It’s long been known that Apple would be entering the streaming service game – and they’ve finally made it official with the announcement of Apple TV+. Tim Cook (aka Tim Apple, in certain circles) revealed the service with a little help from some exceptionally famous friends, including among them JJ Abrams, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Ron Howard, M. Night Shyamalan, and Sofia Coppola. Oh, and a little-known filmmaker by the name of Steven Spielberg.
The ‘Berg took to the stage in Cupertino, California to announce that he’s reviving the Amazing Stories anthology series along with the Amblin team. The show, based on the sci-fi magazine that first inspired Spielberg as a kid, originally ran for 45 episodes between 1985 and 1987 – and will be making a comeback in the future on Apple TV+. One story Spielberg spoke about on stage involved a war pilot from the early 20th century arriving in the present day and experiencing a whole new world.
Then there was Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carrell, talking up their new “high-velocity thrill-ride”, The Morning Show, set in the high-pressure and personal politics-driven world of breakfast talk shows.
Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, took to the stage alongside Alfre Woodard to talk about new fantasy-drama See, created by Steven Knight. It’s a post-apocalyptic series set centuries after the Earth has been devastated by a virus, which leaves all the survivors blind. Woodard described it as a show of “evil queens, brave heroes, and thrilling adventure”.
Then it was Kumail Nanjiani’s turn to talk, introducing his new anthology series Little America. He’s working alongside his partner Emily Gordon, among others, for a series about “immigrants doing everyday life stuff” – but he claims the show isn’t about preachiness, but “human stories that feature immigrants”.
After a visit from Big Bird, the stage was graced by J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles – the singer-songwriter-actress-composer behind hit musical Waitress – who unveiled their series Little Voice. Bareilles labelled it “a funny, romantic show” about a young musician living in New York in a vibrant artist community. The series is about her “learning to find herself, and her own true voice”.
Finally, Oprah Winfrey herself turned up to announce a series of shows on topics including mental health and a worldwide book club.
Apple confirmed that Apple TV+ will launch this autumn, with original TV series and movies set to arrive monthly on the service. Its content will be available online and offline, on Apple devices and on a range of TVs in-built with the new Apple TV app. “This is just a sneak peek,” Tim Cook teased, “the beginning of something very exciting.” Now, let’s see how it fares alongside the strongly-established likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime…
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