With each passing year, I’m happier and happier about the emergence of Apple TV+ as a top streaming service. It was a bit of a joke at first, but it’s putting together a great roster.
The latest triumph is Bad Monkey, a miraculously great vehicle for Vince Vaughn that allows him to inhabit a character that will have you eagerly awaiting each weekly episode. This is one of those shows where a weekly release of episodes is preferable to a one-time release of all episodes and a weekend binge.
Vaughn plays Andrew Yancy, a suspended detective who can’t help but continue investigating things, especially after somebody hooks a severed arm on a fishing trip. That arm provides the basis for what will become, hopefully, the first of many mysteries for the nosy Yancy to solve in the years to come.
The show plays like a modern-day The Rockford Files or Magnum, P.I., only this time, everybody is allowed to swear. Vaughn’s mastery of snappy dialogue reminds of his past triumphs that made him a great comedic and dramatic actor over the years. It’s as if somebody synthesized all of his great qualities into a perfectly suited script and character and set him loose.
The surrounding cast, including Meredith Hagner, Michelle Monaghan, L. Scott Caldwell, Rob Delaney, Alex Moffat and the monkey in the title surround Yancy with worthy allies and adversaries.
There are some rumblings out there that Ted Lasso, which was co-created by Bad Monkey creator Bill Lawrence, could be returning for a fourth season on Apple TV+. That would be fun, but after watching the first three episodes of Bad Monkey, I’m thinking this Vaughn-starring vehicle will be the show that has me more excited.
Bad Monkey is streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes being released on Wednesdays through Oct. 9.
