★★☆☆☆
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner in the race to Mars. Photo: Apple TV+
In “Seven Minutes of Terror,” Apple TV+ alt-history space race show For All Mankind returns this week to where it left off last season, with America and Russia once more holding hands begrudgingly to fix some space problems.
Ed and Karen have the same trouble with authority. Danny’s cracking up. Margo’s head is in a noose. Kelly’s got a crush. And Sojourner 1 suffers from a serious a problem.
Behind the scenes, WALL-E helmer Andrew Stanton directs this week. His brand of post-classical Hollywood craftsmanship is much appreciated, if also a sad sign of where we are as a country.
Apple TV+ comedy Loot takes a spa day today as Molly tries to relive her old lifestyle without her old life, and the rest of the office bonds over shared drinks and massages. Arthur and Molly think about each other more than friends do, but everywhere she goes reminds her of the life she lost to a younger model.
The show continues to make good inroads on character dynamics. However, Loot needs a little electricity in the writing to keep it from feeling like just another sitcom.
Apple TV+ will clean up at this year's Hollywood Critics Association Awards. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ garnered a record 53 nominations for 16 shows across a range of genres — comedy, drama, documentary, anthology series, variety-sketch series — for the upcoming Hollywood Critics Association Awards.
Psychological thriller Severance and comedy Ted Lasso led the way with a dozen nominations apiece.
★★☆☆☆
You can be sure any bright moment between Shiela (played by Rose Byrne) and Danny (Rory Scovel) won't last. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+’s Physical has an incurable itch to break free this week. Both Sheila’s and John’s spouses know something is up. They try to help, but they can’t — because there’s no cure for being blackmailed by a vindictive Bunny.
John stares a new life in the face, a real one and an imaginary one. Sheila contemplates becoming an even worse version of herself. And Danny’s out of luck in every way he can be.
Brace yourself for more of the same bad behavior in this week’s episode, entitled “Don’t You Have Enough.”
★★★☆☆
Taron Egerton plays a Jimmy Keene, a drug dealer turned jailhouse informant, in the tense crime series. Photo: Apple TV+
Black Bird, the new Apple TV+ series about an inmate tasked with cozying up to a suspected serial killer, begins as a blustery and entirely too familiar tale of bad men doing bad things, without much to distract from the cliches.
However, armed with an impressive cast and crew — and one of the last performances by the great Ray Liotta — it eventually slots itself into good procedural habits.
"Luck" takes you to where luck comes from. Photo: Apple TV+
Feeling unlucky lately? Wouldn’t it be nice if a black cat who speaks English with a Scottish accent could take you to a magical land where luck is made?
Not bloody likely to happen, but you get the next best thing with Luck, the first full-length, 3D-animated film to hit Apple TV+, which offered a trailer for it Thursday.
Ready for movie night? These are the best movies on Apple TV+. Photos: Apple TV+
From Irish folklore to ’60s New York, from culture clashes to meteors, here is a list of the very best films on Apple TV+ so far.
You can divine the company’s best impulses by seeing the best films it acquired, from arcane, auteurist curiosities and thoughtful genre pieces to documentaries that attempt to break free from the usual niches.
★★☆☆☆
Just like Greta (played by Dierdre Friel, left) and Sheila (Rose Byrne), this show needs a plan. Photo: Apple TV+
1980s aerobics nightmare Physical goes in circles this week as Bunny and Tyler engage in surveillance for subterfuge, John and Sheila seek outside help, and Danny gets a hard dose of reality from Wanda.
In the episode, entitled “Don’t You Want to Watch,” the Apple TV+ series falls back into a familiar rut of Sheila facing problems and somehow solving them, with too little suspense and zero empathy generated for its ghoulish cast of characters.
Apple TV+’s lunar headache For All Mankind is headed to Mars for real this time. Three competing spaceships strive to make it to the red planet first to win a huge cash prize.
NASA holds some tricks up its sleeve to beat the wilier competition, but you can’t count out the Russians just yet. They’re always willing to do something stupid to make headlines. A mostly fine episode ends on a nice little cliffhanger to boot.
★★★☆☆
An alpaca farm is just the start of this week's excitement. Photo: Apple TV+
New Apple TV+ comedy Loot goes into damage-control mode this week, as a theme park that Molly owns undergoes a public disaster and the billionaire must take stock of her post-divorce holdings.
Sofia goes to an important meeting, Nicholas goes to an important audition, and Arthur goes to a suddenly important soccer game. The show settles into a comfortable groove as it gives everyone an archetype to play with around dependable star Maya Rudolph.
Get a $50 gift card when you buy an Apple TV. Photo: Apple
Apple is bundling a $50 gift card if you purchase an Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD in the United States. The offer is exclusively available through its online store.
Before making this promotion live, Apple took down its online store for a few hours earlier in the day.
Your Apple TV can be your cable box with the new Xfinity Stream app. Photo: Comcast/Apple
An Apple TV can now be used to watch all of Comcast’s live, on demand and DVR programming. The cable behemoth’s subscribers just need to install the newly-released Xfinity Stream app on Apple’s streaming box.
Thursday’s release makes it simple for Apple TV users to add Xfinity access to additional rooms. No traditional cable box necessary.
"Best Foot Forward" premieres July 22. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ offered its first trailer Thursday for a new family comedy called Best Foot Forward, in which a home-schooled kid with a prosthetic leg hits public middle school for the first time, determined to fit in.
Based on a true story, Best Foot Forward premieres July 22 on Apple TV+.
Jason Momoa in the third season of “See,” premiering globally Friday, August 26 on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple TV+
See is coming to an end. The epic, post-apocalyptic adventure series starring Jason Momoa will wrap up with season 3, which premieres on Apple TV+ in late August.
A just-released teaser trailer for the upcoming season reveals a new threat for Baba Voss and his family.
Apple TV+ content gets top marks. Graphic: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ content enjoys the highest average IMDb score of any streaming service, according to a new study. It comes in tops in a variety of areas, including dramas and child-friendly shows.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise: Apple’s streaming video service regularly wins awards, including a Best Picture Oscar in 2022.
Duck and Goose are good friends who know it's OK for friends to be different. Photo: Apple TV+
Rejoice, parents. A wholesome new animated series is on the way, and you can feel OK about parking your preschoolers in front of it. Or at least it looks that way from the new Apple TV+ trailer for Duck & Goose, out Tuesday.
The new show for preschool-age kids premieres Friday, July 8.
Viewers are more satisfied with Apple TV+ this year. Screenshot: Apple
Apple TV+ subscribers seem much more satisfied with the streaming service than they were a year ago, according to a survey of viewers. The home of Ted Lasso and Severance even made gains on Netflix – streaming’s 800-pound gorilla – in a couple of categories, including value.
And more people than ever would make Apple TV+ their one and only streaming service.
Surface premieres globally July 29, 2022 on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple TV+
The first trailer for the psychological thriller Surface lets viewers dip their toes into the central mystery of the upcoming series: What if you woke up one day and didn’t know your own secrets?
The show premiers on Apple TV+ in late July, and stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, best known for appearing in Apple’s critically acclaimed The Morning Show.
The next HomePod could arrive in 2023. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is working on a new HomePod that could launch next year with a new S8 chip. The smart speaker reportedly will be similar in size to the original HomePod rather than the HomePod mini.
Apple is also working on a powerful new Apple TV with an A14 chip and more RAM.
★★★★☆
Rosie Perez steals the show in Now and Then's totally satisfying season finale. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ murder mystery Now and Then draws to a simmering close this week.
Pedro has lost his campaign, but there’s always more to lose. Ana is ready to turn on him. Sofia’s troubles catch up with her. Marcos suspects his father. Flora suspects her best friend. Hugo suspects Sofia. And there’s only an hour to wrap things up.
It’s been a marvelous bit of sensationalism from start to finish. If we get a second season of this bilingual thriller, it will be a welcome development.
★★★☆☆
This must be a time machine. A completely infuriating time machine. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ alt-history hit For All Mankind makes all the right moves this week, then immediately blows a 26-point lead in the last inning.
For once, the dramatic arcs thrown at Margo, Karen, Dev, Aleida and Kelly all seem pretty satisfying and not at all cheap or hyperbolic. Then the writers ensure we won’t see how any of that plays out, instantly turning this from one of the show’s best episodes into its most frustrating yet.
★★☆☆☆
This week's episode starts with a nightmare and then goes downhill. Photo: Apple TV+
This week on Apple TV+ aerobics opera Physical, its star self-help guru buys a whiteboard and the show itself backslides. After a promising showing last week, Physical reverts to its worst tendencies.
Danny is still unbearably pretentious and selfish. Sheila is still a misanthropic jerk to absolutely everybody. John is becoming more desperate by the minute. And Greta indulges in a threesome. None of this constitutes real news or development on this show. But since Physical doesn’t really know what it wants to say, this is just how it goes most weeks.