Platonic -- Ideal?

Those familiar with Apple TV+ shows have been talking about Seth Rogen's recent satire, The Studio. But in my pile of countless shows (that I'll never claw my way to the top of), I've only recently finished the Apple TV+ show he made before that, Platonic.

Sylvia and Will were life-long friends who drifted apart after Will's marriage. But years later, Will is getting divorced, and the two find themselves back in each others' lives. That may prove a challenge to everyone around them, as each finds themselves at a major crossroads in life: Sylvia is considering a return to the office after years as a stay-at-home mother, and Will is clashing more and more with his business partners at his craft brewery. Plus... the two aren't an entirely good influence on each other.

Platonic is a reunion of sorts for the team that made the comedy movie Neighbors. My review of that movie was mixed, though I did note the comedic prowess of Rose Byrne. Here she is again, cutting it up with scene partner Seth Rogen -- and the two make for a solid comedy duo. Nicholas Stoller, director of Neighbors, clearly recognizes this. He's co-creator of Platonic (with Francesca Delbanco), and I would imagine made it with them in mind.

The very premise of the show helps get around a question I raised about another recent rom-com TV show, Nobody Wants This. Funny as that show is, I noted that it's constantly "the middle act" of a romantic comedy -- a series of misunderstandings that threaten the lead couple's ongoing relationship. Platonic tells you right in the title what the relationship of this lead couple is. Others around Sylvia and Will may question it at times, but they don't, and neither should the audience. There's no "will they, won't they." This is two "bros" that happen to be of the opposite sex, having each others' backs in one moment and putting the other up to terrible things the next.

Unsurprisingly, with the show all about those two, you're not going to like it at all if you don't like the banter between Rogen and Byrne. For me, it works. Each meets the other halfway from (what I perceive to be) their usual points on the comedy-drama continuum. There are other good performances on the show; they're just very much not the focus of the storytelling. A few that I particularly enjoyed: Luke Macfarlane as Sylvia's husband Charlie, who gets perhaps two or three episodes of the 10 to really be silly himself; Carla Gallo as Sylvia's friend Katie, who almost drunkenly lobs one-liners with razor precision; and Vinny Thomas as Omar, an employee at Will's brewery, who absolutely shines in what's really the smallest of parts.

Platonic tells a satisfyingly complete story in 10 episodes, and since Seth Rogen did go on to make another television show after it, you'd think that would be that. Think again! Later this year, the show is set to air a second season. I for one think that could be interesting without "stretching the taffy" -- it's easy enough to imagine that life-long friends will just keep getting into new hijinks. I give season one of Platonic a B+.