# Lessons in Chemistry (2023)

> A brilliant 1950s chemist is forced into a television cooking show, where she turns her recipes into lessons for a nation of housewives.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/97648

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 47 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance
- Created by: Lee Eisenberg
- Network: Apple TV
- Cast: Brie Larson, Lewis Pullman, Aja Naomi King, Stephanie Koenig, Patrick Walker, Rainn Wilson, Derek Cecil, Kevin Sussman
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13911628/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: witty, defiant, warm, romantic, bittersweet

## What critics say

Audiences broadly acclaim the series for Brie Larson's lead performance and its sharp take on 1950s sexism wrapped in an accessible, warm period drama.

## Synopsis

Lessons in Chemistry (2023) is a US limited series created by Lee Eisenberg for Apple TV, adapted from the novel by Bonnie Garmus. Brie Larson plays Elizabeth Zott, a gifted chemist whose scientific ambitions collide with a 1950s society that insists women belong in the home. After being pushed into hosting a television cooking show, she turns each broadcast into a lesson that reaches a nation of overlooked housewives. Lewis Pullman plays Calvin Evans, a brilliant colleague whose bond with Elizabeth grows through shared rigor and stubborn independence, while Aja Naomi King plays Harriet Sloane, a friend and fellow outsider in the workplace. Across eight episodes the engine is simple and sharp: a woman refusing to shrink her mind, a broadcast format that quietly becomes a platform, and a patriarchal world that keeps pushing back. Set in 1950s California, the series moves between laboratory corridors, studio sets and domestic kitchens. Its tone is witty and defiant, with romance and humor balanced against sexism and grief. Fans of Mad Men, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Hidden Figures will find resonance here.

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