“Loot” is a hoot.

If Apple TV+ was a linear network, feel-good comedy “Loot” would be the ideal “Ted Lasso” companion series. Though not quite as earnest as “Ted,” “Loot” is similarly unafraid of delivering humor with a side of warm pathos.

But be advised: The premiere episode, streaming June 24 on Apple TV+, is one of those premise pilots that has to set up the show. Most of the laughs come later in the episode. Subsequent episodes prove funnier still.

Maya Rudolph stars as billionaire Molly Novak, whose husband (guest star Adam Scott) cheats on her and she becomes tabloid fodder. As this plays out with Molly in a funk, she learns she has a charity foundation run by serious, dedicated-to-philanthropy Sofia Salinas (Micaela Jae Rodriguez, “Pose”), who begs Molly to avoid more antics that lead to bad press for Molly and by extension the foundation. To Sofia’s dismay, Molly decides to get involved in the foundation as she seeks to better herself while helping those in need.

Rodriguez takes on the more straight-laced role opposite the loopier Rudolph character, but Rodriguez still has to evince some laugh-inducing comedic timing, which she does with aplomb. Rodriguez brings the same heartfelt emotion to Sofia that made her the most likable character on FX’s “Pose” and her chemistry with Rudolph proves magnetic. It’s the most unexpected but welcome odd-couple pairing of the summer TV season so far.

The supporting cast is first-rate too, including Ron Funches, finally getting the top-tier comedic writing he deserves as Molly’s cousin and office IT guy, Howard; Joel Kim Booster (“Fire Island”), as Molly’s snooty assistant, Nicholas; and Nat Faxon as Arthur, nice-guy accountant and a potential love interest for Molly (Nicholas dubs Arthur “the living embodiment of an Olive Garden breadstick”).

If there’s any downside to “Loot,” it’s that perhaps the writers rehabilitate Molly too quickly so that when they attempt to do a two-steps-forward-one-step-back plot turn in the season finale, it feels inauthentic.

Created by Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, who previously wrote Rudolph’s “Forever” for Amazon Prime Video, the first three “Loot” episodes debut this week, with subsequent episodes premiering weekly on Fridays.

In a Zoom interview earlier this month, Rudolph and Rodriguez discussed what drew them to “Loot,” but first I had to ask Rudolph about her Pittsburgh connection, which was included in PBS’s “Finding Your Roots.”

“I haven’t spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh because my dad left Pittsburgh when he was 5 and the family went to Miami,” Rudolph said. “But I do know that side of my family, my great uncle and his family and I was just talking about Pittsburgh maybe two days ago. Everyone is saying how unbelievable it is right now and that’s the place we should all move to. And I was saying, ‘Well, I have family there,’ but I don’t get to spend any time there.”

Rudolph’s great-grandfather was a founding member of Squirrel Hill’s Beth Shalom synagogue, which she knew, but she was less familiar with his time in Lithuania before immigrating to the U.S.

“I had no idea that he helped build the synagogue at all, and it’s so ironic because my grandfather was such a self-proclaimed atheist,” Rudolph said. “He was just funny about it. So it was really unbelievable to find out all that genealogy, especially from my Jewish side. We didn’t even know our name wasn’t Rudolph. We learned it was Rudashevsky, which was really amazing.”

Rudolph said Hubbard and Yang wrote the Molly character with Rudolph in mind for this positive, uncynical comedy that feels like it would be at home paired with “Parks and Recreation” on NBC circa 2013.

“I would hate to be on a show or in a movie where we have to film a car crash every day or you’re crying every day, covered in broken glass and fake blood. That sounds exhausting. I don’t want to do that,” she said. “I like the joy in it. Being in ensembles, making one big family on screen – that’s the stuff that I take energy from and I get inspired by.”

Rodriguez said after “Pose,” she wasn’t specifically looking to act in a comedy, but she did want to give the genre a try at some point.

“I wanted to show different types of versatility,” she said. “I didn’t want to be just a dramatic actress. I wanted to be a well-rounded actress.”

While Rodriguez played a trans character on “Pose,” the first season of “Loot” makes a specific choice not to identify Sofia as cis or trans.

“I think a lot of trans woman and cisgender women go through a lot of similar circumstances when it comes to climbing up the ladder and fighting hard for their identity and taking space like how they need to,” she said. “Who knows? She may be trans, she may not be trans, but I don’t think that would be the focal point of her.”

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