''Sugar'' is an 8-part American

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television series created by

Mark Protosevich Mark David Protosevich (born August 24, 1961) is an American screenwriter. He wrote the screenplays for the films ''Poseidon'' and '' I Am Legend''. Protosevich was born in Chicago, Illinois and is an alumnus of Columbia College Chicago. Protos ...

, directed by

Fernando Meirelles Fernando Ferreira Meirelles (; born 9 November 1955) is a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for co-directing the film '' City of God'', released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the U.S. by Miramax Films, whi ...

and starring

Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A leading man in projects across various genres in both blockbuster and independent films since the 2000s, he has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award. ''The ...

who also serves as executive producer. It premiered 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 April 5, 2024.

Premise

It is described as "a genre-bending contemporary take on the private detective story set in Los Angeles".

Cast

Main

as John Sugar *

Kirby Howell-Baptiste Kirby Howell-Baptiste (born 7 February 1987) is a British actress. She has appeared as a series regular on ''Downward Dog'' (2017), ''Killing Eve'' (2018), ''Why Women Kill'' (2019), and '' The Sandman'' (2022). Her television appearances also i ...

as Ruby *

Amy Ryan Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski, known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress of stage and screen. A graduate of New York's High School of Performing Arts, she is an Academy Award nominee and two-time Tony Award nominee. Ryan began her pro ...

as Melanie Mackintosh *

Dennis Boutsikaris Dennis Boutsikaris (; born December 21, 1952) is an American character actor who has won the Obie Award twice. He is also a narrator of audiobooks, for which he has won 13 Golden Earphone Awards and 8 Audie Awards. He won Best Audiobook of the ...

as Bernie Siegel *

Nate Corddry Nathan Harris Corddry (born September 8, 1977) is an American actor and comedian best known for his roles as Adam Branch on '' Harry's Law'' and for his role as Gabriel in the first two seasons of ''Mom''. He has also guest starred on series suc ...

as David Siegel * Alex Hernandez as Kenny *

James Cromwell James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American actor and activist. Some of his best-known films include '' Babe'' (1995), '' Star Trek: First Contact'' (1996), '' L.A. Confidential'' (1997), '' The Green Mile'' (1999), '' The Queen ...

as Jonathan Siegel

Guest

Miguel Sandoval Miguel Sandoval (born November 16, 1951) is an American actor of film and television. Biography Sandoval was born in Washington, D.C. He began working as a professional actor in 1975 when he joined a mime school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ...

as Thomas Kinsey *

Sydney Chandler Sydney Chandler (born February 13, 1996) is an American actress. Career In October 2020, Chandler was cast in ''Don't Worry Darling'', directed by Olivia Wilde. In January 2021, she was cast in the FX miniseries ''Pistol'', a series about The Se ...

as Olivia Siegel * Jon Beavers as Carl * Natalie Alyn Lind as Rachel Kaye *

Eric Lange Eric Lange (born February 19, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his work on television, where he has appeared in a wide variety of both supporting and leading roles. Lange played the recurring roles of Stuart Radzinsky on the ''ABC'' ...

as Stallings *

Anna Gunn Anna Gunn (born August 11, 1968) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Skyler White on the AMC drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a ...

as Margit *

Jason Butler Harner Jason Thomas Butler Harner (born October 9, 1970) is an American actor. Life and career Harner was born in Elmira, New York and grew up in suburban Northern Virginia, where he saw a handful of plays at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage. His mid ...

as Henry *

Scott Lawrence Scott Lawrence (born September 27, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role as Cmdr. Sturgis Turner on the CBS series '' JAG''. Lawrence played the role from 2001 until 2005, when the series ended. He is also known for being the ma ...

as Dr. Vickers *

Jonathan Slavin Jonathan Slavin (born November 8, 1969) is an American actor and activist. Early life Slavin was born in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Career Slavin portrayed illustrator Byron Togler on the Fox net ...

Joey Pollari Joey Pollari (born April 9, 1994) is an American actor who became well known for his role as Eric Tanner on ABC's second season of '' American Crime'', and in 2018, appeared in the film ''Love, Simon'', as Lyle, one of Simon's potential boyfriend ...

Lindsay Pulsipher Lindsay Pulsipher (born May 6, 1979) is an American actress. She has had several roles in film and television and is known for her series regular role as Rose Lawrence on A&E Network's '' The Beast'' (2009). She joined the third season of HBO's '' ...

* Txunamy Ortiz as Patricia * Elizabeth Anweis as Mrs. Siegel *

Massi Furlan Massimiliano "Massi" Furlan (born 29 September 1968) is an Italian-American actor and film producer who began his entertainment career as a stand-up comedian. He is known for appearing in several television series and in the films ''The Dark Knig ...

as Carlos * Adrian Martinez as Glen

Episodes

Production

It was announced in December 2021 that

had won a bidding war for the rights to the series, which had

attached to star. Farrell would officially join the series in June 2022, when it was given the greenlight from Apple TV+. In August 2022,

, Alex Hernandez and

joined the main cast, with

and

cast to recur. In September,

, Elizabeth Anweis and

were added to the cast. Production for the series began in August 2022, which was expected to extend into in the fall, delaying another project for series star Farrell.

Reception

On review aggregator

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 ...

, 81% of 53 critics gave the series a positive review. The website's critics consensus reads, "A modern noir steeped in the classic tradition, ''Sugar'' could use stronger clues to go along with its ample style, but Colin Farrell's cool performance keeps things compelling." On

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 ...

, the series holds a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

* * {{Apple TV+ 2020s American drama television series 2020s American mystery television series 2024 American television series debuts American English-language television shows Apple TV+ original programming Television shows set in Los Angeles