As last podcaster standing, will Steve Martin (‘Only Murders in the Building’) prevail at Critics Choice TV Awards?

For the first time since Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” began, Steve Martin stands alone. At every televised awards ceremony since the true crime spoof started in 2021, Martin and co-star Martin Short had been nominated together for their performances as neighbors and unlikely amateur sleuths investigating murders in their posh New York City apartment building. They earned dual noms at this year’s Emmys, last year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards and Critics Choice TV Awards, and the Golden Globes for two years running. But this year, Critics Choice head-scratchingly left Short off its list, with Martin as sole nominee from the cast.

While the shocking snub of Short, Selena Gomez and the series at the Critics Choice Awards indicates a cooling-off of the show’s buzzy first season, might it actually clear a path for Martin to take home his first trophy for his charming straight man role of Charles-Haden Savage, who in the second season finds himself a suspect in the investigation of the murder of Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell)?

SEE Critics Choice TV Awards nominations: Complete list of contenders

According to our current combined odds, Martin lands dead middle of the pack in third place in the Best Comedy Actor contest. He trails category frontrunners Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear”) and Bill Hader (“Barry”), but runs ahead of Keegan-Michael Key (“Reboot”), Matt Berry (“What We Do in the Shadows”) and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (“Reservation Dogs”). He currently has the backing of one of our Experts, Susan Wloszczyna, and one of our top 24 users, who both predict Martin will win.

In the 13-year history of the Critics Choice TV Awards, Martin and Short are the only pair of co-stars ever nominated in the comedy actor category. The internal competition definitely held them back last year, when Jason Sudeikis won his second consecutive prize for “Ted Lasso.” Had only Martin or Short been nominated, it is conceivable that he would have been able to best Sudeikis, given the novelty of the show’s first season and each of their acclaimed performances. But even then, this awards body loves repeat winners. It had previously awarded Louis C.K. (“Louis”), Jeffrey Tambor (“Transparent”) and Bill Hader (“Barry”) two consecutive prizes apiece, and Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”) won twice in the span of four years.

SEE SAG Awards dead heat: Will ‘Only Murders in the Building’ snuff out its tough ensemble competition?

While Hader’s past wins for “Barry” make him look very competitive again this year, it seems hard to predict anybody but White winning. Right now, “The Bear” ranks high amongst the top TV series of the year, according to critics’ year-end lists aggregated by Metacritic, outpacing both “Barry” and “Only Murders.” As the lead actor and face of the show, White has a dominating advantage over the field, even Martin.

But in the off chance that Martin does pull off an upset, he could attribute it to not only Short’s absence, but also his funnier performance than that in the first season of “Only Murders.” Although nothing will likely surpass his physical comedy tour de force in the Season 1 finale, Martin had more comedic material in the new episodes, including his hilariously bad acting and look on the ludicrous spin-off of Charles’ series “Brazzos,” in which he plays the detective, older and suffering from illness. The veteran also gets some genuine scenes to chew on as Charles reunites with his ex-girlfriend’s daughter Lucy (Zoe Colletti), with whom he established a deep bond.

PREDICT the 2023 Critics Choice TV Awards through Jan. 15

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