True Detective Season 1’s New Successor Series Debuts To Solid Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score

Published Sep 29, 2026, 2:04 PM EDT Abdullah Al-Ghamdi joined Screen Rant in August 2019 and is now one of the leading contributors of the TV News team. Having written over 4000 news stories in that time , with his work cited in Buzzfeed and TV Insider, he's always bemoaning that there's too many shows and not enough time. You can contact him at: aalghamdi@hey.com. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson's True Detective reunion is off to a good start with viewers. It was the interplay between McConaughey's Rust Cohle and Woody Harrelson's Marty Hart that helped True Detective season 1 become an lasting success for HBO, garnering McConaughey an Emmy and helping to define the later run of his career. But outside of a single voice role in McConaughey's case and a select few projects for Harrelson, the duo have mostly stayed away from the small screen in the last 12 years. That changes with Apple TV's Brothers, a new comedy which takes a meta approach to the friendship between the two actors. On the whole, however, and to a divided reaction, the 8-episode streaming series trades on the chemistry that the duo has developed. On Rotten Tomatoes, Brothers has debuted to a solid 64% audience score. That is slightly better than the 61% that the Apple TV series has received from critics, noting that the initial critics score for Brothers was 55%. As of now, there are 38 reviews. 23 are categorized as negative, while 15 are categorized as positive. The audience score may also fluctuate. Only two of the show's eight episodes have premiered at publish time. Brothers is co-created and executive produced by McConaughey, Harrelson, David West Read, and Lee Eisenberg, who serves as showrunner. The story centers on the two actors, who play fictionalized versions of themselves, and examines what happens when they discover the long-buried secret that they may actually be brothers. It all begins when Harrelson has to deal with the fact that his daughter's engagement has fallen apart, deciding to go with his family and stay at Matthew’s ranch. Soon, Matthew’s mother, Ma Mac (played by Emmy Award winner Holland Taylor), accidentally reveals the brotherly secret, and chaos ensues. Natalie Martinez, Brittany Ishibashi, Nolan Almeida, Ella Grace Helton, Noah Carganilla, Highdee Kuan, and Oona Yaffe also star, earning kudos for their supporting turns, though ScreenRant's review of Brothers by Sean Morrison found the comedy to be “unfunny” and “rote.” Morrison does nonetheless praise some unexpected aspects, including the cinematography, and calls the series “beautiful.” Audience response is similarly sharp. With all the compliments going to the marquee reunion, one comment points to a possible pattern: Apple TV recruiting big stars for projects that are lacking in one way or another. Other quick assessments trend oppositely, finding that that Brothers is a pleasant viewing experience. The first two episodes of Brothers premiered on Apple TV on Wednesday, September 23, followed by weekly releases through November 4. Release Date September 23, 2026 Network Apple TV Directors Trent O'Donnell, Jason Winer Cast Woody Harrelson Woody Harrelson