AppleTV+ First Impressions

We are approaching a cultural shift in entertainment consumption where nigh every studio and network will be launching their own streaming service, and one of those companies releasing their own service recently is non other than Apple. Yes, the phone and computer company put some money into the entertainment biz and launched their service earlier this month to some excitement before being over shadowed by Disney+.

The service can be found on apple products, amazon fire stick, certain TVs, and I'm sure many other properties that I do not own. Unlike other services Apple seems to be interested in original content over licensed. Instead of having access to licensed movies and TV shows like Netflix, where that's mostly why people subscribe, Apple is only putting out their originals with the option to rent/buy non-apple content still there.

So, what kind of content does Apple have right now? Well, Apple has the first two episodes of their TV shows available free and here are my brief breakdowns:

The Morning Show

50-60min/episode

Quick Pitch: In the wake of her co-host being the next MeToo focus, Jennifer Aniston must trudge through the fast paced entertainment industry while trying to keep her job and find a new co-host.

Recommend? Yes. It's an interesting look at how many lives someone can affect when they fall from grace in a matter of seconds, and how the powers that be prey upon those actions and feelings to "fix" their business.

For All Mankind

60min/episode

Quick Pitch: Set in an alternate timeline, Russia wins the space race to the moon and now the United States must do everything that is in their power to match the Russians and win space and beyond.

Recommend? Yes. Mining from today's political climate to create this multifaceted cold war and how it affects everybody involved, including the women, is a slow burn that is worth it.

Snoopy in Space

8min/episode

Quick Pitch: Snoopy learns about space and the astronauts that explore it, so he tries to pursue that career.

Recommend? Yes. For kids this will not only be easily digestible, but it's fun and educational. For adults it'll bring out your inner kid.

See

60min/episode

Quick Pitch: A virus wipes out most of the human race. The survivors are left blind. Hundreds of years into the future humanity views vision as a myth until they discover newborns that can see which upends all ways of life.

Recommend? Maybe. There is a lot of interesting things at play, but at the core I don't think it works well in this medium. There are so many nuances that tell the viewer that these people are not blind and it takes you out of the story constantly no matter how cool the visuals are. This, however, would have been a fantastic audio drama. Interested to see how the rest plays out.

Ghost Writer

25min/episode

Quick Pitch: A ghost releases classic literary characters for a bunch of kids to learn and grow from.

Recommend? Pass. While this will entertain seven year olds and younger, and while it does have a good message and will encourage kids to read, I'm afraid that the show won't have legs since the adventure of discovering these characters are the least interesting part of the show.

Helpsters

25min/episode

Quick Pitch: A puppet monster store dedicated to helping people. Through songs and friendships they help everyday people to achieve their goals.

Recommend? Yes. I'm not being biased since I share the name with the main puppet, just to be clear. Its energy is infectious and each puppet has a lot of character. Adorable, endearing, and family friendly. Whether you're 1 or 100 you'll enjoy this show and the positivity it radiates.

Dickinson

30min/episode

Quick Pitch: A period drama about Emily Dickinson that has modern music and lingo.

Recommend? Maybe. This show is weird and it embraces that weirdness all around town. I'm warming up to it after two episodes, but the old period piece mashing against the percussive new age aesthetic is a lot and delivers a unique approach. I think with further episodes I'll like it more.

Once you're behind the pay wall you'll have access to the rest of these episodes, plus Oprah's shows and a nature documentary about elephants. As starting places go Apple's TV+ launch may look bland and uneventful on paper, but that's exactly why I enjoyed it so much. Apple isn't concerned with a licensed catalog and because of that I feel that they are doing some very interesting things that I want to pay attention to which are it's catalog, it's quality, and it's future.

The Apple TV+ catalog is small when compared to its competitors, but it's their small size that attracts me. If I decide to pay for this streaming service there's enough on there to keep me interested, but even more so there's enough on there for me to say that I've seen their entire catalog. I'm never going to be able to watch every Netflix original, but I could say I've seen every Apple original, and while not everyone will agree with this point I still think that having a catalog you can view in its entirety is a tantalizing endeavor. Furthermore, the lack of show dumping on Apple's service shows me that they're interested in curating their content. They want their product to be as good as it can be, and if that means making sure every show gets a chance, and for their service to forfeit the weekend blitzkrieg of water cooler, spoiler, talk (a-la a Stranger Things) to make their shows last, then all the more to applaud.

For a debut the Apple content they have on there is strong. Their shows vary from kids to adults, eight minutes to an hour, animation to puppet to live action, and I'd recommend nearly all of them. But what drives their quality up for me is the fact that I'm two episodes into their shows and I'm still thinking about them a week later. The Morning Show isn't using the MeToo movement as shock value to hook you. For All Mankind isn't waiting multiple episodes to rock your world. The premises of each show happen fairly early on and it leaves me wondering just exactly how each season is going to play out when they're covering so much ground already. I don't think these shows are going to be popular when talk is split between the streaming services and the movie theaters, but I do think for those that do watch these shows they'll be able to get a deeper and more thoughtful conversation out of them than a show for entertainment's sake. Each show is dealing with something we're going through right now. See is dealing with Religion, The Morning Show is dealing with MeToo, and For All Mankind is dealing with countries sizing each other up when run by childish leaders. These shows are not just good, they're topical.

And finally, Apple TV+ has so much more to offer in the coming months. M. Night Shyamalan's new series drops at the end of the month, plus two movies and another show at least in December. Although it does look like this service will be adhering to a more mature and adult crowd I'm curious to see where they take their all ages, and kids, shows from here. I also like how you can see and feel a female presence in all of these shows. Whether they're in front of or behind the camera you can tell that Apple is using multiple voices to bring these stories to life and I'm very interested in seeing where this journey takes me. In the future I do hope to see Apple putting in more effort on their younger titles (an untapped market in streaming I feel) as well as putting forth more risks.

Pros                                                                           Cons - Variety of Shows                                                 - Kids section could use some work - Manageable library                                           - Credits roll too fast  - Not focused on licensed shows                      - Streaming barely affects the battery     on Apple products