Summary
- Bad Monkey, a wacky crime caper series by Bill Lawrence, has received a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score - surpassing even Ted Lasso.
- The show's unique tone combines crime drama with sharp comedy, and it's been praised for Vince Vaughn's lead performance and the Florida setting.
- Bad Monkey's success marks Lawrence's best reviews yet, beating out all seasons of Ted Lasso and his other Apple TV+ show, Shrinking.
Ted Lasso creator Bill Lawrence has launched a new comedy series on Apple TV+ – the wacky crime caper Bad Monkey – and it’s gotten even better reviews than his previous shows. Lawrence was a widely renowned creator and showrunner long before the runaway success of Ted Lasso. He previously created Spin City, Scrubs, Clone High, and Cougar Town. But after Ted Lasso premiered in 2020, it became his biggest success by far. It was a global phenomenon, and it pioneered a whole new brand of feel-good comedy that emphasized niceness and optimism in a landscape of cynicism.
It would seem as though the success of Ted Lasso would be tough to beat. With a massive fan base that spans across the world and crosses cultural barriers (namely, the intercontinental definitions of the word “football”), Ted Lasso achieved the kind of success that most showrunners can’t imagine accomplishing in their wildest dreams. But with his latest series, Bad Monkey, Lawrence has somehow managed to outdo himself. Even though Ted Lasso was met with widespread critical acclaim throughout its entire run – even in its shaky third season – Bad Monkey has been met with even more positive reviews.
Bill Lawrence's New Show Bad Monkey Debuts With 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score
Bad Monkey hasn't received a single negative review
Lawrence’s new twisted crime comedy series Bad Monkey has debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a perfect score of 100%. That means there wasn’t a single certifiable TV critic who gave Bad Monkey a negative review. None of them said a bad word about it; they all enjoyed it. Based on the 2013 Carl Hiaasen novel, Bad Monkeystars Vince Vaughn as Andrew Yancy, a former police detective who now works as a restaurant inspector in Southern Florida. After a tourist discovers a severed arm, Yancy is drawn back into the world of crime and corruption for a darkly hilarious investigation.
In an age when streamers are trying to pump out as much content as they can as quickly as possible, it’s rare that a TV show arrives fully formed. A lot of new shows are half-baked and underdeveloped, because they had to meet a tight deadline. But based on Bad Monkey’s universally positive reviews, it seems as though Apple has given Lawrence and co. plenty of time to get it right.
Bad Monkey's RT Score Beats Bill Lawrence's Apple TV+ Shows Ted Lasso & Shrinking
Lawrence is scoring the best reviews of his career
The perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score of Bad Monkey would be impressive enough on its own. But it’s also the best RT score met by any of Lawrence’s Apple TV+ shows. Nothing else that Lawrence has done for Apple has been quite as widely acclaimed as his new show. Bad Monkey’s score has beaten out Shrinking, the dramedy series that Lawrence co-created with Jason Segel and Ted Lasso’s Roy Kent actor Brett Goldstein. And, more impressively, it’s even beaten out every single season of Ted Lasso.
Beating season 3 makes sense – the third season of Ted Lasso was very bloated, disjointed, and underwhelming – but seasons 1 and 2 are some of the most beloved television of the past few years. With the darts scene, the Rick Astley eulogy, and Roy hugging Jamie, Ted Lasso seasons 1 and 2 are as close to perfect as TV can get. If Bad Monkey has been deemed even better than those first two seasons of Ted Lasso, then it’s worth taking note, because it could be something really special.
Why Bad Monkey's Reviews Are So Great
Bad Monkey's reviews have praised every aspect of the show
The universally positive reviews for Bad Monkey have lauded just about every aspect of the show. Vaughn’s performance in the lead role has been widely praised. He’s as effortlessly funny and charming as always in the absurd comedic situations, but the character also draws on his surprising dramatic capabilities as he goes through his own personal struggles. Critics are saying that Bad Monkey brings back Vaughn’s classically confident and outgoing screen presence from Swingers, but also plays on the darker dramatic qualities of his performances in True Detective and Brawl in Cell Block 99 – it’s the perfect performative middle ground.
The reviews have praised Bad Monkey for balancing its tones spectacularly: it’s compulsive viewing as a crime drama, but it’s also endlessly enjoyable as a biting, sharp-witted comedy. They’ve lauded Lawrence and his team of writers for keeping the story compelling, for digging deep into their characters, and for capturing the craziness of Florida in a really fun and authentic way. Bad Monkey sets a unique tone that works brilliantly: it takes its crime story seriously, just like any TV mystery, but its characters are all eccentric oddballs with sitcom personalities.
Bad Monkey
A former Miami detective turned health inspector, Andrew Yancy, discovers a severed arm while working in the Florida Keys. Determined to solve the mystery and reclaim his former position, he navigates through a web of quirky locals and corruption, all while dealing with a troublesome monkey.
- Cast
- Vince Vaughn , Natalie Martinez , Alex Moffat , Ronald Peet , John Ortiz , Tom Nowicki , David St. Louis , L. Scott Caldwell
- Creator(s)
- Bill Lawrence
