'Cupertino' on CBS: Bianculli Reviews All 10 Episodes as TV's Best

By Elena Vasquez

NPR television critic David Bianculli reviewed all 10 episodes of CBS's new drama series 'Cupertino.' He named it 'one of the best shows on TV right now anywhere.'

The series airs Thursdays on CBS and streams on Paramount+. It treats artificial intelligence and Silicon Valley power as courtroom subjects rather than science-fiction props.

Who is behind the series?

Robert and Michelle King wrote and produced the series. The couple also created CBS's 'The Good Wife' and three successor projects: 'The Good Fight,' 'Elsbeth,' and 'Evil.' Robert King also directs episodes here.

The Kings are, by Bianculli's account, "among the finest TV producers working today." They continue to work primarily on broadcast television.

Who stars in it?

The central cast includes:

• Mike Colter (of 'Evil') as Michael Price, a corporate lawyer dismissed by the fictional firm S-Talk
• Steven Pasquale as the outside counsel Price consults first
• Rachel Keller as Olivia Siffre, a fired S-Talk employee whose voice and personality have been cloned into an AI
• Ella Stiller (daughter of Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor) as the firm's receptionist-investigator
• Busy Philipps as a wealthy investor tied to S-Talk's chief executive
• Renée Elise Goldsberry (of 'Hamilton') as a courtroom adversary

A rotating bench of judges is played by Peter Riegert, Danny Burstein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Jackie Hoffman.

Bianculli calls Philipps's turn her best role "since her early contributions to 'Freaks And Geeks.'" He calls Stiller's role her "juiciest" yet and Keller's and Colter's "new career highs."

What is the show's premise?

A small Silicon Valley law firm opens with one stated mission: fight the area's largest technology companies.

In the premiere, Pasquale's character names the four targets. Apple, Google, Facebook, and OpenAI, he tells Price, "have a combined value of $23 trillion." His warning follows: "During the gold rush, don't sue the gold mine." The show treats that four-company sector as a single courtroom adversary onscreen.

Why does Bianculli rate it so highly?

The Fresh Air review describes the series as "funny," "clever," and "amazingly current." Bianculli credits the Kings' writing, Robert King's direction, David Buckley's music, and the production design.

He widens his verdict beyond broadcast. The series, he concludes, is "a true original" — "ripped from the headlines" but "not at all a rip-off of another TV series." Bianculli places it at the top of his 2026 rankings.

How does the show handle AI?

Keller's character discovers that her former employer has launched an AI product named Daisy, built from her recorded voice, personal history, and personality traits. She watches the public launch in real time.

A whistleblower named Bo, played by Rob McClure, raises the surveillance stakes on a shielded Zoom call to the new firm. "If you had 3.8 trillion in valuation, how much would you spend on security and surveillance?" he asks. His answer in dialogue: "Even if you were to spend only 100th of 1% on security, that still would be $1 billion for surveillance." The series translates AI anxiety into balance-sheet figures.

What does the verdict change for broadcast drama?

By Bianculli's measure, a 10-episode network legal drama is the strongest new scripted entry of the spring season. The series lands as CBS's largest 2026 scripted bet, anchored to its longest-running writer-producer partnership.

Bianculli's review, aired this week on Fresh Air, leaves open how a second season would extend the show's reach across CBS and Paramount+. Watch for a renewal order from CBS in the months ahead.