''Lessons in Chemistry'' is an American

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

miniseries created by

Lee Eisenberg Lee Eisenberg (born April 5, 1977) is an American film and television writer and producer. He usually works with Gene Stupnitsky, with whom he founded Quantity Entertainment. Life and career Eisenberg was born in Needham, Massachusetts. His fat ...

, based on the novel of the same name by

Bonnie Garmus Bonnie Garmus is an American author and former copywriter. Garmus is from Seattle. She has worked as a copywriter and creative director in the US, and in Switzerland and Colombia. In 2022, her debut novel, ''Lessons in Chemistry'' was published. ...

. It stars

Brie Larson Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers (born October 1, 1989), known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress. Known for her supporting roles in comedies as a teenager, she has since expanded to leading roles in independent films and blockb ...

as chemist Elizabeth Zott who begins hosting her own feminist cooking show in 1960s America. The series began streaming on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...

on October 13, 2023 and ended November 22, 2023. It received positive reviews from critics, and received nominations for two

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

, Best Limited or Anthology Series and Best Actress – Miniseries for Larson. In 2024

Sarah Adina Smith Sarah Adina Smith is an American film writer, director, and editor. Films she has directed include ''Buster's Mal Heart'' (2016), and '' The Midnight Swim'' (2014). She also directed two episodes from the television series '' Room 104''. Her films ...

won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series for directing the episode "Her and Him".

Premise

After being fired from her job as a lab tech, chemist Elizabeth Zott uses her new job hosting a 1960s television cooking show titled ''Supper at Six'' to educate housewives on scientific topics.

Cast

Main

as Elizabeth Zott *

Lewis Pullman Lewis James Pullman (born January 29, 1993) is an American actor. His film credits include '' The Strangers: Prey at Night'', ''Bad Times at the El Royale'' (both 2018), and '' Top Gun: Maverick'' (2022). On television, he starred as Major Majo ...

as Calvin Evans *

Aja Naomi King Aja Naomi King (; born January 11, 1985) is an American actress. She played Michaela Pratt in ''How to Get Away with Murder''. She began her career in guest-starring roles on television, and starred as Cassandra Kopelson in The CW medical comedy ...

as Harriet Sloane *

Stephanie Koenig Stephanie Koenig is an American actress and producer. She is best known for her roles as Karen in '' The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo'', Eve in ''Swedish Dicks'', and Sabrina Oznowich in '' The Flight Attendant''. Koenig frequently collab ...

as Fran Frask * Patrick Walker as Reverend Curtis Wakely

Recurring

Derek Cecil Derek Cecil (born January 5, 1973) is an American actor. He played the role of Seth Grayson on the Netflix series '' House of Cards'', starred in the short-lived series '' Push, Nevada'' and '' The Beat'', and made several appearances in the seri ...

as Dr. Robert Donatti *

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

as Boryweitz *

Andy Daly Andrew J. Daly (born April 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred as Forrest MacNeil on the Comedy Central series ''Review'', and had a supporting role in the HBO comedy series ''Eastbound & Down'' as Terrence Cutler. H ...

as Dr. Richard Price * Alice Halsey as Madeline Zott * Amentii Sledge as Linda Sloane * Yasir Hashim Lafond as James "Junior" Sloane * Joshua Hoover as Anthony Powers *

Kevin Sussman Kevin Sussman (born December 4, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He played Walter on the ABC comedy-drama ''Ugly Betty'' and Stuart Bloom on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory''. Starting with the sixth season of ''The Big Bang Theo ...

as Walter Pine *

Marc Evan Jackson Marc Evan Jackson (born August 21, 1970) is an American comedian and actor. Some of his roles include Sparks Nevada in the '' Thrilling Adventure Hour'', Kevin Cozner in ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' (he also hosts a podcast based on the sitcom, titled ...

as Dr. Leland Mason * Paul James as Charlie Sloane *

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom '' The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive E ...

as Phil Lebensmal

Guest

Adam Bartley Adam Bartley (born January 28, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Sheriff's Deputy Archie "the Ferg" Ferguson on the television series '' Longmire''. Life and career Bartley was born in Minnesota, and is a 1997 graduate ...

as Scientist *

Tate Ellington James Tate Ellington (born April 17, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Aidan Hall, the best friend of Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson) in the 2010 romantic drama film '' Remember Me''. Ellington starred as Oliver Hunt in ''The Elephant Kin ...

as Dr. Ellington *

B. J. Novak Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak (born July 31, 1979) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He has received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Novak became known for starring as Ryan Howard in t ...

as Six-Thirty (voice) *

Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was awa ...

as Harry Wilson *

Jake Short Jacob Patrick Short (born May 30, 1997 in Indianapolis, Indiana), known professionally as Jake Short, is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Fletcher Quimby in the Disney Channel comedy series '' A.N.T. Farm'' (2011–2014), ...

as Ralph Bailey *

Ashley Monique Clark Ashley Monique Clark (born December 1, 1988) is an American television actress best known for her role as Sydney Hughley (D.L. Hughley's TV daughter) on the ABC and UPN television program, ''The Hughleys''. Career Clark made her professional tel ...

as Martha Wakely *

Rosemarie DeWitt Rosemarie Braddock DeWitt (born October 26, 1971) is an American actress. DeWitt played Emily Lehman in the Fox television series '' Standoff'' (2006–07), co-starring with her future husband Ron Livingston, as well as Charmaine Craine on ''Unit ...

as Avery Parker

Episodes

Production

It was announced in January 2021 that

had issued a straight-to-series order for the show, with

set to star and executive produce. The series began production by August 2022, with

, Patrick Walker,

and

added to the cast.

Reception

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reported a 86% approval rating with an average rating of 7.4/10, based on 69 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Touching on several hot button issues while benefiting immensely from a perfect pinch of Brie Larson, ''Lessons in Chemistry'' ambitious ingredients add up to satisfying entertainment."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Accolades

References

External links

* at

* {{Apple TV+ 2020s American drama television miniseries 2023 American television series debuts American English-language television shows Apple TV+ original programming Television shows based on American novels Television series set in the 1960s Television series about television Cultural depictions of scientists