Starring Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen as the titular friends, Apple TV+’s Platonic explores a male-female friendship at the center of the series. The two protagonists have great chemistry, and the series expertly depicts the various challenges of a friendship like theirs that they face daily. Supported by the equally strong Luke Macfarlane as Sylvia’s (Byrne) husband, and Carla Gallo as her close friend, Platonic expertly balances comedy with emotional beats of what life looks like in your 40s and when you’re in entirely different spaces in your lives.
We rarely see friendships like these on television, and Byrne and Rogen effectively portray their co-dependent and toxic relationship. While they reconnect after a long break at the beginning of the series, Platonic doesn’t shy away from the clear patterns in their past that likely led to their pause. Neither of them is perfect, and at some points not likable either, but it feels real. While not many shows feature platonic friendships like these, some series share other aspects, such as midlife crises, significant life changes, balancing family and personal life, and so on.
1
‘Fisk’ (2021–)
Co-created, co-written, and starring Kitty Flanagan as the titular Fisk, a middle-aged woman who moves back home to Melbourne after having a divorce in Sydney and leaving a major law firm. In Melbourne, she joins a quirky and smaller law firm led by sibling duo, Ray (Marty Sheargold) and Roz Gruber (Julia Zemiro). Similar to Sylvia’s significant change, where all her kids are now in school, Fisk has to return home without a husband and live with her dad.
Both have to deal with what life means in this new scenario. Both shows approach these changes for the protagonist with plenty of humor and a lot of messes. While Fisk is more of a workplace comedy, both series have complicated relationships – Sylvia and Will (Rogen) versus Fisk and her father. Both also share situational comedy that leads their characters into ridiculous situations that will leave you with a smile on your face.
2
‘Loot’ (2022–)
Sylvia’s youngest is off to kindergarten, and the stay-at-home mom doesn’t know what to do with her days. Should she go back to work? Should she find a hobby? Apple TV+’s Loot also has its protagonist at a crossroads. Molly Wells (Maya Rudolph) divorces her billionaire husband after she discovers he is having an affair. After 20 years of being married and now having $87 billion, Molly doesn’t know what to do with her life. Yes, champagne problems, but both female leads have found themselves in a new role that has evolved after many years of doing the same thing. Sylvia has been a stay-at-home mom for over a decade, and Molly has just been following her husband for years.
Both women spiral and find themselves on a journey of self-discovery. In Molly’s case, it’s a discovery of who she is outside of her role as a billionaire’s wife, and for Sylvia, it’s the role of what comes after being a stay-at-home mom. Both Apple TV+ shows feature great casts, with Loot boasting Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Joel Kim Booster, and Ron Funches, among others.
3
‘The Studio’ (2025–)
Platonic stars Seth Rogen, is produced by Rogen and his producing partner Evan Goldberg, and airs on Apple TV+. Another show also has all four things in common with Platonic, the Emmy-winning critical hit, The Studio. The satirical comedy stars Rogen as the newly appointed head of a struggling film studio. The Studio‘s cast is incredible and includes Catherine O’Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn, and guest stars like Bryan Cranston, Dave Franco, and Zoë Kravitz. After its freshman season, Cranston won an Emmy for his guest appearance, Rogen received an Emmy for his lead role, and the show won the award for best comedy.
Without a doubt, The Studio is genuinely hilarious. If you love some of the cringe and awkward situations Rogen and Byrne find themselves in, The Studio is the king of cringe comedy. Whether it’s Rogen’s Matt Remick intruding in one-shots or Cranston’s Griffin Mill high behind belief, the series has a wealth of memorable moments fans will be talking about for years to come.
4
‘Trying’ (2020–)
Another great comedy from Apple TV+ is Trying. The British comedy is a co-production between Apple and the BBC, and stars Esther Smith and Rafe Spall. Containing four seasons and renewed for a fifth, Trying follows a couple trying to have a child but are struggling to conceive. As a result of this struggle, they decide to go ahead with the adoption, but this brings a host of problems into their lives. The two leads had so much chemistry that they started dating and welcomed their first child in 2024.
While Trying doesn’t feature a platonic relationship at the core of the series, it balances emotional moments with strong comedy, similarly to Platonic. While Will continues to struggle with his divorce and Sylvia with her identity, Trying‘s Nikki and Jason are trying to support each other through the arduous journey of infertility and adoption.
5
‘Catastrophe’ (2015–2019)
Before being in Dying for Sex, Rob Delaney co-created, co-wrote, and co-starred with Sharon Horgan in Catastrophe. Horgan is now best known for being the mind behind and starring in Apple TV+’s Bad Sisters. Airing on Channel 4 in the UK and Amazon Prime in the United States, Catastrophe ran for four seasons and 24 episodes.
The show has a unique premise – an Irish teacher, Sharon, hooks up with and has a brief fling with an American on a business trip to London. Sharon ends up being pregnant, and to her surprise, Rob moves to the UK to help raise the child. The two main characters have a romantic relationship/angle. However, similar to Platonic, the series questions what we think about male-female relationships and whether they can be more complicated than the simple limitations and boxes society puts them in.
6
‘Younger’ (2015–2021)
Imagine you’ve just gotten divorced, your child decides to study abroad, and you’re 40 years old, having not worked in many years. This is a reality many parents deal with. Platonic’s Sylvia doesn’t know what to do, and neither did TV Land’s Younger protagonist, Liza (Sutton Foster). Long story short, after a simple lie Liza tells, she gets a job at a book publisher as an assistant. Everyone believes Liza is not 40 years old, but in fact, a 20-something-year-old. Younger was created by Darren Star, who is also the creator of shows like Sex and the City and Emily in Paris. The TV Land comedy also stars Hilary Duff, Debi Mazar, and Peter Hermann.
While Liza has to deal with a long-term lie over a seven-season run, Sylvia tells smaller lies about her own work experiences, including an unfortunate recreation of her boss’ portrait. While Younger is a bit more dramatic and has soap opera elements, a la Star’s usual work, Platonic is definitely more grounded and has less drama. Regardless, the TV Land show is definitely worth watching.
7
‘Shrinking’ (2023–)
Apple TV+ has released several strong comedies in recent years, and Shrinking is a great example. Created by Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel, and Brett Goldstein, the Apple TV+ dramedy is equal parts hilarious and gut-wrenching. Following his wife’s death, therapist Jimmy (Segel) spirals and seemingly forgets to take care of his daughter. The show picks up with Jimmy breaking therapist-patient boundaries and going above and beyond to help his patients. More than just having a story about overcoming grief, Shrinking has multiple impactful relationships that develop.
Jimmy has a mentor, Paul (Harrison Ford), and they have an interesting relationship; an equally interesting one is the one Paul shares with Jimmy’s coworker, Gaby (Jessica Williams). Moreover, their neighbor, Liz (Christa Miller), has frequently taken care of Jimmy’s daughter over the past few years, and the friendship between Jimmy and Liz is quite charming. Platonic‘s strongest aspect is the unique friendship at its core, and Shrinking similarly thrives on its multiple fascinating relationships.
8
‘Hacks’ (2021–)
Beyond just having a platonic relationship at its core, Platonic explores the toxicity of the codependence the relationship frequently exhibits. HBO Max’s dark dramedy Hacks also explores a complicated, co-dependent, and often toxic relationship between Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). The dramedy follows legendary comedian Deborah, who is about to lose her Vegas residency and needs to reinvent herself. Her manager surprises her with a writer, Ava, who he believes can help Deborah with her new comedy.
Unfortunately for Ava, Deborah is a deeply narcissistic, manipulative, and selfish person who frequently takes out all her anger on Ava. Similar to Platonic, the writing doesn’t judge its characters even if they are deeply unlikable. And slowly, we see how they develop and grow into people that we likely wouldn’t have recognized at the beginning. It also helps that both shows feature strong comedic writing, which keeps viewers laughing despite their protagonists’ occasional unlikability.
Hacks
- Release Date
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May 13, 2021
- Network
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HBO Max, Max
- Showrunner
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Lucia Aniello
- Directors
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Desiree Akhavan
