Sunny, on Apple TV+

Maybe Asimov's "Law of Robotics” will be more of a suggestion in the future. For Suzie Sakamoto’s husband Masa, it was just something to code around. Supposedly, he and her son “Zen” died in a plane crash, but his code is still out there. Much to the American expat’s surprise, Masa also left behind a specially programmed homebot (robotic housekeeping assistant) that will introduce herself to the grieving Sakamoto in creator Katie Robbins’ 10-part Sunny, which premieres this coming Wednesday on Apple TV+.

Sakamoto always resented robots, because her mother was killed by a self-driving car. She had been led to believe her late husband worked in the refrigerator division of his technology company, so she is shocked to learn he oversaw their robotics.

Masa’s mother Noriko Sakamoto is obviously Japanese, but she is also a classic mother-in-law. Consequently, Sakamoto would rather drink than deal with her. She also has little patience for the annoyingly chipper homebot delivered by Masa’s senior colleague, Yuki Tanaka. Sunny, as Masa named her, tries to help Sakamoto process her grief, but she is having none of that. However, Sakamoto discovers Sunny has other talents, so she recruits the bot to investigate the accident. The more she learns of her husband’s secrets, the more determined she is to recover the secret memories buried within Sunny’s directories.

Sakamoto does not make friends easily and she alienates them quickly. However, she somehow also recruits Mixxy, a part-time mixologist at her local cocktail bar, to help her investigation. She soon starts suspecting the involvement of a Yakuza clan currently mired in a power struggle. Hime’s cousin expects to succeed her father as chairman, but she has different ideas. To out-maneuver him, she must find the long-rumored codebook for reprogramming robots in illegal and potentially dangerous ways.

The robotics in Sunny represents comparatively light science fiction, but it is integral to Robbins’ story, based on Colin O’Sullivan’s novel. The humor is largely tied to Sakamoto’s incredibly profane mouth, but it is frequently amusing. It might have grand ambitions, but it is no Severance. Yet, Sunny is engaging and not overly taxing sf-dramedy, which is rather impressive when you consider it is centered around a grieving mother.

It turns out Rashida Jones can curse like a sailor. She needs to, because Sakamoto’s swearing plays an important role in the story. She gets a lot of laughs as a result and has some spectacular meltdowns. Judy Ongg’s Noriko is a lot to handle, but she humanizes her and ultimately flips viewers’ assumptions and sympathies in later episodes. Plus, veteran Japanese character actor Jun Kunimura is wonderfully wise and sly as old Tanaka.

Toast of Tinseltown, on Roku

Anyone who thinks British actors are classy hasn’t met Steven Toast yet. When you do meet him, you can’t umeet him. However, the abrasive blowhard has such a knack for bringing out the worst in people, it weirdly almost makes him sympathetic by comparison. After annoying his British colleagues during a few seasons of Toast of London, he takes a shot at Hollywood in creators Arthur Mathews & Matt Berry’s six-episode sequel series Toast of Tinseltown, which premieres today on the Roku Channel.

Toast comes to Hollywood with the delusional understanding he will co-star in the next Star Wars film. Of course, his long-suffering agent is happy to have a break from him, referring him to her Hollywood colleague, Brooke Hooberman, who specializes in Brits. She also works out of her car, sort of like the Lincoln Lawyer, but in a way that inspires less confidence.

At first, Toast assumes he is lucky to meet Russ Nightlife on the flight from London, because the stranger offers to put Toast up in his Hollywood Hills home. Then the actor discovers his host is ragingly neurotic and deeply anti-social. On the plus side, Nightlife’s housekeeper-caretaker Billy Tarzana is quite charming. She pretends to only speak Spanish around Nightlife, but she is happy to relax and converse in English around Toast.

The first episode is basically an extension of Toast of London, in which Toast’s agent sends him off to an anger management workshop, which seems to be suspiciously successful. “LA Story” introduces Toast to Hollywood, exaggerating its eccentricities in ways that hit somewhat more than they miss. As he acclimates to Hollywood, he thinks he has a torrid affair with a dominatrix and lands a role on cheesy medical drama. There is a weird, feverish Manson-family-influenced Western-style detour, before the series culminates by revealing the truth about Russ Nightlife.