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Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne Will Try to Stay Platonic in New Apple TV+ Show

The stars are getting back together with Neighbors director Nicholas Stoller for the Apple TV+ comedy.
  • Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen in Platonic (Photo: Apple TV+)
    Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen in Platonic (Photo: Apple TV+)

    Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen are a little too into being friends in Nicholas Stoller’s new comedy Platonic. The Apple TV+ half-hour series follows the pair, who were best friends in their youth before a rift tore them apart, reconnecting as adults. The newly reestablished friendship, however, ends up becoming all-consuming and turns their lives upside down. There aren’t much more details out about the series, which premieres on May 24, so far, but we have high hopes because the trio of Byrne, Rogen, and Stoller have already proven themselves to be a good team.

    Stoller directed the 2014 comedy Neighbors and wrote and directed its 2016 sequel Neighbors 2, both of which starred Byrne and Rogen. In part, those films added to Byrne’s status as a go-to actor for R-rated comedies, which started with her turn in Stoller’s 2010 feature Get Him to the Greek. But they also were showcases for Byrne and Rogen’s excellent chemistry. The pair feels natural playing off each other on screen in both gross-out moments, like when they discover their baby chewing on a condom or when Byrne can’t contain her breast milk, and in more intimate and calm moments, like when they quietly marvel at how they managed to create a happy little family. The two aren’t just a hot on-screen couple, they’re believable as a team with a long history in their relationship that’s led to this level of comfortability.

    That will serve them well in Platonic as friends, but we still don’t know whether or not the story will stay true to the title or cross over into non-platonic territory. While it would be refreshing to see an entire series avoid pairing up its two stars, it certainly wouldn’t be unusual to once again see these two be romantically involved. The series was co-created by Francesca Delbanco, who was not only Stoller’s co-creator and collaborator on the relationship-heavy Netflix series Friends from College, but is also his wife. There’s a high chance that some form of romantic relationship hijinks finds its way in.

    Byrne and Rogen are no strangers to the small screen either. Rogen got his start as an actor on NBC’s Freaks and Geeks and first collaborated with Stoller on Undeclared. e’s since written for, acted in, and produced series like The League, The Boys, and Pam and Tommy, which earned him an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination. Byrne also received Emmy and Globe nominations and gained acclaim for her role in the FX thriller Damages, played Gloria Steinem in FX’s Mrs. America, and is currently leading the 1980s aerobics dramedy Physical, also on Apple TV+ (its imminent third season doesn’t yet have a premiere date).

    This will, however, be the pair’s first time on TV together. Whether Byrne and Rogen’s characters end up as a couple or not, it will be a delight to watch them again under Stoller’s direction in Platonic.

    The first three episodes of Platonic premiere May 24 on Apple TV+, with new episodes every Wednesday.

    Brianna Wellen is a TV Reporter at Primetimer who became obsessed with television when her parents let her stay up late to watch E.R. 

    TOPICS: Platonic, Apple TV+, Francesca Delbanco, Nicholas Stoller, Rose Byrne, Seth Rogen