Martin Short Weighs In On Steve Martin Retiring After 'Only Murders'

Martin Short is sharing his thoughts on the possibility of his best friend and "Only Murders in the Building" costar Steve Martin retiring.

The pair, who have been friends longer than anyone can recall, have often made the lists for top Hollywood friendships. When the duo graced the 2022 Emmy Awards red carpet on Monday, September 12, Short addressed the rumors about whether Martin was retiring from acting or not. This update comes a month after Martin hinted at not working on any projects for a while.

According to PEOPLE, when Short and Martin stopped for a conversation with E!'s Laverne Cox on Monday night, she asked the latter to clarify his statement about having no plans of  "seeking" out other Hollywood projects. In response, Martin said:

"It's a little overstated. They asked me, 'Do you think about retirement?' I said, 'Well, this is it. I'm doing a television show, I've got a book coming out, and I'm touring with [Short]. That kind of is my retirement — that's what it's going to look like.' "

Short, who was right next to him, chimed in and said, "I can't imagine him ever retiring. I hope not, because then you know what happens to me," while making a finger-across-the-neck gesture.

Martin — who, along with Short, lost the Emmy award for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series to Jason Sudeikis — had last month revealed that he was not "going to seek" other shows and movies after "Only Murders in the Building," adding, "I don't want to do cameos. This is, weirdly, it."

The reason for going in the opposite direction is that the "Pink Panther" actor can focus on his life away from the big screen. The 77-year-old, who began his entertainment journey in 1968 by writing episodes of "The Summer Brothers Smothers Show," added:

"I have a family life that's really fun. To film a movie now, to go someplace else to live, I'm not willing to do that anymore. I can't disappear for three months."

Martin was already on the path of "dialing down" his career and seemed content with doing his comedy tours with Short before "Only Murders In the Building" came along. Per a recent story from The Blast, the producer claimed that his live comedy show made him happy, although "there may be a natural end to that."

The multiple Grammy Award winner also revealed he had no interest in doing studio comedies again because "It’s got failure written all over it!" One thing that Martin is not doing is calling his purposeful career slow down, an official "retirement."

In fact, the "Number One Is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions" author affirmed his disinterest in doing stand-up but clarified that "retirement" was not the perfect word for what comes next for him.

In July, The Blast noted that Martin and Short spoke up about the Emmys snubbing the third musketeer from "OMITB"  — Selena Gomez. The duo addressed the "injustice" during an interview where they said:

"Yeah, we’re very happy we got a lot of nominations. We’re a little dismayed that Selena didn’t get nominated because she’s so crucial to the trio, to the show."

Martin explained that it was the balance Gomez brought to the show that earned him and his best bud their nominations. Luckily, the singer and actress got an Emmy nomination as the show’s executive producer. Speaking on what viewers should expect from the show’s upcoming third season, Short said that since there were so many "tentacles to each script, something on script one is crucially affecting script nine."

Thus, the writers of the hit Hulu series had to "work out the whole journey" before shooting could begin. Short said, "For the end of this season, we have a teaser for next season. So you have to have a story in your head already to make a teaser for … I got lost. There’s so many seasons. I can’t, you know."

The mystery series earned nods in several Emmy categories, including Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Program (Half-Hour), Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation, Outstanding Main Title Design, and Outstanding Contemporary Costumes, clinching three out of the many.