Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson have spent decades calling each other brothers.
Apple TV is now taking that description very literally.
The first trailer for Brothers reunites the longtime friends and True Detective co-stars in a new eight-episode comedy built around one of the strangest real-life stories surrounding the pair: the possibility that they may genuinely be biological half-brothers.
McConaughey and Harrelson play fictionalised versions of themselves, turning their actual friendship, public personas and long-running family mystery into the basis for a chaotic family comedy.
The story begins when Woody’s daughter’s wedding falls apart.
Looking for somewhere to recover from the disaster, Woody packs up his family and heads to Austin for an extended stay at Matthew’s Texas ranch.
It sounds like the perfect opportunity for two old friends and their families to spend some time together.
It does not remain peaceful for long.
During the visit, Matthew’s mother — Ma Mac, played by Holland Taylor — accidentally reveals a secret that has apparently been buried for decades.
Matthew and Woody might actually be brothers.
Suddenly, what began as a family getaway becomes an investigation.
Woody becomes determined to discover the truth, turning Matthew’s ranch upside down while trying to establish exactly what happened between their parents decades earlier.
Matthew has problems of his own.
While Woody becomes increasingly obsessed with their possible shared parentage, McConaughey’s fictional counterpart is considering a potential run for Governor of Texas.
That means the possibility of discovering that his family history is not what he believed arrives at an especially inconvenient moment.
The premise might sound like something invented entirely for television.
It is not.
For years, McConaughey and Harrelson have publicly discussed the possibility that they could genuinely share a biological father.
The story became particularly famous after McConaughey revealed that his mother had once made a cryptic comment suggesting she had known Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson, around the period when Matthew was conceived.
The timing and circumstances were strange enough that both actors began wondering whether their unusually close friendship might have an unexpected biological explanation.
Harrelson has publicly expressed interest in taking a DNA test.
McConaughey has been more hesitant, explaining that confirmation could force him to reconsider the identity of the man he had always believed was his father.
No DNA test has publicly resolved the mystery.
Brothers therefore takes that unresolved question and runs with it.
Rather than presenting a documentary investigation, the series imagines what would happen if the possibility suddenly exploded into the middle of their everyday lives.
The trailer immediately plays with the contrast between the two men.
McConaughey remains the smooth, philosophical Oscar winner.
Harrelson brings his more unpredictable, mischievous energy.
Even their respective awards become ammunition for sibling-style arguments, with the show clearly interested in exploiting the chemistry audiences have seen between them for years.
That chemistry is already well established.
The pair previously appeared together in films including EDtv and Surfer, Dude, but their most celebrated collaboration remains the first season of HBO’s True Detective.
As Rust Cohle and Marty Hart, they created one of modern television’s most memorable detective partnerships.
Brothers could hardly be further removed from that grim Louisiana murder mystery.
Harrelson has already warned viewers not to approach the new series expecting another True Detective.
Instead, Brothers is a self-referential comedy about fame, friendship, marriage, parenting and the strange point where celebrity mythology collides with real family history.
The supporting cast includes Natalie Martinez and Brittany Ishibashi, alongside Nolan Almeida, Ella Grace Helton, Noah Carganilla, Highdee Kuan and Oona Yaffe.
Holland Taylor may have one of the most important roles of all as Ma Mac, whose seemingly casual revelation sets the entire story in motion.
Lee Eisenberg serves as showrunner and executive producer.
His previous credits include The Office, Jury Duty and WeCrashed, making him a particularly interesting fit for a comedy built around recognisable public personalities playing distorted versions of themselves.
McConaughey and Harrelson also executive produce the series.
Paramount Television Studios produces Brothers for Apple TV.
The first season consists of eight episodes.
The premiere arrives with two episodes on September 23, followed by one new episode every Wednesday through November 4.
But perhaps the smartest thing about the premise is that the audience already knows the relationship at its centre is real.
Whether McConaughey and Harrelson actually share DNA remains unresolved.
Their friendship is not.
They have known each other for decades.
Their families are close.
Their children reportedly already refer to each man as an uncle.
And the two actors have repeatedly joked about how difficult it can be to tell which family photographs belong to which household.
Brothers simply asks the irresistible next question.
What if everyone eventually discovers there is a reason?
Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson may or may not be biological brothers.
Beginning September 23, Apple TV is going to have a lot of fun pretending they are.
Watch the trailer below.
