How Steve Martin and Martin Short created the perfect comic marriage

It’s oddly fitting that Steve Martin and Martin Short find themselves in competition for Emmys this year for lead actor in a comedy for “Only Murders in the Building,” the ceremonial culmination of an occasional partnership whose public expression is built around backhanded compliments and passive-aggressive one-upmanship. Because I’ve seen your work.” Martin’s reply: “Could you get this script to Marty Short?” It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Along with “Three Amigos,” you can find them sharing the screen in the “Father of the Bride” movies, with Martin as the titular father and Short as an incomprehensible wedding planner, and as animated high priests in “The Prince of Egypt.” Martin guested on three of the six episodes of Short’s NBC variety series “Maya and Marty,” and sat down with Short’s absurd and insulting celebrity interviewer Jiminy Glick. Martin would prepare for months for a talk show appearance: “You’re always going on these shows to promote something,” he told The Times in 2012, “and you go, ‘I’m going to hold up a record for 30 seconds, and for that I have to have 10 minutes of comedy material.’” He worked most of a year on a banjo version of “Auld Lang Syne” to play at Short’s Christmas party.