Apple TV+ is now four episodes into Bad Monkey, Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence’s new black comedy that stars Vince Vaughn as a motormouthed ex-Miami PD detective who loves the ladies and pisses off the brass. And from what I’ve seen thus far, I’m standing by my previous description of the series — one of the biggest TV shows on all of streaming right now — as the Florida Man of shows, on account of its over-the-top story, wacky characters, bright tropical colors, and Sunshine State idiosyncrasies.
Based on Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 novel of the same name, the show is a pulpy amalgam of murder, femme fatales, a severed arm, scams, fake identities, voodoo, and Vaughn at the center of it all — with his fast-talking Andrew Yancy the kind of guy who tries to break his previous word count each time he’s onscreen. In Bad Monkey, Apple’s streamer (Apple TV+ free trial) has given us one of the most unapologetically unserious TV shows you’ll find on any major streamer at the moment, a show that’s sort of like the small screen equivalent of one of those guilty pleasure novels you find in an airport bookstore.
By the way, I mean that last part as a compliment. I, for one, am a fan of pretty much anything Lawrence does — and so are many of you, based on the latest data from the streaming search engine Reelgood. Bad Monkey, which one writer on X/Twitter has humorously described as the “Fargo of Florida,” is the #1 show across all of streaming this week.
“A vibrant riff on the P.I. serials of television’s yesteryear, Bad Monkey is a breezy good time that fully leverages Vince Vaughn’s motormouth charms,” raves the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ consensus about the show.
Reelgood, by the way, monitors 20 million viewing decisions each month across every streaming platform in the US, from Apple TV+ to Max, Peacock, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+, and more. For the 7-day period that ended on Aug. 28, the 10 TV shows that topped Reelgood’s latest weekly ranking are as follows:
- Bad Monkey (Apple TV+)
- Kevin Can F**K Himself (Netflix)
- Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
- Dark Winds (Netflix)
- Industry (HBO/Max)
- From (Prime Video)
- Evil (Paramount+)
- The Umbrella Academy (Netflix)
- The Bear (FX/Hulu)
- The Terror (Netflix)
Looking at that list of TV shows, I’d argue that Apple’s drama that takes viewers to the shady side of paradise is really the only one that’s “fun,” mostly. Murder, the rat race of high finance, a superhero series about trauma and dysfunctional families — the shows that are crushing it right now are generally dark and twisted affairs. I don’t know about you, but as far as I’m concerned, the world is chaotic and messy enough. When I sit down to veg out in front of the TV? I generally prefer escapism above all else.
If a show is borderline campy enough that it features tourists fishing a severed arm (which has an extended middle finger) out of the water, I can live with it. A wisecracking detective, and corrupt cops whose nefariousness is borderline cheesy? Bring it on. The less like the real world, the better.
