"Brothers," the Apple TV comedy reuniting Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson for the first time since HBO's "True Detective" twelve years ago, premiered September 23 with its first two episodes, and critics were split on whether the reunion works.
The series casts McConaughey and Harrelson as fictionalized versions of themselves: lifelong friends whose bond is tested when Harrelson's daughter's wedding collapses and he moves into McConaughey's Texas ranch, where McConaughey's mother, played by Holland Taylor, lets slip a decades-old secret suggesting the two men might actually be brothers. The show was created by Lee Eisenberg and David West Read together with its two stars, and is produced by Paramount Television Studios for Apple TV. New episodes arrive weekly through a November 4 finale.
A mixed verdict from critics
The show landed at 56 percent on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 early reviews, a split reception that several critics tied directly to the gap between the stars' pedigree and the material. Erik Adams, writing for The A.V. Club, was blunt about the show's staying power, joking that viewers were "watching a time the fake Harrelsons and fake McConaugheys will never forget. If only we could remember anything about the show two or three months from now." Liam Matthews of TV Guide called it "an unusual move for stars of McConaughey and Harrelson's stature to create a show for themselves that can be compared to Two and a Half Men." TVLine was similarly unmoved, arguing the stars' chemistry was largely wasted on a script short on laughs and direction.
Not every review was unkind. Helen O'Hara, writing for Empire, described "Brothers" as "an amiable, gently amusing caper based on a legend and propped up by two wildly overqualified leads" — a reading that credits the two actors' chemistry, built since "True Detective," even where other critics found the writing thin.
The premiere marks Apple TV's latest bet on star-driven comedy after a run of prestige dramas, and an unusually literal test of celebrity chemistry as a selling point: the show's premise depends entirely on audiences already knowing, and caring about, the real McConaughey-Harrelson friendship it fictionalizes. Whether that curiosity converts into sustained viewership will become clearer as weekly episodes continue rolling out over the next six weeks.