Steven Spielberg, who brought us Indiana Jones and E.T., is lending his gravitas to the newly announced Apple TV+ service. He’s bringing back Amazing Stories, which told single-episode sci-fi tales back in the 1980s.
Its tone is expected to stand in stark contrast to Netflix’s Black Mirror, though the shows have similarities.
Prepare to be amazed
Spielberg gave an early glimpse of Amazing Stories at Apple’s press event today, but the debut of the show isn’t until this fall so details are scanty.
He told how much he enjoyed his father reading the Amazing Stories magazine to him when he was a boy. “And thanks to the visionary and inventive folks here at Apple my Ambin team and I are going to be resurrecting this 93-year-old brand and offering to multi-generational audiences a whole new batch of amazing stories.”
The legendary director didn’t have a trailer for his show, but he did describe what’s likely to be the first episode: “We want to transport the audience with every episode, like the World War II pilot whose plane magically travels through space and time from the past and into the present day. Who will he meet? Can he return? Does he want to? What happens if he doesn’t?”
Photo: Apple
Amazing Stories vs. Black Mirror
Apple TV+’s anthology sci-fi show is certainly going to draw comparison’s with Netflix’s anthology sci-fi show. But the two are being made for very different groups.
As Spielberg says, he’s creating a show for “multi-generational audiences.” Amazing Stories will be something the whole family can sit down and watch together. Black Mirror is most definitely not, with many of its episodes featuring rape and torture.
Apple TV+ and its first crop of original shows are scheduled to launch this fall.
