By now, you pretty much know what to expect from a show created by Michelle and Robert King: Sharp procedural content, well-drawn characters and lots of funny content filtered into the drama.
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you → know → drama
Their new CBS series Cupertino has all of this, as the Kings shift their focus to the craziness of Silicon Valley.
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Kings → have → Valley
A box is thrown down on a desk.
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box → throw → desk
We then see drawers open in two different desks, with items thrown in the box.
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drawers → see → box
One box has a law degree from Colombia, the other has a degree from Liberty University.
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other → have → University
Both Michael Price (Mike Colter) and Olivia Siffre (Rachel Keller) were fired from the Silicon Valley startup S-Talk at the same time, but they were in two very different positions.
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they → fire → positions
Michael was a partner, and he was told that he leaked information; Olivia was an associate just out of law school.
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Olivia → tell → school
Her offense was not responding to the really gross advances of Michael’s business partner, Richard Everett (Will Brill).
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offense → respond → partner
When Olivia tells Michael that she overheard that he might have been squeezed out in order to take away his equity, he decides to sue for wrongful termination.
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he → tell → termination
But his lawyer (Steven Pasquale) thinks suing is pointless.
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suing → think → ?
So Michael visits Rachel’s seedy apartment and proposes they each sue, and they’ll represent each other.
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they → visit → other
Olivia is reluctant — she’s conservative and doesn’t want the sexual harassment made public — but changes her mind when she hears that S-Talk’s new AI app uses her voice.
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app → ’ → voice
Michael’s assistant, Christy Palladino (Ella Stiller), joins them when she’s escorted out of S-Talk for talking to Michael.
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she → join → Michael
S-Talk, led by Michael’s ex-lawyer, countersues, but Michael and Rachel not only manage to get the judge to recuse himself but do enough damage during the initial hearing to prompt S-Talk to settle.
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judge → lead → Talk
What Shows Will It Remind You Of?
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Remind → remind → You
Created by Michelle and Robert King, Cupertino has the same arch tone as their other legal series, like The Good Wife, The Good Fight and Elsbeth.
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Cupertino → create → Wife
The first episode of Cupertino neatly sets up the series’ premise, which is where Michael and Olivia open a firm that takes on huge Silicon Valley companies and well-funded startups, representing people those companies wronged.
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companies → set → people
It sticks to the procedural formula that the Kings established with the aforementioned Good Wife: Cases that have emotional stakes, secondary storylines that delve into the main characters’ backstories, and a wicked sense of humor that ties it all together.
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that → stick → it
That sense of humor comes in different places, like when Uber drivers and bailiffs hand Michael their business cards because they have a proposal for an app that’s ready to go.
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that → come → app
But it reaches deeper than that, and the first episode delves into the valley’s tech bro culture, the pursuit of money overruling morality and common sense.
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episode → reach → morality
It’s going to be fun seeing how Michael and Olivia handle these cases going forward, with the help of Christy.
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Michael → go → Christy
Colter and Keller have a good rapport as Michael and Olivia, despite the characters’ disparate backgrounds.
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Colter → have → backgrounds
Starting in the second episode, we’ll also see Busy Philipps and Renée Elise Goldsberry join the show as regulars, which of course we’re looking forward to.
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we → start → course
S-Talk’s AI says some things that we were surprised to hear on a CBS series, even one that airs at 10 PM.
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that → say → PM
The first real client shows up at Price & Siffre: “They’re out to get me, and I need someone right now.
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I → show → someone
I need a lawyer,” a man covered in leaves and scratches says to Michael, Olivia and Christy.
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man → need → Michael
Cupertino continues the Kings’ tradition of combining interesting procedural cases with social commentary, good character chemistry and a well-honed sense of humor.
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Cupertino → continue → humor
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie.
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he → write → himself
His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
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writing → appear → Times
The Aporia
