# The Kominsky Method
**The Kominsky Method** is an American half-hour single-camera comedy-drama created by Chuck Lorre for Netflix, starring [Michael Douglas](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-douglas) as Sandy Kominsky, an aging acting coach in Los Angeles, and [Alan Arkin](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-arkin) as his longtime agent and best friend Norman Newlander.[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80201680) It ran for three seasons and 22 episodes, from its premiere on November 16, 2018 to its final episode on May 28, 2021.[2](https://latestnetflix.com/series/81290) The first season won two [Golden Globe Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-globe-awards) in January 2019, including Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor in that category for Douglas.[3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/talent/?view=chuck-lorre-2)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Created by | Chuck Lorre; executive producers Lorre, Al Higgins, and Michael Douglas[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80201680) |
| Network and run | Netflix, November 16, 2018 to May 28, 2021; 3 seasons, 22 episodes[2](https://latestnetflix.com/series/81290) |
| Season lengths | Season 1: 8 episodes; Season 2: 8 episodes; Season 3: 6 episodes[2](https://latestnetflix.com/series/81290) • [1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80201680) |
| Lead cast | Michael Douglas (Sandy Kominsky), Alan Arkin (Norman Newlander, seasons 1–2), Sarah Baker (Mindy), Nancy Travis (Lisa)[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7255502/fullcredits/) • [5](https://epguides.com/KominskyMethod/) |
| Format | Half-hour single-camera comedy, TV-MA rating[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80201680) • [6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-kominsky-method) |
| Major awards | Golden Globe 2019: Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy; Best Actor for Douglas (two wins from three nominations)[3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/talent/?view=chuck-lorre-2) |
| Critical scores | Rotten Tomatoes average Tomatometer 93% from 61 reviews; Metacritic season 1 Metascore 68[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_kominsky_method) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-kominsky-method/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and characters
Sandy Kominsky is a once-famous actor whose screen career is mostly behind him; he now makes his living running a thriving acting studio in Los Angeles, helped by his daughter Mindy (Sarah Baker).[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-review-kominsky-method-alan-arkin-michael-douglas-lorre-netflix-20181115-story.html) • [6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-kominsky-method) His agent and best friend of nearly fifty years, Norman Newlander, is newly widowed after decades of marriage to Eileen ([Susan Sullivan](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-sullivan)), who asks Sandy to look after her husband when she is gone.[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-review-kominsky-method-alan-arkin-michael-douglas-lorre-netflix-20181115-story.html) • [10](https://time.com/5450341/kominsky-method-review/) The series follows the two men through loss, family complications, late-life romance, and the physical indignities of aging, including Sandy's prostate trouble, a recurring comic subject.[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-review-kominsky-method-alan-arkin-michael-douglas-lorre-netflix-20181115-story.html)
Sandy's romantic interest in the first season is Lisa ([Nancy Travis](https://www.edgepedia.org/nancy-travis)), a fifty-something acting student, recently divorced, who takes lessons from him after deciding to do something for herself.[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-review-kominsky-method-alan-arkin-michael-douglas-lorre-netflix-20181115-story.html) • [11](https://www.productionlist.com/production/the-kominsky-method) Recurring and guest roles included [Lisa Edelstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/lisa-edelstein) as Norman's daughter Phoebe, Emily Osment, Graham Rogers, and [Haley Joel Osment](https://www.edgepedia.org/haley-joel-osment), with Danny DeVito appearing as Sandy's urologist.[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80201680) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-kominsky-method/)
### Seasons and the ending
Season 1 (8 episodes) premiered on November 16, 2018 and centered on Norman's grief and Sandy's romance with Lisa.[2](https://latestnetflix.com/series/81290) • [10](https://time.com/5450341/kominsky-method-review/) Season 2 (8 episodes) launched in October 2019 and added guest appearances by [Jane Seymour](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-seymour) as Madelyn, Norman's budding love interest, and [Paul Reiser](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-reiser) as Martin, the boyfriend of Sandy's daughter; Lorre said the Norman and Madelyn storyline was based on the relationship between [Tom Poston](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-poston) and Suzanne Pleshette.[14](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kominsky-method-michael-douglas-chuck-194900842.html)
**The final season.** Arkin decided not to return, so season 3 (6 episodes) follows Sandy navigating aging without his longtime friend, complicated by the arrival of his ex-wife Roz Volander ([Kathleen Turner](https://www.edgepedia.org/kathleen-turner)), whose volatile relationship with Sandy is inflamed when she comes to Los Angeles to spend time with Mindy and Martin.[17](https://producersguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Last-Hurrahs.pdf) • [1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80201680) Douglas said the two-year contract with Netflix had run its course and he wanted to finish the story and "put a bow around this."[16](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/08/awards-insider-michael-douglas-kominsky-method-interview) The last episode, "Chapter 22. The fundamental things apply," aired on May 28, 2021.[2](https://latestnetflix.com/series/81290)
## Production and writing
The series was produced by Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television, with Lorre, Al Higgins, and Douglas as executive producers.[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80201680) [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) was scheduled in Los Angeles from January 2018 to April 2018.[11](https://www.productionlist.com/production/the-kominsky-method)
**A new way of working.** Lorre, whose previous hits such as *Two and a Half Men* and *The Big Bang Theory* were multi-camera network sitcoms shot before live studio audiences, described the single-camera, no-laugh-track format as a deliberate departure that let him address aging and mortality.[12](https://www.wral.com/archive/17996077/) • [13](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/big-bang-theory-creator-chuck-lorre-on-his-netflix-series-the-kominsky-method/) He also wrote most of the show largely by himself rather than through a writers' room, saying the weekly urgency of network production gave way to the luxury of sitting alone to find out whether he still had a voice.[14](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kominsky-method-michael-douglas-chuck-194900842.html) Working with Douglas and Arkin required a different directing style; Lorre said conversation, not notes, was the only way to work with two actors with roughly a century of combined experience.[15](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-st-golden-globes-chuck-lorre-reaction-20181206-story.html)
Douglas said he took the role partly for the chance to do comedy and to work with Arkin, and later described returning to television after more than forty years as a scary but rewarding experience.[13](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/big-bang-theory-creator-chuck-lorre-on-his-netflix-series-the-kominsky-method/) • [16](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/08/awards-insider-michael-douglas-kominsky-method-interview)
## Reception
Critics generally received the show well. Rotten Tomatoes reports an average Tomatometer of 93% across 61 reviews, with season scores of 80% for season 1 and 100% for seasons 2 and 3; its critics' consensus called the series a surprisingly poignant portrait of life and aging elevated by Douglas and Arkin.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_kominsky_method) Metacritic gave season 1 a Metascore of 68 based on 23 critic reviews, in a range running from a 100 from TV Guide Magazine to a 25 from Newsday.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-kominsky-method/) The Los Angeles Times praised it as a dark, funny, and moving half-hour comedy that was more than the sum of its prostate and struggling-actor jokes, while Time was more negative, calling it a superficial attempt at a sophisticated sitcom.[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-review-kominsky-method-alan-arkin-michael-douglas-lorre-netflix-20181115-story.html) • [10](https://time.com/5450341/kominsky-method-review/)
The show was noted for its treatment of aging in a youth-focused industry. The Guardian grouped it with *Grace and Frankie* as part of Netflix's push into what it called "elder entertainment," and noted that it had just won the Golden Globe for best TV comedy or musical.[18](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/15/vibrators-and-chill-how-netflix-are-targeting-older-viewers) A Jewish review outlet observed that the two main characters are Jewish, a first for Lorre, and that the show's sensibility and humor carry a strong Jewish resonance.[19](https://www.jta.org/2018/11/16/culture/michael-douglas-alan-arkin-mine-aging-laughs-chuck-lorres-latest-kominsky-method) • [20](https://cdn.fedweb.org/fed-131/3755/bng0325_22.pdf) Common Sense Media, while calling the production well made, criticized jokes it characterized as racist and homophobic and rated the show for viewers 15 and older.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-kominsky-method)
## References
1. [The Kominsky Method, Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80201680)
2. [The Kominsky Method (2018), Latest Netflix](https://latestnetflix.com/series/81290)
3. [Chuck Lorre bio, Paramount Press Express](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/talent/?view=chuck-lorre-2)
4. [The Kominsky Method full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7255502/fullcredits/)
5. [The Kominsky Method, a Titles & Air Dates Guide, epguides](https://epguides.com/KominskyMethod/)
6. [The Kominsky Method, Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-kominsky-method)
7. [The Kominsky Method, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_kominsky_method)
8. [The Kominsky Method Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-kominsky-method/)
9. [Review: 'The Kominsky Method' follows its own winning methodology, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-review-kominsky-method-alan-arkin-michael-douglas-lorre-netflix-20181115-story.html)
10. [Even Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin Can't Save the Lazy, Cranky Kominsky Method, Time](https://time.com/5450341/kominsky-method-review/)
11. [The Kominsky Method, Production List, Film & Television Industry Alliance](https://www.productionlist.com/production/the-kominsky-method)
12. [Michael Douglas Refuses to Age Gracefully in 'The Kominsky Method', WRAL (New York Times)](https://www.wral.com/archive/17996077/)
13. ["Big Bang Theory" creator Chuck Lorre on his Netflix series, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/big-bang-theory-creator-chuck-lorre-on-his-netflix-series-the-kominsky-method/)
14. ['The Kominsky Method': Michael Douglas & Chuck Lorre Talk Hope, Relationships, Prostate Exams & Retirement, Deadline via Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kominsky-method-michael-douglas-chuck-194900842.html)
15. [Chuck Lorre on his Golden Globe-nominated cast of 'The Kominsky Method', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-st-golden-globes-chuck-lorre-reaction-20181206-story.html)
16. [Michael Douglas Reflects on His Career and Becoming a "Braver" Actor, Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/08/awards-insider-michael-douglas-kominsky-method-interview)
17. [Last Hurrahs, Producers Guild of America](https://producersguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Last-Hurrahs.pdf)
18. [Vibrators and chill: how Netflix is targeting older viewers, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/15/vibrators-and-chill-how-netflix-are-targeting-older-viewers)
19. [Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin mine aging for laughs in Chuck Lorre's latest, Jewish Telegraphic Agency](https://www.jta.org/2018/11/16/culture/michael-douglas-alan-arkin-mine-aging-laughs-chuck-lorres-latest-kominsky-method)
20. [Television Review, The Reporter, March 25–April 7, 2022](https://cdn.fedweb.org/fed-131/3755/bng0325_22.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Family and relationship drama*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license