Steven Soderbergh has a weird relationship with the "off" switch. Back in 2013, he famously told the world he was retiring from filmmaking. He was bored. The industry was broken. He wanted to paint. Fast forward to 2026, and the guy has basically become the most productive "retired" person in history. But if you only know him for the Ocean’s trilogy or Magic Mike, you’re missing the actual laboratory where he’s doing his best work. Steven Soderbergh TV shows aren't just television; they are high-speed experiments in how we consume stories.
Most people think of him as a movie guy who occasionally dabbles in cable. Honestly? It’s the other way around now. He uses the small screen to break rules that Hollywood is too scared to touch. He’s the director who edits in the van on the way home from set. He’s the guy who shoots entire series on an iPhone. If you want to understand where TV is going, you have to look at what he’s already done.
The Knick and the Death of the "Director-for-Hire"
Before The Knick, most TV shows worked on a "revolving door" model for directors. You’d have a different person behind the camera every week to keep things on schedule. Soderbergh looked at that and said, "No thanks." He directed, shot, and edited all 20 episodes himself.
Set in a 1900s New York hospital, The Knick is brutal. It’s gore-soaked. Clive Owen plays Dr. John Thackery, a man who is as addicted to cocaine as he is to the "endless possibility" of modern medicine. But the show isn't just a period piece. It’s a horror movie disguised as a medical drama. Soderbergh used modern, anachronistic electronic music by Cliff Martinez and a handheld, kinetic camera style that made 1900 feel like 2026.
He proved that a single vision could sustain a 20-hour narrative without the "tonal drift" that plagues most long-running shows. It was efficient. It was beautiful. It was terrifying.
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Why Command Z and Mosaic Are Changing the Interface
If you’re looking for Command Z on Netflix or HBO, stop. You won't find it. In 2023, Soderbergh just... dropped it on his own website, Extension 765. It’s a sci-fi satire about time travelers (led by a floating-head Michael Cera) trying to fix the past.
It’s weird. It’s short. The episodes vary wildly in length. This is Soderbergh's "independent" TV phase. He’s cutting out the middleman entirely.
Then there’s Mosaic. This is the one that really confuses people. Originally, it was an app. You didn't just watch it; you navigated it. You could choose whose perspective to follow. If you wanted to see the murder from the victim's eyes, you clicked one way. If you wanted the detective's view, you went the other.
- The App Version: An interactive, branching narrative that let you hunt for clues in "Discoveries" like police reports and emails.
- The HBO Version: A linear, six-episode "rebuild" of the same footage.
Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon spent years mapping this out. They didn't want a "choose your own adventure" gimmick. They wanted a story that changed based on who you were listening to. It’s the closest television has ever come to being a video game without losing its soul.
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The Political Blur of K Street
Long before the current "prestige TV" boom, Soderbergh was messing with reality in K Street. This 2003 HBO series is the deep cut that most fans haven't seen. It featured real political consultants like James Carville and Mary Matalin playing themselves, mixed with fictional characters.
The catch? They filmed it during the actual work week in D.C. If a real political event happened on Tuesday, it was in the script by Wednesday and on the air by Sunday. It was a chaotic, semi-improvised blurred line between fiction and the news. It only lasted ten episodes, but it set the blueprint for the "fast-turnaround" style he’d use later in his career.
High Stakes and Small Screens: Full Circle
His recent work on Full Circle for Max shows he hasn't lost his touch for the "ensemble thriller." It’s about a botched kidnapping in New York, but it’s really about colonial capitalism and the secrets we keep to protect our privilege.
What’s interesting here is the efficiency. Soderbergh shoots fast. He doesn't do 50 takes. He knows what he wants, he gets it, and he moves on. This allows him to cast massive stars like Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant, and Zazie Beetz because he doesn't waste their time. It’s a masterclass in how to make "big" TV on a "lean" budget.
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The Soderbergh TV Filmography (Major Works)
- K Street (2003): The experimental political hybrid.
- The Knick (2014-2015): The gold standard for auteur-driven TV.
- The Girlfriend Experience (2016-Present): Produced by Soderbergh, it takes the "cold, detached" vibe of his 2009 film and turns it into an anthology series about power and intimacy.
- Mosaic (2018): The interactive experiment.
- Full Circle (2023): A dense, complex kidnapping thriller.
- Command Z (2023): The secret, self-released sci-fi satire.
The Actionable Insight: How to Watch Like an Expert
You can't just "binge" Steven Soderbergh TV shows like they're background noise. To get the most out of them, you have to look at the form as much as the content.
Start with The Knick. It’s the most accessible entry point to his visual style. Pay attention to how the camera moves—it’s often Soderbergh himself holding it (under the pseudonym Peter Andrews).
Don't skip the "small" stuff. Command Z is only about 90 minutes total if you watch it straight through. It’s a quick hit of his humor.
Watch for the "Invisible" Editing. He edits under the name Mary Ann Bernard. When you see a jump cut or a strange transition, know it’s a deliberate choice to keep you off balance.
If you want to dive deeper, go to his production site, Extension 765. He often posts his "seen/read" lists and sells high-end spirits, because why not? The man contains multitudes. Whether he’s making a blockbuster or a weird app about a murder in Utah, he’s always trying to find a faster, smarter way to tell a story.
Your next move: Track down the Mosaic app if it's still available on your device's store. Watching the linear HBO version is fine, but navigating the map yourself is the only way to truly see the "mosaic" he was trying to build. Once you see how the perspectives shift, you'll never look at a standard police procedural the same way again.