Cinda Canning is a recurring character in Season 1, Season 2 and Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. She is the host of a true crime podcast, All Is Not OK in Oklahoma, and was focused on in Season 2.
She is portrayed by Tina Fey.
History[]
Cinda dropped out of college at an unknown date, and later worked as an intern at the Washington Post under Kay Graham. She later began podcasting, and won two Peabody awards as well as other awards for her work. All Is Not OK in Oklahoma appears to be one of her most successful podcasts, as she has a poster for the show in her office.
All is Not Okay in Oklahoma[]
Cinda traveled to Oklahoma to investigate the disappearance of Becky Butler and made a podcast about the investigation.[2]
Becky Butler's Disappearance[]
Cinda went to Oklahoma to investigate Becky Butler's murder and record a podcast about it. During her time there, she frequented The Chicken Chug, where she talked to locals and cops, trying to figure out what they knew about the case.[3] She ended up "solving" the murder, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of Mayor Tipton, though this was later revealed to be the result of Daniel Kreps planting evidence to help Becky Butler, who had faked her own death and was now working for Cinda under the name Poppy White.[4]
New Podcast[]
When Cinda heard Only Murders in the Building, she told Poppy she needed a new murder to make a podcast about, a good one, and she didn't want to wait for one to fall in her life. Poppy tried to convince her to make a podcast about the disappearance of artist Rose Cooper, but Cinda didn't want to settle for less than a murder, so she declined.[5]
Helping the Trio[]
Through Arnav Kapoor, Charles-Haden Savage, Mabel Mora, and Oliver Putnam set up a meeting with Cinda to ask for her help on their podcast, as they all looked up to her. In her office, they were surprised to see that two of her employees, Cindy and Poppy, strongly resembled her. Before they could ask her anything, she got a phone call. She apologized for taking it, but said they might be getting purchased for $30 million. When she finished her call, she told them about a class they could take, but they said they weren't novices and were already onto something big. They told her about their theory that Sting had murdered Tim Kono and said they wanted her advice on getting him to sit down with them. She told them she got a confession from the mayor for All Is Not OK in Oklahoma by showing up with a fully cooked turkey. She also told them to embrace the mess.[6]
Jimmy Fallon[]
During an appearance on Jimmy Fallon, Cinda talked about "Only Murders in the Building."[7]
Trio's Arrest[]
Poppy and Cinda were among those who watched as Mabel, Charles, and Oliver were arrested after being found with Bunny Folger's body. Poppy held up a boom mic as they walked past, then said, "Coming this fall: Only Murderers in the Building." Cinda immediately claimed credit for that and threatened Poppy not to try to claim it as her own.[8][9][10]
In service of Only Murderers in the Building, Poppy found a former co-worker of Mabel's, Jimmy Russo, and brought him in to talk to Cinda about his experience with Mabel, which included him accusing her of cutting off his middle finger.
Cinda brought Poppy along when Detective Kreps called her and the trio to Bunny's apartment to tell them all to stop podcasting about the murder, as it was interfering with the investigation.
While Cinda was recording an ad to run with that episode, Poppy asked her to consider reviewing her performance and possibly giving her a promotion. Cinda agreed to consider it, but later told Poppy she'd only said that because Luis was also in the room. She passed on advice to Poppy not to be too good at a job she didn't want, as she was an exemplary assistant.[11]
Killer Reveal Party[]
Once they'd solved the murder, Charles, Mabel, and Oliver invited Cinda to come to their killer reveal party. When she and Poppy arrived, they quickly accused Cinda of the murder, declaring that she'd killed Bunny and hid her tracks with the help of a crooked cop. She asked how he knew about Kreps. Charles then laid out how instead of solving crimes for her podcast, she made them up. Cinda asked why she'd want to kill a woman she never met. Lester interjected that he had the logs that showed several visits to the Arconia, meaning she did meet Bunny. Cinda said she was just keeping tabs on the Kono investigation. The trio tried more things to unsettle Cinda, but she still couldn't confess. Mabel said that was because she didn't do it and pointed the finger at Alice, saying she wanted the painting and when Bunny asked for too much money for it, Alice killed her to get it. Alice flew into a rage and grabbed a nearby knife, intending to stab Mabel, but hitting Charles instead when he pushed Mabel out of the way. Charles collapsed to the floor while Uma called the police and the others restrained Alice. Oliver and Mabel cried and held Charles's hand as he bled to death.
As Howard comforted Mrs. Gambolini, Uma told them police and the ambulance were three minutes away. Cinda said that she was sorry for Charles's death, but said Mabel was incredible and offered her a job, saying she could even have her own podcast. This upset Poppy, who said there was nothing tying Alice to the murder and her confessing was just pure luck. Meanwhile, Poppy does everything for Cinda. As she talked, Poppy started sneezing. She said she was the one to tell Cinda about the art in the first place. Mabel questioned why and Poppy said it was for a podcast, but Cinda wasn't interested. Poppy continued to sneeze as she talked, prompting Oliver to ask if she had some kind of allergy, perhaps to Mrs. Gambolini. Mabel said the killer sneezed while leaving the crime scene. Poppy challenged that it wasn't uncommon to be allergic to birds and asked if they were going to believe some young girl hiding in the walls. Oliver said that only the killer could know about Lucy. Cinda then revealed that she knew that Poppy was really Becky Butler, the woman whose "murder" was the subject of Cinda's podcast, All Is Not OK in Oklahoma. When Poppy asked who told her that, Charles popped out from under the sheet and said it was them. The whole night was staged, including the two false accusations. Poppy said she just wanted to make a good podcast. She wanted Cinda to notice her, but things went wrong. While she talked about why she did it, Williams came in to arrest her while Kreps waited outside, already in handcuffs of his own.[12]
Offer to Mabel[]
After Poppy's arrest, Cinda took a year off and focused on her self-care. When she returned, she made a podcast about all the things she'd done, most of which she admitted she hadn't really done. Then she reached out to Mabel, offering to be partners in a new podcast. Mabel declined, even when Cinda increased her financial offer, saying that Charles and Oliver were her guys. Cinda was pleasantly surprised that Mabel was investigating Ben Glenroy's murder and told Mabel that the offer stood if Mabel changed her mind.[13]
Personality[]
Cinda is intelligent and successful, and initially appears benevolent but is later revealed to be arrogant and abusive. She is particularly awful to her assistant Poppy White, who she treats as a lesser being and frequently humiliates her, whistling to her like a dog and throwing staplers at her. She presents herself as a kind of heroine for "uncovering the truth" through her true-crime podcasts, but in the second season it's revealed that she really only spins the narrative that people want to hear, and doesn't really care about the truth. Despite her success and fame, she isn't interested in helping Poppy further her career in podcasting, and is disrespectful of her previous boss Katharine Graham. She is also dismissive of Poppy's ideas, unless she likes them, in which case she steals them for herself. She is distant with her family, even getting Poppy to write her birthday card for her son Stanley's third birthday.
Relationships[]
Poppy White[]
Poppy is Cinda's assistant, and manages her calendar, facilitates her meetings and records her podcasts with her, among other things. Cinda treats Poppy poorly, throwing stationery at her and whistling to her like a dog. She also makes Poppy remove the cilantro from her lunch. When Poppy dared to ask for a promotion, Cinda initially appeared to consider it, but later told her that she would never be promoted, and had only said she would consider it to avoid making the situation awkward. She advised Poppy to not be too good at a job she doesn't want.[14]
Career[]
Notes and Trivia[]
- Her character in Season 1 (particularly her "podcast voice") is based on the Serial host Sarah Koenig.[15] However, her character development in Season 2 is not based on Koenig.
- In the pilot script, Cinda is jokingly referred to as "Tina Feyning", before being officially named as Cinda Corning. For the first episode, her surname was changed to Canning.
- Cinda Canning won the Peabody Award in 2018 and 2020. She has also won 5 other awards, which are displayed on a shelf in her office.
- Cinda has dental implants.[16]
- She pronounced Chickasha, Oklahoma as "Chickashaw" for the whole series of All is Not OK in Oklahoma.
- She once was buried in raw sewage for eight hours in order to investigate a murder.
- Judging by Cinda's character in Season 2, it is likely that she didn't actually do this; in fact, she probably forced Poppy to do it and took the credit.
- Poppy stated in I Know Who Did It that Cinda has dislikes to many things such as human error, interruption, people who work for her but don't look like her, and the insides of tomatoes (similar to Oliver). She also has an unusual fear of slow-motion.
- Cinda has a production company, On Air with Cinda Canning,[17] which produces her podcasts.
- In The White Room Cinda returns with newly dyed blonde hair.
- Her son Stanley turned 3 in I Know Who Did It.
Gallery[]
Episodic[]
Episode Stills[]
Appearances[]
| Season One | |||||
| #01 | "True Crime" | #05 | "Twist" | #09 | "Double Time" |
| #02 | "Who Is Tim Kono?" | #06 | "To Protect and Serve" | #10 | "Open and Shut" |
| #03 | "How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors?" | #07 | "The Boy from 6B" | ||
| #04 | "The Sting" | #08 | "Fan Fiction" | ||
| Season Two | |||||
| #01 | "Persons of Interest" | #05 | "The Tell" | #09 | "Sparring Partners" |
| #02 | "Framed" | #06 | "Performance Review" | #10 | "I Know Who Did It" |
| #03 | "The Last Day of Bunny Folger" | #07 | "Flipping the Pieces" | ||
| #04 | "Here's Looking at You" | #08 | "Hello, Darkness" | ||
| Season Three | |||||
| #01 | "The Show Must..." | #05 | "Ah, Love!" | #09 | "Thirty" |
| #02 | "The Beat Goes On" | #06 | "Ghost Light" | #10 | "Opening Night" |
| #03 | "Grab Your Hankies" | #07 | "CoBro" | ||
| #04 | "The White Room" | #08 | "Sitzprobe" | ||
| List of Characters | ||
| MAIN | Charles-Haden Savage • Oliver Putnam • Mabel Mora • Howard Morris • Jan Bellows • Oscar Torres | |
| RECURRING | Tim Kono • Donna Williams • Sazz Pataki • Teddy Dimas • Theo Dimas • Zoe Cassidy • Ursula • Cinda Canning • Uma Heller • Arnav Kapoor • Bunny Folger • Lester • Poppy White • Ndidi Idoko • Grover Stanley • Amy Huang • Will Putnam • Sam • Paulette • Marv • Alice Banks • Joy Payne • Lucy • Ben Glenroy • Bobo Malone • Cliff DeMeo • Dickie Glenroy • Donna DeMeo • Jonathan Bridgecroft • Kimber Min • K.T. Knoblauer • Loretta Durkin • Tobert • Eugene Levy • Eva Longoria • Zach Galifianakis • Vince Fish • Bev Melon | |
| GUEST | Sting • Roberta Putnam • José Torres • Jimmy Fallon • Silvia Mora • Amy Schumer • Detective Daniel Kreps • Matthew Broderick • Scott Bakula • Doreen | |
References[]
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