Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024 TV series)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is an American spy television series created by Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover. Glover also stars in a lead role alongside Maya Erskine. Inspired by the 2005 film of the same name, the series premiered on February 2, 2024, on Amazon Prime Video. In May 2024, the series was renewed for a second season. The show received positive reviews and was nominated for 16 Primetime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Drama Series and acting nominations for Glover, Erskine, Coel, Posey, Paulson, Turturro, and Dano.

Premise
Two strangers independently agree to become secret agents for a mysterious organization under cover as a married couple using the names "John" and "Jane" Smith. The couple must work through missions as their espionage skills, and developing relationship, are put to the test. All instructions are received from an anonymous source via text. The Smiths take on a separate mission in each of eight episodes and the show features different locales while also focusing on the marital relationship the two characters assume.

Main

 * Donald Glover as John Smith / Michael
 * Maya Erskine as Jane Smith / Alana

Guest starring

 * Alexander Skarsgård as First Other John
 * Eiza González as First Other Jane
 * Paul Dano as Harris Materbach
 * John Turturro as Eric Shane
 * Sharon Horgan as Gavol Martin
 * Billy Campbell as Parker Martin
 * Sarah Paulson as Therapist
 * Parker Posey as Second Other Jane
 * Úrsula Corberó as Runi
 * Wagner Moura as Second Other John
 * Ron Perlman as Toby Hellinger
 * Michaela Coel as Bev

Additionally, Beverly Glover, who is Donald's mother in real life, makes her acting debut as Denise, John Smith's mother.

Production
On February 12, 2021, it was announced that a TV series reboot based on the original film, created by and starring Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with Francesca Sloane as co-creator and showrunner, would premiere on Prime Video in 2022. The original film was directed by Doug Liman and starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Waller-Bridge exited the project in September 2021 due to creative differences with Glover. On April 7, 2022, it was reported that Maya Erskine would take over Waller-Bridge's role.

On June 29, 2022, it was reported that Michaela Coel, John Turturro, and Paul Dano would appear in guest star roles. On September 22, 2022, it was reported that Parker Posey and Wagner Moura had joined the cast in recurring roles.

In addition to Glover and Sloane, the series was executive produced by Yariv Milchan, Arnon Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Stephen Glover, Anthony Katagas, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson, and Jenny Robins.

Filming began in the summer of 2022.

On May 14, 2024, Amazon Prime Video renewed the series for a second season, with Sloane returning as showrunner. However, whether Glover and Erskine are returning or not is unclear.

Release
On September 23, 2022, it was reported that the release date for the series had been pushed back from 2022 to 2023.

Amidst the 2023 Hollywood strikes, Amazon delayed the release from 2023 to "early 2024". All eight episodes of the series were released on February 2, 2024, on Prime Video.

Marketing
A series of guerrilla marketing stunts were used to promote the series. On January 19, 2024, a pair of shoes were stolen at an art exhibit after the lights went out. On January 24, two furries sat next to Tyra Banks at a basketball game. On January 25, a comedy show featuring Mark Normand was interrupted when two unknown people rushed the stage. Social media posts about these events had advertisement disclaimers but did not specify the product being advertised. Gothamist found that marketing firm Verb had put out casting calls for the "HiHi Mission Contest" that would take place at a "culture event in New York City". The comedy show was a taping by HiHi, according to the comedy club, that influencers had been invited to.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 90% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.6/10, based on 110 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Building on the basic premise of its source material, Mr. & Mrs. Smith anchors its spy hijinks in a relationship drama fueled by the chemistry between its charming leads." On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Audience viewership
On February 9, 2024, it was announced the series had become one of Prime Video's top five new series debuts ever in terms of total U.S. viewers.