“You have all the hallmarks of a world-class politician,” campaign manager Gwen (Lisa Gilroy) tells her client Matthew McConaughey (Matthew McConaughey). “However, your Achilles’ heel is that you’ve been a celebrity for so long that your brain has turned into a big old sloppy pile of goo.”
A reluctance to get messy or in any way unflattering is a common quality of star-driven shows, and it’s seemingly magnified when two of them are portraying themselves. “Brothers” prefers a soft poke to a sharp jab: Harrelson is a pot-smoking hippie who declines AC because he’s “off freon,” but when he makes a passing mention of COVID, it’s not to share his take on masking and vaccines; McConaughey quotes his own Lincoln commercials when giving his son a pep talk, but the greatest insecurity he’ll cop to is caring too much about being a good husband and father.
“Brothers” is, of course, a show about family, and the show populates its ensemble with lightly distorted bizarro versions of the friends’ loved ones. Holland Taylor cakes on makeup and thick layers of twang as McConaughey’s mother, known to all as “Ma Mac,” whose drunken ramblings prompt Harrelson to do some genetic detective work. No one else makes as strong an impression. In particular, the wives — their show names are Valentina (Natalie Martinez) and Joy (Brittany Ishibashi), but their role and function is accurately summed up as “the wives” — are given almost nothing to do besides roll their eyes at their husbands’ antics. Woody and Matthew forgot about Valentine’s Day? Boys will be boys!
For long stretches of the midseason, “Brothers” seems to forget about family intrigue and political ambitions entirely to focus on a harebrained scheme of the week. This straight-sitcom setup, with little serialization to speak of, seems to be where the show’s natural instincts lie. But to justify making room in two packed schedules — we’re repeatedly told McConaughey also has a lucrative tequila brand and multiple courses he designed at UT Austin — “Brothers” has to limply gesture at something more. The season’s final moments tease a potential follow-up, complete with a meta crack about “bandwidth for a franchise.” But to produce a sequel, a project ought to know what it is in the first place. “Brothers” never feels like it does.
The first two episodes of “Brothers” will premiere on Apple TV on Sep. 23, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Wednesdays.
