If you haven’t seen Meryl Streep and Melissa McCarthy beat each other out in “Only Murders in the Building,” then, to borrow a phrase beloved by Aaron Sorkin, you haven’t seen Shakespeare as it was meant to be seen. be done.

The Hollywood heavyweights battled it out in the seventh episode of ‘OMITB’ Season 4, ‘Valley of the Dolls,’ and I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard.

In the episode, the podcasters of ‘Only Murders’ – Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) – decide to leave town and hide out on Long Island at Charles’ house. sister. , Doreen (Melissa McCarthy), as they try to avoid this season’s unnamed killer.

Not long after arriving at Doreen’s dollhouse (there are dolls everywhere — even a Taylor Swift doll), Oliver’s girlfriend, Loretta (Meryl Streep), shows up and demands to know why he broke up with her via text (and then turns off his phone ).

Oliver and Loretta – who are widely rumored to be dating in real life – quickly kiss and make up, much to Doreen’s dismay. The Crystal Light-loving Long Islander has fallen in love with Oliver and even tried to scare him. It is this love triangle that pushes Streep and McCarthy to break off their relationship.

“There’s going to be a catfight, actually about Oliver, between you and Melissa McCarthy,” co-creator and executive producer John Hoffman revealed to Streep over dinner before Season 4 started filming. Streep’s reaction, as told by Hoffman to TV Line: “I saw her raise her hands above her head, and she said, ‘I’m betting on me.'”

McCarthy was thrilled when Hoffman presented the idea to her. ‘I’m going to hang up because I’m going to pass out. I am so in love with everything you tell me,” he remembered her telling him.

When it came time to film the scene, Hoffman and the “Only Murders” team had stunt people on set and a plan for how it would all turn out. Streep and McCarthy were disappointed.

“So we got there, and we cleared the room with our stuntman, Chris Barnes, and his team had mapped out a plan for what they were going to do,” Hoffman told Variety. “It was down to the smallest detail and it looked good to us.”

“Meryl and Melissa stood up and said, ‘Look at this, and let’s see if it’s too much,’” he recalls. ‘They looked at each other afterwards and said, ‘It’s very good. We have different ideas.’ They felt it didn’t go far enough!”

“They were going to choreograph this themselves, and when I saw what they were doing, I thought, ‘This isn’t mapped out with the stunt people,’” Hoffman continued. “They say, ‘No, no, we don’t need stunt people.’ I’m like, ‘Meryl, you’re being thrown over the couch by your neck! I can’t!’ She says, “I’m doing well. I’m doing well. I love it. It’s great. Can I jump on her back like that? And (to Melissa): ‘Grab me harder!’”

“They dealt with it so deeply, in a way that none of us were prepared for,” the producer explained. “And every time they did it, I couldn’t watch.”

“I will say there is one quick second one shot of a stunt person because it was just a shot we needed, but other than that it’s all the same all the time. That was a night for the ages on set.”

Streep and McCarthy’s castmates were equally amazed at what they saw happen.

“I was amazed! I must say my mouth was in agony!” Steve Martin told USA Today.

Selena Gomez added: “They didn’t need the stunt doubles! They were great!”

“They just really went for it and I thought it was going to be one of the funniest scenes of all time,” Martin continued.

Although he was there on the day the scene was shot, Martin Short was amazed to see the fight “all cut together” in the finished episode.

“I was still surprised that it was clearly Meryl and Melissa doing this,” he said. “It’s very aggressive. Very funny.”

There was never any doubt in McCarthy’s mind that she would give it her all. “I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to throw Streep over the back of a couch,” she told Variety.

The “Spy” actress also spoke highly of her scene partner’s athleticism, saying, “For the record, I wouldn’t want to meet Meryl in a dark alley, she moves like an 18-year-old bobcat.”

Social media lit up after the episode aired, with fans of the show praising the actresses for their comedic (and physical) prowess.

“(I) just want everyone to be aware that I think this scene with just murders in the building deserves AT LEAST three different Emmys,” one person posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). “(M)eryl Streep and Melissa McCarthy are fantastic, but every actor in this room is simply phenomenal. THIS!!! is such good TV right now.”

Echoing the sentiment, someone else said, “I’m sorry, but if this episode doesn’t win for comedy, I don’t know what we’re doing.” They added: “This episode was pure genius.”

One viewer, who describes herself as a “meryl streep supremacist,” summed it up best: “(M)eryl streep beats the s(–)t out of Melissa McCarthy, absolute masterpiece.”

The first seven episodes of ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4 are now available to stream on Hulu. Seasons 1-3 are available on both Hulu and Disney+.