Your Friends & Neighbors: Do we Need Another TV Series About the Rich?

Have we reached peak capacity? Absolutely. Will that put us off watching yet another show set against a backdrop of sprawling estates and luxury yachts where the greatest threat to the main character is having to wear a pair of Birkenstocks? No.

Is it a case of schadenfreude, the delight an audience experiences in watching these people suffer under the weight of their massive wealth? Because no matter how many shows we see portraying the behind the scenes of their lives, I just don't think the everyday person will ever feel sincerely sorry for the über wealthy. And that's okay. In the words of Don Draper from Mad Men, "that's what the money's for." He was talking about getting paid for doing your job, but you get the point. The rich don't need our pity; they're adequately compensated.

Sure, Succession is up there with my all-time favorite shows. The endless power plays and daddy issues were fun to watch. I often found myself deliberating: would the private jets and fancy apartments be worth the trade-off of a life bereft of meaningful connection? That must be part of the appeal of this voyeuaristic genre.

I really enjoyed Sirens. Loved The White Lotus–now a cultural phenomenon. Then there's Billions, Rivals, The Perfect Couple, and basically anything with Nicole Kidman. And let's not forget the movies about the well-heeled: the Knives Out films, Saltburn, Triangle of Sadness, and The Menu. All enjoyable enough, but how much more is there to say? It's a good thing that we're not all rich; look how miserable we'd be!

Then along comes Jon Hamm and says, “hold my beer.”

Another TV Series about the Rich

Jon Hamm stars in Apple's show, Your Friends & Neighbors. He's lost his money and is driving around in a humble Honda (just like me!) by episode two. Spoiler: the Honda is temporary. Nevertheless, this clinches my emotional investment. I'm in.

What also adds to the appeal of the show, at least at first, is the thrill of seeing Hamm play a nice guy. Yes, he's rich, nice, and easy on the eyes. It’s kind of like watching a gorilla sing Puccini: very unexpected.

Plot Overview

Although we've probably reached peak capacity with films and TV series about the rich, I think we can make room for one more. As long as the script is solid and the characters are interesting, I’m willing to stick around. Jon Hamm walks me through what it takes to live in the affluent yet subdued Westchester County—where the setting of the show is supposedly based.

In a new twist on the Walter White story arc, the show follows Jon Hamm's character, Coop. He loses his lucrative job working in hedge funds. Practically speaking, he's unemployable for the short term due to a non-compete clause in his contract. However, with a high-end lifestyle and expensive divorce to finance, Coop realizes his only way out is to start stealing stuff.

The twist is that Coop quite enjoys rifling through the drawers of his rich mates. This premise sets up some high-stakes action for each episode. There's also an homage to Breaking Bad, featuring additional overarching tension provided in a flash-forward scene at the very start. In this scene, Coop finds himself next to a dead body. It's a very White Lotus moment, but it works.

Themes and Insights

One of the highlights of the show is Hamm's dry narration. He offers insights into the eye-watering sums the rich are willing to fork out to prove their status as the overlords of our society. Ironically, this perspective does make me feel slight pity for them. There’s a thread of a theme questioning the necessity of all this supposedly exclusive stuff. The argument against mindless consumerism is one we could all take more to heart—not just the rich. Temu shoppers, I'm looking at you!

Overall, the show provides a smug peek into a world that a lot of us will never inhabit. It’s a world imploding due to the emotionally vacuous existence of its characters. As perhaps the only route to social justice these days, let's take this morsel of compensation and be grateful! But seriously, here’s the lesson to take away: lose your ridiculously high-paying job, realize how pointless your consumerist, status-driven lifestyle is, and save your marriage—even if you're already divorced because your spouse cheated on you.

The final verdict is that the series is worth a watch. Although it does lose its footing somewhat towards the end, the characters are meaty enough to invest in, and the story itself has some unique twists I didn’t see coming. It’s solid, light entertainment, similar in tone to No Good Deed and Dead to Me.

Check out our other blog post about film satires featuring the rich.

Subscribe to Story Inkubator for our monthly newsletter and get two free workbooks on creating multi-dimensional characters and solid story concepts delivered to your email.

If you’re interested in learning more about storytelling, or would like to improve your English through story, check out our courses here.