up and she was like, why didn't you tell me you were gonna be dead? This is before spoiler alerts or trigger alerts or whatever. I was like, I didn't even know. So you know, from my loved ones, maybe I don't wanna be murdered.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I. My mother always tries to get ahead of my jobs. Like, I'll say, oh, I got a job. She goes, are you gonna wear all your clothes? I was like, yeah, Mom, I'm wearing all my clothes. No one's asking me to take my clothes off. Wait, no.

[Russell G. Jones]

Is there a history there? Did you start out in the Nudies?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

No, I didn't. I did one play in college where I took my shirt off and she's like, you could have warned me. And I was like, this is why I have shame like, what the hell?

[Russell G. Jones]

This is why.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

This is why. Do you want to. How do you feel about playing a game with me?

[Russell G. Jones]

I like games. I like games. Yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Should we give a game a try?

[Russell G. Jones]

Yeah. I mean, do I need to stretch before this? How physical is it gonna be?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, not. Well, that's up to you. I think you're good sitting down. I don't think you need to stretch. Okay, so this game is called dead giveaway. I have here 10 things that we may have seen in the episode. I'm gonna describe them to you, and your job is to guess as many as you can within 60 seconds.

[Russell G. Jones]

60 seconds.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

60 seconds.

[Russell G. Jones]

Okay.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And the prize you will win today if you get all of them is a 30 minute session with psychic medium celery wisp. Okay, Celery sounds good. She takes venmo. Ready? Put 60 seconds on the clock. Now this is something that Vince fish is on. It's a bicycle for exercise. There's a video screen peloton. Yep. This is what Williams is detective. This is a game that you play in a casino with cards not white, but black. Not king, but queen. No, the younger one, a jack. Yep. This is not men's evening, but ladies night. This is what celery wisp is a psychic. Yep. This is if I pulled something from behind my ear right now. That's magic. Come on. Yes, it is. This is what when you online put little pictures of things you like.

[Russell G. Jones]

Facebook, Pinterest.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yes, exactly. This is what we don't want the arconia to be turned into, but we will sell our apartments for.

[Russell G. Jones]

Oh, a casino.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yep. Bing, bing, bing. You won. I'm coming to see you.

[Russell G. Jones]

I'm gonna know both of our futures now.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, exactly. Ask more about season six. Thank you so much for being here. I'll talk to you soon.

[Russell G. Jones]

Yeah, my pleasure. Michael.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Oh, my God, there's Jen Aniston.

[McKenna Thurber]

I'm gonna go quick and go see if she wants to be on burn unit as a sexy arsonist.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

When people talk about only murders in the building, they're always talking about the clothing and the casting. Today we have one of our fantastic, incredible casting directors here, Tiffany little canfield. Hello, Tiffany. How are you doing?

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Great. Thanks for having me.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Good to have you here. So you've been with only murders from the very beginning. Right. And now we're five seasons in. What I'm always so impressed with is you have filled the building with some of the biggest, brightest stars, but also some of the greatest co stars and just working actors in New York. Every single person that walks on our set, Be it someone for two lines or Meryl Streep is always the best of the best. And now you have this new challenge that sort of happened last season. There's sort of groups of actors. Like, we had a trio last year, which is the trio of actors playing our trio. And this season, you have a trio of billionaires. I imagine that makes the casting even more complicated.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

You definitely are talking about dynamics, especially with comedy, because I think comedy, dynamic energy is so important to keep surprising the audience. So we definitely talked a lot about these actors in conjunction to each other.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. So how did we find these billionaires this season? They're incredible. I'm top three.

[Russell G. Jones]

They're top 20.

[McKenna Thurber]

Sebastian on many lists. I'm four.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Well, we talked about a lot at the beginning, about what the parts were like. You know, first it was sort of general at first. Three billion owners. One female, two male. You know, very general. And then we started to get into more details, which I don't want to discuss here for various reasons, but we just did lists of ideas and talked about. Talked to the big agencies and because we usually get a lot of incoming calls on the show about this show.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

People who want to be on the show.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

So we look around and we see sort of like, who. Who would be fun together.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Well, it worked. I mean, this is a trio that I would never imagine together. Kristoff, Renee, Logan. And it's. It's a perfect pairing. Well done. Now, there's another group of actors on this show that I'm obsessed with, which are the five brothers. I'm Johnny. These here are my brothers, Tony, Mikey, Vinnie, and Braden. How fun and challenging was that situation?

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

I mean, I felt a lot of pressure because when I read the script, I thought that was the funniest idea. And I feel like there's a lot of physical comedy in it. And so to find, you know, who are these guys and what, you know, different types. You know, all different types, or, you know, we went in a bunch of different directions with thinking about who Braden might be.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Is he really different? You know, like, things like that. So we explored that in our casting. I'm sure many people will see it and go, huh? That's the way they went, you know, because they might look at themselves and go, oh, why did I get seen for that? Because we really did explore to see what would be the funniest. And these actors just took the parts.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

They kill it. They killed it. Two of them look very related. There's, like, two pairs that look extremely Related to each other. And then Brayden, who looks totally different but doesn't look like a joke like that was. That's the thing that you're so good at on this show, is that you get funny actors who are game to play, but nobody feels like a hokey joke. Like, the casting is as smart as the writing, which I really appreciate. As someone who's on the show. Are you concerned that you might run out of celebrities? No.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Because the met gala does a really good job of introducing the new ones every year. So you can just go right to the, you know, the vogue article or the. Your favorite TikTok stylist and go through the. And whoever's outfit I like the best goes right to the top of the list.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

This show's gonna run forever. What is a challenge that you had as a casting director, and once you solved it, you were like, I killed it.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

I have to say. Miller the trash man.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Holy cow. Miller the trash man is perfect.

[McKenna Thurber]

You get to know people when you do their trash.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Well, I'm such a massive, massive fan of David that I can't even begin.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

And when we were looking at that part, that's a part where you could really be thinking, like, do you get a super famous person? And they show up in this very surprising way. But I also. I feel like our team really wanted a great new yorker. And I think that David's legacy with the warriors. I just feel like maybe Luther ends up as the draconia.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I can't.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Or something. I don't know. Like, there's just something. To me, he was so iconic from inner space. I don't know if anyone saw that film. And so he just feels like legendary new yorker. And so it seemed perfect.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

He's perfect. I mean, the energy that he brings to every scene. I interviewed him for this, and he's wild and perfect. Yeah. That is a total win this season. It's killer. Okay, if you could choose any actor, living or dead, to join season six, who would it be?

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Daniel day lewis.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Good one. Good one.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

He's retired, though.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

But, you know, these are big dreams.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, big dreams. Dream big dream. Big. Thank you for casting me in this show. Thank you for casting all the people that inhabit the arconia. You and your team do such a great job. And, you know, it wouldn't be the same without you. So thank you for being here.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Thanks for having me.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And I can't wait to see you again on zoom in an audition.

[McKenna Thurber]

Well, I've told you about my talents as a medium.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You sure Haven't.

[McKenna Thurber]

Surely you know about my first New York roommate, Celery Wisp.

[Russell G. Jones]

I sure don't.

[McKenna Thurber]

Celery.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

The writers on Only Murders in the Building have fun, but boy, is it a challenging job keeping track of all the threads of the murder mystery while writing characters that make us all laugh hysterically. Sitting with me now is McKenna Thurber, who co wrote this episode with Kristin Newman. Hi, McKenna, great to see you. You've been with this show since season three. But I didn't know you in season three.

[McKenna Thurber]

No, I was the office PA in season three in the production office.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So what did you do?

[McKenna Thurber]

Well, there were two office PAs every season and I was tasked with lunch for everybody, including you. I would drop off lunch outside of your dressing room.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So you're right. You always put it in there and I. Oh, that's a bummer.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

I know.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

What other tasks did you have in that job?

[McKenna Thurber]

It was kind of like a catch all. Any task that needs to be done for production. I would like race lipstick to Paul Rudd's house so that he could rehearse writing on the mirror with the lipstick that we had as a prop.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Uh huh.

[McKenna Thurber]

Or one time a trash can was on fire outside and I had to call the police.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That was my fault. Sorry about that. And then you got bumped up to script coordinator, right?

[McKenna Thurber]

Yes. So I. After season three, I just, I loved the friends we made so much and told John, our creator, that I would move to LA if I could be the writer's pa. And after the writers strike happened, I got a phone call on a Thursday and he said, would you want to be our writer's PA? Can you come to LA Monday morning, 9am?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh my gosh.

[McKenna Thurber]

And I was like, absolutely. I'll be there. I'm so excited. Packed up my, my whole life in New York.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[McKenna Thurber]

Found a sublet for my apartment in Brooklyn and moved to LA over that weekend and started Monday morning nine.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

For season four.

[McKenna Thurber]

For season four. And then halfway through that season, our amazing Pete Swanson, who was a script coordinator before me, who I love, he's so awesome. He wrote episode seven.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

He wrote episode seven this season. Yeah.

[McKenna Thurber]

He trained me to be script coordinator. He got bumped up to be a staff writer and I said, I'll move back to New York City if I can be on set as the script coordinator. And so that's now.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So that was season four. Season four. You were script coordinator the whole time. What I always like is that you send, when we get the scripts, you sign it. Your friend McKenna Thurber which is such a nice way to get a new script.

[McKenna Thurber]

Thanks.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And then now we're in. So you did that all season four. That's when we sort of met, became very friendly. Okay. So incredible rise in the arconia. You went from office PA to writers room PA to script coordinator. And now in this season, you co.

[McKenna Thurber]

Wrote episode eight with Kristen Newman.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

With Kristen Newman, who is also fantastic.

[McKenna Thurber]

Yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So how did you and Kristen split up the episode? How does that work?

[McKenna Thurber]

Well, we first got assigned the episode at our secret Santa is a big event in the writer's room. It's a huge, just, like, point of bonding for everyone, where in August when the room started, we pulled secret Santa names then.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, wow.

[McKenna Thurber]

And for the next several months, we're giving tiny gifts hinting who the secret Santa might be until we have a huge party for Christmas.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, that is cool.

[McKenna Thurber]

And reveal the secret Santa. And it really bonds everyone. And at that party is when John told Alex Bigelow that she was promoted to staff writer and told me that I would be writing episode eight with Kristen Newman. And at the time, all we knew was that the concept was ladies night. And Kristin had tears in her eyes. She was so excited. And I did too. And she hugged me, and we were both crying, and she said, we'll figure out what ladies night means soon.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That's amazing.

[Mila Kalovich]

Yeah.

[McKenna Thurber]

I mean, when we started, I mean, the way the season, like, writing a season for us works is, like, for the first couple months or the first month especially, we're really planning out what each episode might look like in order to. Because we have a mystery to solve more than anything. And so we map out, like, the context for each episode, who our suspect is going to be. And when we had a loose outline, all we really knew was that we wanted to go after Camilla and that we wanted to call it ladies night.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Ladies Night. Right.

[Mila Kalovich]

Ladies night.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

It's ladies night.

[McKenna Thurber]

Private Ladies night.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Ladies night.

[McKenna Thurber]

Ladies night.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Ladies night. Ladies night. Ladies Night.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Ladies night.

[McKenna Thurber]

It was ladies night.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Ladies night.

[McKenna Thurber]

And just we thought it would be a really fun energy to have some type of chaotic feminine night, especially with Mabel at the forefront. Woo. This is ladies Night.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yay. Oh, my gosh. Yes.

[McKenna Thurber]

And as the season started to unravel, we really, I think, found a really great sweet spot for Mabel's arc, especially.

[Russell G. Jones]

Oh, totally.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I've never been so sad not to be a lady in my life. I was like, it's. I know. You kept trying to get Howard in there somehow.

[McKenna Thurber]

I know.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

But it's such a great episode. And when you and Kristen Wright do you to divide and conquer, does someone take a pass and then the other person takes a pass? How does that work?

[McKenna Thurber]

Well, with the way that our writer's room works is so collaborative, where we have basically the whole room discussing what do we think the outline for this episode should be? And we kind of do a beat structure together of like, here's what a cold open could look like. Here's like what we want the arcs for these three characters to be. Then once the outline is pretty solid and you know, Kristen and I, or whoever is the writer who's writing the episode.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[McKenna Thurber]

Will lead that outline. But really everyone's so involved, especially in like pitching the jokes and like some of those jokes that happen in outline make it all the way to the end, which is really fun. But then once we have that, Krista and I peel off and we go, okay, what do you want to take? What part of the story do you like? And so she was like, how about I take the cold open? You take act one, I take act two, you take act three. We'll write it, and then we'll come together, comb through and help each other, make sure we didn't take, you know, we had like a bank of jokes for the episode.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Right.

[McKenna Thurber]

We wanted to make sure we didn't repeat jokes that we had been pitching for a while. And it was just that first draft we added together was like 48 pages and we had to cut it down to 34.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[McKenna Thurber]

And it was just at that point I had already flown to production in New York, so we'd been co writing on Zoom.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, wow.

[McKenna Thurber]

Which was honestly a really awesome experience because I felt like we had just this one on one time, any hour of the day where I could call her. Really. It was like, you know, midnight here. But she had just gotten off work with the writers and be like, hey, this is what I've been ruminating on because I'm here on the sets. And then she could be like, this is what we. These are the themes that we're gonna be looking at for episode nine. And I think that we should tie this in more. And I just love her so much. It was a really great experience.

[Mila Kalovich]

Yeah.

[McKenna Thurber]

Here, put this on. This will make you sparkly.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You missed our lady's shopping montage. Okay. So on this episode, you get to write not only for one, not two, not three, but four Academy Award winning actresses. Meryl Streep, Diane Wiese, Renee Zellweger, and Davine Joy Randolph. What is that like? Is that intimidating? When you're sitting down and writing their.

[McKenna Thurber]

Lines, it's definitely exhilarating. And I think something that we had on our side in terms of just facing that woman power is Jessica Yu, our director is the fifth academy award winner that was working on that episode.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Right, I forgot about that.

[Mila Kalovich]

Yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, she's incredible.

[McKenna Thurber]

She is just so magnificent. And so she had these pitches that just really helped us in terms of like what blocking should be to make the comedy work. It was such a huge episode with so many women that we needed to serve that she knew how to give everyone their proper screen time.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, that's great.

[McKenna Thurber]

And then also while we were on set, you know, Kristen and I were both there every day and being able to talk to cast about last minute line pitches and what feels best for the character. Yeah, they really like do a great job at making it seem, taking their dialogue and making it their own. Especially when it comes to Celery Wisp.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I can feel the good fortune swirling around this table.

[McKenna Thurber]

There's like one line when Celery says a swirling. And that was. That was a day of pitch where she was like, I want to say a swirling. Instead of swirling, I'm going to say a swirling.

[Russell G. Jones]

Is that cool?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That's amazing.

[McKenna Thurber]

It's just really fun to see what people do when they have the confidence to elevate what the writing and just like concept could be. I'm so excited that they just took it and ran. Cause on paper it's a crazy idea.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

But it works so well and it's just. It's a perfect sort of combination of great writing, incredible acting and a great director. That's what our show does very well. So congrats on this. This is a big deal. This is a very big deal. This is your first episode of television that you've written, right?

[McKenna Thurber]

Yes.

[Russell G. Jones]

Not the last.

[Mila Kalovich]

Not the last.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Do you have any favorite jokes or bits from the whole season or favorite moments from the entire season?

[McKenna Thurber]

Favorite moment. Funny moments or heartfelt moments? Both, I think. A delight for us, of course, was giving Loretta those two character actor roles to play.

[Mila Kalovich]

Yes.

[McKenna Thurber]

Celery Wisp, of course, in eight. And then Emily Lawler in episode six.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Yes.

[McKenna Thurber]

A psychic. And then a Cajun woman who fell into a well with an albino alligator as a child.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That's perfect.

[McKenna Thurber]

It's perfect. She was pogoing over the well.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, right.

[McKenna Thurber]

So those were so delightful to have as like beacons that we could really look forward to as we were writing. I love the joke so much. It was a Ben Smith pitch. In our episode, episode eight, that Charles talks about therapy and they're like, have you never been to therapy? Have you not been to a therapist?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, once. Waste of time. He said you only hear things you want. And then he told me a bunch of stuff I didn't even want to hear. That is a really good and very real line.

[McKenna Thurber]

And it was so fun to have Steve read it so many different ways on stage.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, yeah.

[McKenna Thurber]

It has been just such a delight. The little, I mean, in the writer's room, anytime anyone says something that like makes pitching stop because we're laughing so hard, we write it on a card and put it on the wall. We have like a special board that's just all of our best cards of like conversation stoppers. And for me, I would have put that.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That is a good one. There's so many good lines this season. And what is it like to. What is it like to write for Howard?

[McKenna Thurber]

Well, I only had the pleasure of getting to comb through after the drafts were done and maybe suggest some punch ups. But I think that we always refer to Howard as the character that saves us because I think in so many ways, like you reground the tone of the show when you walk back in, if it's getting like to mystery or, you know, it's like you are the arconia. It's like, oh, that's nice. We always refer to. We're like, power's gonna save us. Don't worry. And I think we see that in the next episode. Episode nine.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Didn't they call me a Swiss army knife character or something? Or like I just like come in and fix things.

[McKenna Thurber]

You are the Swiss army character.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I love it.

[McKenna Thurber]

But yeah, in episode nine we really see that.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

We really do. Stay tuned. Episode nine is a good one for Howard.

[McKenna Thurber]

It's so. You're so good in an episode.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, you're nice. Are you ready to play a game with me?

[McKenna Thurber]

Perhaps.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

It's a hard game.

[McKenna Thurber]

I'm listening.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Okay. This is a game called birds. The word bird naming etiquette is one of the most ridiculous things in the scientific world. Truly, it's like the wild west. And in this game, I'm going to give you some bird names. There will be one real bird name and one fake bird name. And we're gonna see if you can guess which the real bird name is.

[McKenna Thurber]

Are you kidding?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

No, I'm serious. I'm serious. Are you ready?

[McKenna Thurber]

Okay.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

First up, fancy throated woodpiper or bare faced go away bird. Which is real.

[McKenna Thurber]

The go away.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That's right. Fluffy backed tit babbler or bare necked lady flyer?

[McKenna Thurber]

Tit babbler.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That's right. Mm. Chaco. Choco. Chacha. I can't say this one. Cha Co. Chachalaca or boom. Bacalaca.

[McKenna Thurber]

Chacho.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

It is Chacha. Exactly. Next one. Blue footed booby.

[McKenna Thurber]

That one's the real one.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Not red nosed Susie. Mm. Mm. That's what they used to call me in high school. Red nosed Suzie. Okay, last one. Short legged beetle chewer or long bearded honey eater?

[McKenna Thurber]

Honey eater?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That's what they called me in college. All right. This has been so fun.

[McKenna Thurber]

Did I get them all right?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, you got them. All right. Well, you probably did your research.

[McKenna Thurber]

We did a lot of bird research.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

This game was actually quite easy for you and a little hard for me because they're hard words to say. You're such a good writer and such a good friend, and I'm so glad that we got to experience this show together. I hope we experience many more things together. Thank you for being here.

[McKenna Thurber]

Thanks, Michael.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You're welcome, McKenna. And now MCC on HFM. Howard was not in this episode because he knows how to leave an audience wanting more. Plus, he had yodel shop practice. And that was Michael Cyril Creighton on Howard Francis Morris. You're welcome. How could my character live here? The album's not alphabetized. Oh, nice, nice.

[Russell G. Jones]

A first edition. Touching. A second edition. Yeah.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Brilliant. That's really good. I'm here now with a person who probably knows about more visual Easter eggs on Only Murders than anyone else. Our set decorator, Mila Kalovich. Hi, Mila.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Hi.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I'm so happy to have you here because we actually have never met before today.

[Mila Kalovich]

We haven't?

[McKenna Thurber]

Isn't that crazy?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

It is crazy. You've been with the show since.

[Mila Kalovich]

Since last season. Season four.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Okay. And you are the set decorator.

[Mila Kalovich]

Yes.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Can you explain to me and the audience what that means and what that job entails?

[Mila Kalovich]

So I work under our production designer, Patrick, who is the visionary for the sets. And then once he has sort of designed the vision, he will then give me the direction to start shopping for all the set decor that goes into these sets.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That would be like, pillows and stuff.

[Mila Kalovich]

Well, you know, it starts from the floor to the wallpapers to the lighting to the furniture to the art and all the smalls, all these little details and everything that you see.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

So anything on, like, a bookshelf, would that be you or would that be.

[Russell G. Jones]

Oh, wow.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Because I'm never sure, like, what. What's props? What's set decoration. What's production design?

[Mila Kalovich]

So props is anything that the actors handle, which is why you know the prop department a lot better than, you know, the set decorating department. You know, anything that you'll handle, anything that the actors are interacting with are really the props. And then everything that they don't. Everything in the background, that's me.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Ah, that's pretty amazing. You do a very good job. Because every time I read things in the scripts, and I sort of sometimes have a visual idea of what it's going to look like when I walk on a set, and then I'm consistently. My expectations are exceeded. I'm completely blown away by every little detail. The best part of this job is when you get to bring a family member or friend onto set and walk them around and show them all the little details in every single room that no one would know if they weren't on the set. But they're all there. Like, you open drawers, and there are amazing things inside, so there's nothing fake about the show.

[Russell G. Jones]

Your job is to not miss one detail, no matter how small.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I'm glad that we met. So there's sort of like an upstairs, downstairs thing. Your office is downstairs.

[Mila Kalovich]

There is. That's why I really got into it this year when we were doing the sort of arconia downstairs world. It kind of resonates with me because I sort of feel like I'm the downstairs.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, One of the basement people.

[Mila Kalovich]

Yeah, the basement people. Like, nobody knows who we are. We're sort of in before everybody else, and we leave. You know, I hand over the set to the crew, you know, on the day, and that's it.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Let's talk about some of the new sets this season that you worked on. This is a big new set this season. The velvet room. The casino. What was that like? That is a spectacular room to walk into.

[Mila Kalovich]

Well, as the only gambler in our department, I was all over it from day one. So it was great for me because I got to teach everybody. This is how this is played, and this is how this is played.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

And I'm on the phone with all.

[Mila Kalovich]

The casino companies and trying to buy all the tables.

[McKenna Thurber]

That was a lot of fun for.

[Mila Kalovich]

Me because nobody really knew anything about it.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Right.

[Mila Kalovich]

And so I got to really get into it.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

One of my favorite transformations, I would say, is the dudenoff apartment from season four is now Mabel's apartment in the west tower. And that redo is gorgeous.

[Mila Kalovich]

Extra.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah, it's extra. It's fantastic. It's the same bones, but it Looks so different. Talk about making that transition.

[Mila Kalovich]

Well, it's funny. So this season Mabel comes into her own and you finally see Mabel's style and what she's about.

[McKenna Thurber]

Now I'm sending in this kick ass pitch and they'll offer us a podcast deal. Right.

[Mila Kalovich]

You know, she's a little thrifty, she's a little femme, but also strong. And you know, we wanted to bring all of that for her set and we also wanted to transition it because from last season when we leave, there's only been a few days, but with the magic of the show, you see a fully redone apartment.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Mila Kalovich]

So we kind of worked a little backwards. Like we finished the set and then we started to pull back. So in episode one or two, whenever we first see it, it's just the beginnings.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I like this wallpaper. Someone's been busy around here and it's getting there. She's leveling up.

[Mila Kalovich]

You know, she's painted, she started her.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Mural, she installed that Murphy bed.

[Mila Kalovich]

Right, right. So we started with all of those things. And then as the season goes, you'll see it get more and more. We'll add more detail as we go. You know, some of the little things that I've added are little hints at the past seasons where she's got her Frida Kahlo puzzle and she's got her Hardy book collection. Those are the little bits that we kept adding, you know, Dudenoff's final script and things like that.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You know, a lot of times we use those rooms, those characters apartments as green rooms to sit and wait until we're filming. So that's when I really explored them. My favorite thing, I don't know if you did this, but it is. I think it's a set deck thing. When we're in Charles apartment, there's this amazing backgammon set. And I love to play backgammon when I'm in that room. Last season you did Vince Fisher's apartment, correct?

[Mila Kalovich]

Yes.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

That was a wild apartment to be in because he had all of these VHS and I think like TV guides or things like that. He just had so much acting memorabilia because he was so into it and the amount of detail was insane.

[Mila Kalovich]

Yeah, he was a history buff and he was a film student and he was into.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Well, he's into birding.

[Mila Kalovich]

Oh, birding.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah. He's into a lot. He's into a lot. Why is it important to have things on set populating the space that sometimes people might not even see? What do you think's the importance of having this sort of fully fleshed out world.

[Mila Kalovich]

For me, I think it's to support the actors and to support everyone that walks into the set because you want to feel like you're in that space. So I think the most important thing is to make the actress feel, whether it's in their home or, you know, I'm happy to take suggestions, like if we ever do Howard's apartment again, like, let's do it.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Oh, let's talk.

[Tiffany Little Canfield]

Yeah, exactly.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

I have ideas.

[Mila Kalovich]

So you really do want the actors to feel. To feel something when they walk in there.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

You really do.

[Mila Kalovich]

To get the performance of a lifetime.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

The penthouse. That penthouse has seen many different styles. What was it like to redo it for?

[Mila Kalovich]

So it was funny. It's usually Patrick gives us the direction for the design, but in this case, I actually called wardrobe, I called Dana and the costumers, and I said, what is she wearing? Because for me, that was a big thing. I'm like, what is her vibe?

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Mila Kalovich]

You know, you see a lot of different rock stars.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Yeah.

[Mila Kalovich]

And so I got her costumes. I got, you know, the sheet from the costume department, and I could tell that she was a little Gaga and she was a little Sia and Olivia Rodrigo. And so I kind of was like, well, let's play homage to those. Yeah, to those stars. And so we started.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

What are some of your favorite details downstairs? A little.

[Mila Kalovich]

The locker room was a lot of fun. We got to sort of give them their own little character. So, you know, every locker has some character, although we only know which one is Lester's. And then, of course, all the carvings were a lot of fun to do. Our scenic department did an incredible job carving things into that dust. And there's definitely some interesting things in there if you look close. Yes.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Thank you for making everything look so great and having surprises for us around every corner. It makes our performances better. Your team and our whole crew is so amazing. So it's nice to get to spend time with you and actually meet you for the first time.

[McKenna Thurber]

Yes, you too as well.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Thank you for being here. I can't wait till you build more.

[Mila Kalovich]

I know. I'm looking forward to Howard's apartment.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Me too. 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 talk to Jermaine Fowler, who plays a now very suspicious looking Randall. Jackie Hoffman, who plays our very favorite grumpy neighbor, Uma. Assistant costume designer Abby Geegan and executive producer Jess Rosenthal. See you next week. Until then, stay alive. Don't get killed. Watch and listen to 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. What do you think makes a good therapist? Do you have a therapist?

[Russell G. Jones]

I you've been talking to my girlfriend. A 20 year old soldier goes missing.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

From a U.S. army base.

[McKenna Thurber]

How can she go missing on a military base? That's too ridiculous.

[Russell G. Jones]

What would come to light is horrifying and ignites a movement that sparks a reckoning in the US Military.

[Michael Cyril Creighton]

Listen to Vanished what Happened to Vanessa?

[Russell G. Jones]

A new series from ABC Audio in 2020. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.