By Josh Nason
Look, we all have neighbors but have you ever thought about stealing their stuff? Wait, don’t answer that.
What does answer that is the Apple TV show Your Friends & Neighbors which just wrapped up its second season during the first week of June. It’s got some star power with Jon Hamm (who finally got his Apple show after all), Amanda Peet and Olivia Munn, and lives in a place where all of us would love to be: ridiculously wealthy.
But should you move into the TV neighborhood and have Hamm casing out your house? Let’s jump into it with a new Should You Watch.
Should You Watch Your Friends & Neighbors? (Apple TV)
How many seasons?
Two with a confirmed third on the way.
How many episodes?
19.
What type of show is it?
Drama with some comedic moments.
What year(s)?
2025, 2026
Where can I currently find it?
Apple TV
Who is it for?
For those who enjoy the Hammer, dipping into the world of the very rich, and a few deaths and wrongdoing along the way.
What’s the commit level?
Just over 18 hours total, but you can get that to, wait for it, 17 hours if you skip the credits and ‘Previously On.’
Is there a bailout episode?
I’d reckon give it two episodes.
Any interesting background in the show’s creation?
Surprisingly none.
Are there actors the average TV watcher would recognize?
Jon Hamm, Amanda Peet, Olivia Munn, Corbin Frickin’ Bernsen, James Marsden (s2).
What’s the reaction been?
Very positive. Rotten Tomatoes has the series at an 84/73 split while Metacritic has a 65 average (s1 63 and s2 69) which I’d agree with. Sadly, the show hasn’t won any awards.
What’s the main plot in a sentence?
After getting surprisingly ousted from his well-paying hedge fund job, a divorced dad of two has to make ends meet while supporting his ex-wife as they all live in an extremely wealthy neighborhood outside New York City.
What’s the rewatch factor?
Low.
If you like these shows or movies, you’ll like this:
Billions, Mad Men, Wall Street, The Wolf of Wall Street, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (ask your parents if you have no idea what that is), Breaking Bad
Is this a first or second screen show?
Mostly a first. There’s a lot of visual eye candy here that deserves your attention. As always, teenage plotlines are ok to glance down at your phone or 401k.
Should you watch Your Friends & Neighbors?
I’m going to write a column about this someday, but it’s so surprising to me that Apple TV never gets talked about with the other big streamers despite having a ton of star power and some very entertaining shows like Your Friends & Neighbors.
I’m a Hamm fan, especially on Easter, as is my wife who is oddly always paying attention to the TV while he’s on screen and never on her phone. Weird! Anyway, if you enjoy him playing a different version of Don Draper, here you go. He’s the apple of many a woman’s eye, beloved by his friends, and always has things figured out until he doesn’t.
I wrote “visual eye candy” above because this show is unbelievably gorgeous. Jonathan Tropper and Hamm (executive producer) spared no expense which was probably a prerequisite for Hamm signing on. Set in New York, it was actually filmed in New York, with locations like Westchester County and the city itself. While it’s fun to dream and watch in awe at the absurd and obscene wealth on display, I can see some people being turned off if that isn’t their jam. Even I shook my head a few times at the decadence.
The story itself is a fun one: Hamm loses his job and has to rob his friends for a living. Yes, that’s a bit far fetched but they do a good job in making it seem plausible to an extent. The cast of characters grows as Hamm’s Andrew Cooper attempts to sell some of the fenced materials which causes its own drama. It’s a world Cooper isn’t used to and has to learn he can’t make it bend to his will like he does on Wall Street.
It reminds me a lot of Billions when that show was at its best: enough of an extended peek behind the curtain at how the upper crust lives while making you actually care about them along the way.
The supporting cast is also really good. Peet, playing Hamm’s ex-wife, has her own storylines as does Munn and later, “Mr. Having A Moment” Marsden. I wasn’t familiar with the actors that plays Coop’s best friends Barney (Hoon Lee) and former NBA player Nick Brandes (the aptly named Mark Tallman) or his sister (Ali Cooper played by Lena Hall), but they all fit and get even better in season two.
I gave s1 a B+ and s2 an A. I thought the show just flowed better and I liked the story more. If there’s a negative, Cooper has two teenage kids that get their own stories that, like most dramas with teenage storylines, are hit and miss because of the ‘give a shit’ factor. I usually don’t, but this isn’t like Dana Brody in Homeland or anything.
Season three has both Michelle Monaghan and Joshua Jackson signed on which already has me intrigued. You?
In any case, I found Your Friends & Neighbors to be a fun couples watch. This probably isn’t a six or seven season run, but I can see a solid four or maybe five if they shorten the seasons which is good enough. It doesn’t drag or overstay its welcome which I can’t say for a lot of hour-long dramas.
So, should you watch Your Friends & Neighbors? Yes, you should.
