Cupertino drama tackles Silicon Valley’s growing power over daily life
CBS has launched Cupertino, a procedural drama about a Silicon Valley law firm taking on major technology companies, created by Robert and Michelle King—the duo behind The Good Wife and Evil. Though initially awkward, the show quickly finds its footing, addressing contemporary tech anxieties through fictionalized versions of real-world stories, including issues around artificial intelligence, data brokers and billionaire entrepreneurs, whilst exploring the broader feeling of helplessness that many experience in the face of rapid technological change. The seemingly outdated format of broadcast television proves surprisingly effective for tackling these urgent modern themes.
The drama stars Mike Colter and Rachel Keller as lawyers Michael Price and Olivia Siffre, alongside Ella Stiller as their assistant, with Renée Elise Goldsberry and Busy Philipps joining as ensemble members. The show follows a traditional network TV structure with 20 episodes per season and employs a case-of-the-week format. The Kings bring credible expertise to the project: The Good Wife won widespread praise for being "the most tech-savvy show on TV" when it tackled Bitcoin, viral videos and NSA surveillance without becoming heavy-handed. Their vision for Cupertino reveals a detailed Silicon Valley landscape populated by data brokers, underpaid AI trainers, petty billionaires and frustrated contractors, demonstrating how a longer season format allows for tangential storytelling and multi-episode arcs that strengthen the overall narrative.
- New CBS procedural tackles modern tech anxiety through familiar broadcast format
- The Good Wife creators prove they understand contemporary technology culture
- Show improves as ensemble cast bonds and complex Silicon Valley worldbuilding develops
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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”.