Cupertino Co-Creator Reveals Why Two Popular Restaurant Chains Play A Big Part In The Series Premiere

The lawyers of "Cupertino" are hungry for justice, but if you watched the new CBS drama's premiere Thursday, you might've just been hungry — full stop.

After all, two national restaurant chains have prominent visibility in the episode, which follows Silicon Valley lawyers Michael Price and OIivia Siffre — played by Mike Colter and Rachel Keller, respectively — as they decide to start a firm that fights for the little guy. And while Michael and Olivia are getting everything sorted, they work from a booth at a nearby International House of Pancakes, or IHOP. 

What's more, they're aided by fellow former tech employee Christy Palladino (Ella Stiller), who has had to return to waiting tables at the casual dining emporium known as TGI Fridays when she's fired from the same firm that let Olivia and Michael go. And in a pivotal point near the end of the episode, Christy's fellow TGI Fridays servers double as extras when Michael and Olivia's fledgling firm puts on a show to dupe the opposing counsel. (Read a full recap of the premiere here.)

Given the long-standing practice of product placement, in which brands pay TV series to showcase their product, you might think that both eateries had some sort of deal with the legal drama. But on Friday, series co-creator Robert King said that was not the case.

"A quick postscript about 'Cupertino,'" Robert King — who co-created the series with Michelle King and serves as showrunner and executive producer — wrote on X. "There was no product placement in it. We scripted in TGI Fridays because I worked there in college, and we thought the bumblebee costumes would be funny."

(By "bumblebee costumes," he referred to the red-and-white striped shirts that the restaurant's employees wear underneath their flair.)

King went on to write that "when I was a struggling writer, I wrote in a corner booth at IHOPs."

Per the EP, both chains gave permission for their names and hallmarks to be used in the show. "So thank you, TGI Fridays and IHOP," King added. "Both are still good for struggling writers."

TVLine has reached out to both restaurant chains for comment.

Did you watch "Cupertino" and pay special attention to the restaurants' prominence? Tell us all about it in the comments!