Back in 2022, Jon Hamm starred in a clever ad for Apple TV+ where he lamented the fact that the tech giant had rounded up a slew of A-listers such as Tom Hanks, Jennifer Aniston, and Samuel L. Jackson for their projects but had never once given him a call. While Hamm did finally bag a role in The Morning Show Season 3, let’s face it, it wasn’t his show to lead. The actor has certainly been in his fair share of movies and television after concluding his tenure as Don Draper a decade ago, but Your Friends and Neighbors holds the distinction of being Hamm’s first true leading television role in an ongoing series since his Mad Men days.
The new series, from Banshee and Warrior creator Jonathan Tropper, has built up a lot of buzz, especially since Apple TV+ renewed it for a second season months before its premiere. It’s safe to say there are a lot of eyes on Your Friends and Neighbors, and given that subscribers will be on the lookout for a new, addictive show to watch after that twisty Severance Season 2 finale, this crime drama might just do the trick.
What Is ‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ About?

Hamm stars as Andrew Cooper — or “Coop,” as his friends and neighbors seem to like to call him — a man who, at one point, seemed to have it all. He was a manager at a hedge fund company on Wall Street, and lived in a luxurious home in the New York suburbs with his wife, Mel (Amanda Peet), and two kids, tennis-playing 17-year-old Tori (Isabel Gravitt) and 15-year-old music prodigy Hunter (Donovan Colan). That was all before it came crashing down, after Coop discovered that his wife was having an affair with his best friend Nick (Mark Tallman), a former NBA All-Star.
Now divorced and living by himself in a smaller home down the street, Coop doesn’t think life could get much worse — until his boss, Jack (Corbin Bernsen), fires him, claiming that his recent fling with Liv (Kitty Hawthorne), a lower-level employee at the company who works in another department, was an abuse of his power. Still financially liable for his children’s future, and with his mentally unstable sister Ali (Lena Hall) moving back in with him, Coop realizes that he’s going to need money, and fast.
After being deemed unemployable by other hedge funds, Coop resorts to something he once would have deemed unthinkable. Realizing just how many material items his extremely wealthy neighbors and friends own, Coop begins breaking into neighborhood homes, selling the jewelry and watches he steals to a sketchy pawn shop run by the no-nonsense Lu (Randy Danson). After all, would some of these rich pricks even notice if one of their dozens of expensive watches was suddenly gone? Probably not. Coop’s life is made even more complicated by his sexual entanglement with Sam (Olivia Munn), one of his neighbors, who is in the midst of a brutal divorce from her abusive husband, Paul (Jordan Gelber). There’s a lot going on in Your Friend and Neighbors, and there’s even more that awaits over the first seven episodes provided. With many twists and turns, the Apple TV+ show that Hamm has always longed to star in is as clever as it is addictive.
Jon Hamm Is Dynamite in Apple TV+’s ‘Your Friends and Neighbors’

Hamm has always been known for his handsome swagger and unbeatable charisma, and he successfully plays into that with Your Friends and Neighbors. Simultaneously, Coop seems like a deconstruction of many of the archetypes Hamm has played in the past, having once lived a life of luxury and now being thrust into a never-ending stream of bad luck — or, as Coop describes it in the show, he’s just lost in all the changes that life has thrown his way. While, normally, viewers wouldn’t want to root for a character like Coop as a wealthy, coastal elite, Hamm successfully brings the character down to Earth, which makes him feel much more sympathetic even as he continuously makes poor decisions. The show allows Hamm to show off both his dramatic chops and even some comedy skills in key moments of narration.
The women of Your Friends and Neighbors are stellar as well. While it may be easy to pass off some of these characters as one-note within the first two episodes, as the series goes on, they all get their moments to shine. Peet’s Mel proves to be far more than just another ex-wife stereotype, with an arc that feels engaging, even if it’s mostly separate from the crime aspects of the main story. Munn also delivers some of her strongest acting to date as Sam — who, in another show, may have just served as a romantic interest but instead becomes her own character. In fact, Peet and Munn’s best scenes aren’t with Hamm, but with each other, equal parts filled with tension and a healthy dose of charm.

Related

The Best New Shows on Apple TV+ in April 2025

Another month of quality over quantity for Apple TV+.

However, the two biggest highlights of Your Friends and Neighbors’ cast, outside of Hamm, are Hall’s Ali and Aimee Carrero’s Elena. As Ali, Hall adds an extra level of emotion to the show pretty quickly after her introduction, which sees her camped out in front of her married ex-boyfriend’s home strumming her guitar. Yet the show never tries to portray Ali as a helpless victim, and her strong bond with Coop adds even more dimension to both characters. Carrero’s Elena comes into play in the fourth episode and, without giving too much away, becomes an unlikely ally to Coop, but one in possession of her own goals and motivations.
‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ Finds Ways To Keep You Watching

Image via Apple TV+

Tropper is no stranger to delivering addictive crime stories to the small screen; just look at his work on the highly underrated Banshee. However, the basic premise of Your Friends and Neighbors initially feels more appropriate for a movie — because, realistically, how long can a man like Coop go breaking into his neighbors’ homes without being caught? Instead of just stretching the premise thin or packing the middle episodes with as much filler as possible, Tropper takes Coop’s descent into illegal activities and makes it even more unpredictable. Your Friends and Neighbors never runs the risk of becoming overstuffed and, simultaneously, isn’t the kind of show where you need to pay attention to every small detail — but it does reward those who do.
Certain moments in Your Friends and Neighbors are almost too on-the-nose in their satire. While Hamm’s narration has a self-awareness to it, that doesn’t mean the show isn’t guilty of being too obvious at times. One particular storyline involves Nick investing in an expensive, Bluetooth-connected toilet, which we later see a character vomit into. Yes, Coop explicitly mentions how overt the metaphor is, but that doesn’t make the moment any less blatant when it plays out.
Apple TV+ has been on a hot streak over the last few months with the aforementioned return of Severance as well as Seth Rogen’s Hollywood satire The Studio and the Brian Tyree Henry crime drama Dope Thief. Held up against the rest, Your Friends and Neighbors is clever, intense, snarky, and carried by Hamm doing what he does best as an actor. It also keeps Apple TV+’s small-screen streak going strong with one of the streamer’s most exciting new shows yet.
The first two episodes of Your Friends and Neighbors premiere April 11 on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping weekly.