A new survey supports the idea that Apple TV+ offers the best stuff (but not the most stuff). Image: Cult of Mac
Apple TV+ may not pack in as many movies and TV shows as other major streaming platforms, but what it showcases rates highest for quality on IMDb, according to a new report.
Apple TV+ tops quality ratings in 19 genre categories on the movie-database site, including drama, comedy, action, biography and children’s content. But its relatively small catalogue helps keep it from ranking high on value for its price.
Audiences are thrilled by Constellation on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ pumped up its reputation as a hub for thought-provoking and visually stunning science fiction with Constellation, a series that’s part sci-fi, part horror and part family drama. The intricately plotted space thriller’s season finale airs Wednesday. And, as the season concludes, the show must clear a high bar to make the ending ring true.
After all, hit TV mysteries like Lost disappointed lots fans with their finales. And those same sci-fi fans (and their kids) are sick of being disappointed.
UPDATE: The show’s season finale is satisfying but does not “solve” the mysteries of space travelers’ fractured realities as much as it deepens them while inviting viewers, along with characters, to accept them. In some ways the show seems like a metaphor for mental illness as an unavoidable part of the human condition. The victim and their loved ones must accept what they cannot change so they can move on. And my Lysenko theory, below, turned out to be correct.
Not surprisingly, the warts-and-all portrayal of the Patriots has its critics. Photo: Apple TV+
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft expressed disappointment Tuesday over how The Dynasty documentary on Apple TV+ portrayed the football franchise’s championship teams, according to a new report.
Kraft made the comments while talking with reporters at an annual NFL meeting.
The Last Thing He Told Me season 2 got a greenlight from Apple TV+. Image: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ committed to a second season of The Last Thing He Told Me, a thriller that aired in 2023. Jennifer Garner will continue in the starring role.
Season one of the drama is based on a novel of the same name by Laura Dave. Season two will be an adaptation of the forthcoming second book in the series.
"Manhunt" found plenty of men and women to watch it. Photo: Apple TV+
Manhunt, the Apple TV+ historical true-crime drama about the search for the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, immediately shot to near the top of the popularity charts of two different ratings services.
And other series and films from Apple are also performing well with audiences.
A big dust storm messes things up in Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock season 2 trailer. Image: Apple TV+
Jim Henson’s Fraggles learn to adapt to change and stick together after a dust storm in the season 2 trailer for Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.
The Emmy Award-winning kids musical comedy series returns to Apple TV+ March 29. Season two cast includes the return of Daveed Diggs plus new guest stars Ariana DeBose, Brett Goldstein, Catherine O’Hara, Adam Lambert and K-pop group aespa.
Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton, played by André Holland, fled from the FBi to Cuba. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ unveiled a first look Thursday at The Big Cigar, an upcoming limited drama series starring André Holland as Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton. The show traces his wild escape from the FBI to Cuba.
The Big Cigar debuts on May 17 with the first two episodes, followed by new episodes every Friday through June 14. “It’s all true,” Apple TV+ said. “Mostly.”
All the games? No blackouts? Yes, please. Photo: Apple
This weekend, March 16 and 17, everyone can watch all Major League Soccer matches for free on the Apple TV app. So that’s not just the typical one or two free games.
In other words, you won’t need MLS Season Pass to watch Lionel Messi do his thing with Inter Miami CF against D.C. United — or any of the other 13 matches.
This is the kind of promotion designed to get you hooked so you subscribe to MLS Season Pass, in this second year of 10 in the deal between MLS and Apple.
Owen Wilson tees up in an upcoming Apple TV+ comedy series about golfers. Photo: Markus Spiske/Pixels
The list of comedies on Apple TV+ will expand with the addition of one starring Owen Wilson as a washed-up golf pro stepping up to coach a teen in the sport.
The series — which does not yet bear a name — seems to have a lot in common with Ted Lasso, another sports-themed comedy that was an enormous success for Apple TV+.
Killers of the Flower Moon got 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. But it didn't win any. Photo: Apple TV+
No Apple TV+ film won an Academy Award on Sunday, despite 10 nominations for Martin Scorsese’s historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon — including Best Picture — and three for Ridley Scott’s historical epic Napoleon.
Despite the final results, Apple made it clear that it is honored to be nominated. And both films have drawn large audiences since they debuted on Apple’s streaming service.
Audiences are thrilled by Constellation on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple TV+
Add Constellation to the lengthy list of Apple TV+ shows that are standout hits. The new sci-fi mystery horror series sits near the top of the popularity charts of two different ratings services, and has ever since its February premiere.
Masters of the Air remains popular, too. As do the historical dramas Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon. That puts all four of these series/films ahead of almost all the content on any streaming service.
Maya Rudolph stars as Molly Wells on season two of Apple TV+ comedy series "Loot." Photo: Apple TV+
Ridiculously rich people are the problem, ridiculously rich person Molly Wells (Maya Rudolph) says in the season two trailer for comedy series Loot, out Thursday. And that’s why she’ll give away her whole $120 billion fortune. Or she’ll try, anyway.
Loot season two debuts with two episodes April 3 on Apple TV+.
Colin Farrell stars as a private investigator in Sugar, debuting April 5 on Apple TV+. Image: Apple TV+
Colin Farrell takes the lead in Sugar, an upcoming Apple TV+ series about a private detective searching for the missing granddaughter of a Hollywood magnate.
The trailer shows the series coming in April will be dark and violent.
The historical action film Napoleon will be available to stream globally on Apple TV+ in March. Photo: Apple TV+
Napoleon, a historical epic from director Ridley Scott, began streaming on Apple TV+ on March 1, after having its global premier in theaters in November.
The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor who conquered much of Europe. It details the tyrant’s ruthless rise to power and his obsessive love for his wife, Empress Josephine.
You're going to be busy in March and April. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ adds movies from time to time — just not usually 50+ at once. But that’s what it did this week with its “Great movies on Apple TV” collection. It includes big-time titles like Mad Max: Fury Road, The Wolf of Wall Street, Titanic and Saving Private Ryan. You can also go old-school comedy with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and — why not — Old School.
They’re free for subscribers in the United States to stream, but half will be gone at the end of March. The other half will last through April. Another new arrival is Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, but that Apple Original will stick around.
Here's your chance to meet some of the real people who inspired "Masters of the Air." Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ dropped a trailer Wednesday for a companion documentary film to hit World World II drama series Masters of the Air. The documentary, The Bloody Hundredth, tells the stories of the airmen in a particularly hard-hit B17 bomber group through some of the survivors themselves as well as series filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
“Watch The Bloody Hundredth and get an in-depth look at the real stories of the brave Airmen that inspired Masters of the Air,” the streaming service said. “Streaming March 15th on Apple TV+.”
Good news, fans of British crime thrillers: Criminal Record season two is coming. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ has not officially said if British crime drama series Criminal Record is a go for season two. But its star and executive producer, Cush Jumbo, says it’ll happen.
"Masters of the Air" continues to be near the top of the popularity charts. Photo: Apple
The WWII drama Masters of the Air draws in a big audience. It’s stayed near the tops of popularity charts of two different ratings services for weeks now, ever since the premiere in January.
Critics like it too, so the ongoing series that dramatizes the U.S. Army Air Force’s role in helping defeat Germany is another success for Apple TV+.
And the historical crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon continues to be a crowd pleaser as well.
The Earthsounds docuseries premieres February 23 on Apple TV+. Image: Apple
Now hear this: Apple TV+ dropped a trailer Tuesday for its upcoming documentary series Earthsounds, narrated by Golden Globe winner and Emmy Award nominee Tom Hiddleston.
The streamer said you’ll “hear our planet like never before in the new 12-part immersive natural history series.” All episodes become available February 23.
Quintessa Swindell and Leo Woodall star in upcoming series Prime Target, coming soon to Apple TV+. Photo: Apple TV+
Prime Target is an incoming Apple TV+ thriller that combines conspiracy theories with math theorems. Seriously. It’s about a mathematician whose research is being suppressed as part of a mysterious conspiracy.
The upcoming series will star Leo Woodall and Quintessa Swindell.
The life expectancy of these airmen was not high. Photo: Apple
When I was a kid, I had a thing for historical aircraft. I especially loved the smooth lines of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. And it played a big role in ending World War II, as shown in Masters of the Air on Apple TV+, the final installment in Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s World War II filmmaking trilogy.
Despite massive challenges, the plane and its crews’ strategic bombing helped bring down Adolf Hilter and the Nazi regime, shortening a horrific ground war.
And yet as good as the series is, sometimes it lands just short of the runway, like a beat-up B-17 losing its landing gear and grinding to a halt. Will it blow up? Maybe, maybe not. But is Masters of the Air worth watching? Hell yes.
Noel Fielding leads the cast of the action-comedy The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. Screenshot: Apple/Cult of Mac
The world got its first look at The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, which will star British comedian Noel Fielding as the legendary British highwayman. The first hilarious trailer for the upcoming comedy-adventure series dropped Monday.
The true-crime limited series Manhunt debuts on Apple TV+ March 15. Photo: Apple TV+
Stage actor John Wilkes Booth went on the run for 12 days after he shot President Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head at Ford’s Theatre in 1865. And the new trailer for Apple TV+ true-crimes series Manhunt brings to light this little-known historical fact.
Based on the bestselling nonfiction book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, the seven-part series premieres March 15.