Television shows created by Robert and Michelle King — like "The Good Wife" and "The Good Fight" —often reflect reality in eerily timely ways. But with "Cupertino," the executive producers' Silicon Valley legal drama that premieres Thursday (10/9c, CBS), developments in artificial intelligence are just about outpacing what the Kings and their writers could dream up.
"It's insane how much has changed since [we wrote] the first episode," Robert King told TVLine at the series' premiere in New York City. "Some things have caught up with us. I think the use of AGI" — or artificial general intelligence — "has caught up with what the show is doing."
He added: "We thought we were writing in a science-fiction territory, but it's very much now science fact."
At the center of "Cupertino" are lawyers Michael Price (played by Mike Colter, "Evil") and Olivia Siffre (Rachel Keller, "Fargo"), who are fired from a huge tech company on the same day and wind up creating a ragtag law firm to go up against the industry's "Goliaths" when "Davids" — AKA regular folks — need help. (Watch a trailer here.)
Keller told us that Olivia, who is much more junior at the company than Colter's Michael, isn't expecting everything that befalls her in the series premiere. "It's surprising to her that she gets fired, so his offer to her is also surprising," she said. "And, as you see in the course of the show, she has a spontaneity to her. So I think there's something about it that's kinda like, 'Let's rock'n'roll!' It's exciting and different, and I think at that point, she doesn't feel like she has anything else to lose."
The Cupertino cast weighs in on...
Courtesy of Paramount+
The series also stars Ella Stiller ("The Comeback") as Christy Palladino, the nascent firm's investigator; Busy Philipps ("Cougar Town") as Natalia Boutella, the ex-wife of a wildly successful entrepreneur; Rob McClure ("The Good Fight") as a mysterious character named Bo; Nik Dodani ("Atypical") as Vikram, a coder who finds himself in need of Price & Siffre's help; and Renée Elise Goldsberry ("Girls5Eva") as Nichole Ferebee, a lawyer who has a romantic history with Michael.
In the video above, everyone — save Goldsberry, whose musical tour schedule conflicted with the premiere event — stops by TVLine's microphone to talk tech and then some. The show's mini "Girls5Eva" reunion, Zoom calls in awkward places, Chumhum vs. Google, pink power suits — we cover it all!
Press PLAY on the video at the top of the post to hear the "Cupertino" cast and creators talk up their new show, read our "Cupertino" review, then hit the comments and let us know if you're planning to tune in!
