“Only Murders’ Billy Joel Gag was a love song for Long Islanders.”

“The fact that I kept drinking 'a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine' really made me laugh.”
Photo: Patrick Harbron/Disney

Just when you thought Just murders in the building exploited every cameo opportunity Over the course of four seasons, the seventh episode gave us another wigged surprise: Melissa McCarthy plays Charles' estranged younger sister Doreen, to whose Suffolk County home the trio flee for fear of being hunted by the unknown killer. Doreen is, to put it in Italian, one manciata. Her husband sleeps in a houseboat in their driveway. Their signature cocktail is vodka and Crystal Light. And her doorbell beckons visitors with the opening chords of Billy Joel's “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” which take on the eternally thirsty spirit of a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine. “Someone should understand this,” Oliver scoffs at one point, “before we have to hear it again.” Welcome to Strong Island, baby.

John Hoffmann, Just murdersShowrunner insists the inclusion of Joel's 1977 hit comes from a local love. “For me it’s a very ironic wink,” he explains. “I lovingly poke around Long Island throughout the show and hope people enjoy the silliness and jokes that come with it. “Everyone from the city, and especially everyone from Manhattan, like our trio, feels that way about Long Island.” Hoffman says he was inspired by his aunt and uncle, who lived in Suffolk County in a “house very similar to McCarthy's character saw”. “In my experience, Billy Joel is universally loved on Long Island, and to think otherwise is sacrilegious,” he adds. “Doreen and her husband Big Mike have this in their house because they think it's the coolest thing ever. I would assume they knew all the lyrics and sang them the first day they met.”

Hoffman and the show's production team explored several options from the song as Joel came out The stranger lasts well over seven minutes and features several melodic highlights. “At one point we tried a much more active lyric: 'Brenda and Eddie were the popular Steadys and the king and queen of the prom.' But then I realized Oh no, that's too much. It's a hat on a hat.” Whatever they decided, Hoffman stresses, was bound to provoke repeated contempt from the core trio. “There are all these reactions to it, like: Oh, for heaven's sake, can we please stop hearing that doorbell? If it was a variation, maybe someone wouldn’t be so keen on it,” he notes. “The fact that I kept drinking 'a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine' really made me laugh.”

No other songs from Joel's catalog were seriously considered, both because of the ubiquitous nature of “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” and because its melody foreshadows the growing chaos in the house. At the end of the episode, Eugene Levy, Meryl Streep, Eva Longoria, Molly Shannon and Zach Galifianakis appear to offer their theories about who the murderer could be. “Everything in this house – the dolls, Doreen, her husband living outside the boat – feels like a lot,” explains Hoffman. “There's a lot to deal with, and one thing on top of another seems to be the state of affairs out there.” Hoffman is optimistic that Joel, whose “appropriate channels” have approved use of the song, will enjoy the joke. “I hope Billy won’t be too surprised,” he adds with a laugh. “With the craziest, greatest cast of any half-hour comedy show I've ever seen, I can only hope Billy Joel shows good will.”