Cupertino drama tackles Silicon Valley’s growing power over daily life
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The added coverage describes *Cupertino* as a drama that turns familiar Silicon Valley controversies into fictional legal cases, using them to explore public unease about rapid technological change. Although the mix of tech backlash and traditional CBS procedural initially feels awkward, the review says the series soon finds its footing and that broadcast TV’s long season gives it room to build a wider picture.
The show follows lawyers Michael Price and Olivia Siffre, and their assistant, as they take on technology companies after leaving an AI firm. Created by Robert and Michelle King, it draws on stories involving AI safeguards, data brokers, billionaire behaviour and the alleged use of Scarlett Johansson’s voice by OpenAI; its ensemble also includes Renée Elise Goldsberry and Busy Philipps as MacKenzie Scott. The supplied article text ends mid-sentence, so it does not include the review’s full assessment.
- *Cupertino* turns tech controversies into fictional legal cases.
- The review says the initially awkward blend improves.
- Its long network season helps build a broader Silicon Valley portrait.
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Technology companies now exercise considerable influence over many aspects of daily life, from which information people can access and how their data is used to the systems that shape what they see online. This expansion of corporate power has created widespread anxiety about privacy, control and surveillance. Many people feel a sense of powerlessness when facing the rapid pace of technological change and its effects on their lives.
A new drama called Cupertino, launched by CBS, follows a Silicon Valley law firm taking on major technology companies through fictional cases based on real-world issues. The show is created by Robert and Michelle King, who previously made The Good Wife and Evil, both of which earned strong reputations for tackling contemporary subjects with credibility and nuance. Their track record demonstrates they can dramatise complex modern issues effectively for general audiences.
The drama stars Mike Colter and Rachel Keller as the lead lawyers and airs in a traditional weekly television format with 20 episodes per season. Through interconnected cases—some spanning single episodes whilst others unfold across multiple weeks—the show explores specific contemporary concerns including artificial intelligence, data collection and billionaire entrepreneurs. Ultimately, it grapples with the broader question of individual agency in a world increasingly shaped by technological systems.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Drama can effectively communicate tech industry harms to broad audiences who might ignore policy analysis or journalism. The Kings have demonstrated with The Good Wife that prestige television can tackle complex contemporary issues—surveillance, financial systems, tech power—with intelligence and nuance. By exploring how technology affects diverse groups, from vulnerable data subjects to underpaid workers, the show may catalyse cultural and political pressure for meaningful reform.
The case against
Dramatising genuine human suffering risks trivialising real harms experienced by actual people, transforming material consequences into entertainment. The procedural format, whilst narratively satisfying, may oversimplify systemic problems into discrete conflicts solvable by lawyers—a dangerously false impression of how entrenched tech power operates. There is also a concern that such drama allows audiences to feel they are engaging with these issues through consumption rather than supporting substantive reform.
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Originally published by The Verge as “Cupertino might be made for your mom, but it’s a good take on tech”.