The new Apple TV+ comedy Platonic, starring Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne and debuting on May 24, is all about two friends approaching middle age who reconnect after a long rift. Their friendship turns into an all-consuming force that threatens to destabilize their lives in hilarious ways, resulting in another new feel-good series from the iPhone maker’s streaming service that sort of revisits the central question from When Harry Met Sally — about whether men and women can remain “just friends” without romantic attachment getting in the way.
Needless to say, though, Byrne’s Sylvia and Rogen’s Will are a delightfully charming TV match, as well as a pairing that helped the 10-episode Platonic debut with a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Are you looking for a new feel-good TV comedy from Apple, which is slowly but surely ramping up its titles from that genre a la Shrinking? Maybe you’ve given up on Ted Lasso like me and are looking for a funny new gem to recapture that comedy spark.
If so, Platonic is the show for you.
Platonic marks the latest collaboration between Apple TV+ and Byrne, who also stars in the critically acclaimed series Physical (Season 3 of which is set to debut later this year). Rogen, meanwhile, is also set to star in an upcoming, untitled comedy series for Apple TV+ that he will write, direct and executive produce alongside Evan Goldberg.
Back in November, Apple gave a series order to a half-hour comedy from Rogen in which he also stars. It’s about, per Variety, “a legacy Hollywood movie studio trying to survive in a world where it is increasingly difficult for art and commerce to live together.”
As for Platonic, Will is a kind of listless brewmaster who’s just gotten a divorce and dresses, in Sylvia’s words, like a “’90s grunge clown.” Sylvia, meanwhile, has been out of the workforce for more than a decade and is feeling regret about the law degree that she’s not doing anything with. Her husband, who is a successful attorney, encourages her to reach back out to Will and reconnect, and the friends pick right back up as if no time has separated them at all — leaving Platonic viewers with a home run of a series about middle age, the search for meaning and both personal and professional satisfaction, as well as the importance of staying close to old friends.
