Apple TV+ - page 46

This week on Foundation, the Apple TV+ space opera walks a long and lonesome mile toward reconciliation and the end to chaos. But who will survive, and what will be left of them (to quote rather a different odyssey)?

Foundation makes the case for the simplest actions and ideas being the most complex and compelling in this week’s episode, titled “The Missing Piece.” It also gives TV a new worthy obsession object. There are spiritual betrayals aplenty for everyone, no matter what corner of the galaxy they occupy.

Dickinson, Apple TV+’s feminist fable, returns for a qualified victory lap Friday. The first three episodes of the show’s third and final season arrived today, not even a full year after the last one concluded.

It will be a shame once we no longer can enjoy fresh episodes featuring the show’s antic poetry and remixed pastoralism.

And, while Dickinson still hasn’t worked out precisely what its identity is, the comforting oddness of its milieu was a tonic in trying times, even if the show had a ways to go before it could meaningfully grapple with the present. All the same, the final season hints at what Dickinson could have done exceedingly well — if its showrunners were given a little more room.

Mitch is dead — long live Mitch. This week on The Morning Show, everyone must deal with the death of their network’s former sex pest lead anchor — and things could go much better than they do. Alex is missing. Chip is throwing up. Cory is elated. And Mia’s beside herself. Can they clean themselves up in time to break the news?

It’s borderline impossible to take the Apple TV+ drama about a morning news show seriously now. But there are still three episodes of plot left this season. Can The Morning Show manage anything worthwhile before the curtain falls?

This week on Swagger, Apple TV+’s new drama based on NBA star Kevin Durant’s youth, teen basketball stars Jace and Crystal find themselves between a rock and a hard place. He’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders in a good way, she in the worst way, and they need each other at a time when they can’t hear each other.

The episode, titled “We Good,” is all about learning to listen and to trust the people around you who actually have your best interests at heart. But it’s also about learning that your own problems need to be able to be put on ice when other people are in need.

Invasion finally says the “A” word as conspiracies become fact — and facts become dire. This week on the Apple TV+ sci-fi show, the Malik family gets caught in a web of lies, Mitsuki crafts her own, and Trevante winds up stuck in Afghanistan (and for once wants to get out).

Invasion gets ready for the fireworks by going small and emotional to lay the groundwork. Something big is around the corner, so this week it’s about biding time and digging in before the invasion really ramps up.

Apple TV+’s new kids show is another musical extravaganza, this time starring the inestimable Jack McBrayer, a comedy veteran with a heart of gold. Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show, which debuts today, treats us to the sensibility of someone who wants us to know about life’s challenges and meet them head on in classic Sesame Street fashion.

Will McBrayer’s inoffensive brand of comedy catch on as easily as the OK Go songs on the Hello, Jack! soundtrack? (They’re written expressly to get stuck in your head, BTW.) And can McBrayer become a household name like he ought to be? Here’s hoping so, because if anyone’s earned that, it’s Jack.

Though it looks like a fake movie they invented for a throwaway joke on 30 Rock, Finch — the new movie Apple TV+ movie in which Tom Hanks, a dog and a robot band together to survive the apocalypse –is very real.

The latest in a long string of post-apocalyptic flicks, it premieres Friday on Apple TV+. If by some miracle you’ve never seen a movie about the end of the world, why not start with this one? A lot of reasons, actually….

Apple on Friday confirmed that award-winning actor, rapper and producer Will Smith will be the next guest on The Oprah Conversation. The episode is scheduled to premiere on Friday, November 5 on Apple TV+.

Apple says the conversation will focus on Smith’s memoirs, deepest insecurities, biggest life lessons, and navigating a complex marriage that has become increasingly public in recent months.

A new documentary series based on NBA Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson was Friday confirmed for Apple TV+.

It will be split into four parts that “explore the remarkable accomplishments and global impact of Johnson’s life, both on and off the court,” Apple said. It doesn’t have a release date just yet.

Hooking up with maverick South Korean director Kim Jee-Woon for new sci-fi series Dr. Brain looks like one of Apple TV+’s smartest, and most mind-blowing, decisions.

The energetically unhinged show, which debuts Thursday, centers on a scientist who devises a way to talk to the dead. Can Dr. Brain rival Netflix’s Squid Game, the latest South Korean phenomenon to become a streaming hit? If the exciting pilot is any indication, this could be a wild success for Apple TV+.

An Apple job listing has people scratching their heads because it mentions an operating system that doesn’t exist. It references “homeOS” alongside iOS, watchOS and other known operating systems.

It’s possible this is something Apple is working on. But there’s a less exciting possibility: if could be another name for something millions of people use every day.

LG is giving its smart TV customers three months of Apple TV+ free of charge. Those with an eligible 4K or 8K set made in 2016 or later have until February 13, 2022 to take advantage of the promotion, but there is a caveat …

If you’ve had an Apple TV+ free trial in the past, you’re out of luck.

Apple TV+ is two years old and there are plenty of new films and series to look forward to in the third year. The streaming service has us eagerly awaiting two comedies, a tragedy, two murder mysteries and an animated movie, all premiering in just the next four months.

Here are the Apple TV+ additions we’re having the hardest time waiting for.

As Apple TV+ celebrates its second birthday today, it’s time to look back on the highs and lows. It’s been a wild ride filled with some risky but rewarding gambles and a bunch of safe (and ultimately disappointing) bets. We’ve also endured a higher than expected (or recommended) amount of singing.

So, after two years and untold billions of dollars, what has Apple TV+ achieved? What kind of identity does the streaming service have? And where, exactly, is Apple TV+ going?

Apple TV+ said Monday that Emmy Award-winning comedy actor Eugene Levy will host and executive produce a new travel series called The Reluctant Traveler.

You may know Eugene Levy from the recent hit comedy Schitt’s Creek. Or, much earlier in the 74-year-old Canadian’s career, from Second City Television. Or from the American Pie movies.

The point is, the man and his impressively bushy eyebrows have been there and done that. But they’ve never hosted a travel series. Until now.

When Apple TV+ launched on November 1, 2019, Cupertino had its sights set on creating a serious Netflix rival. Two year on, it may not have conquered the world like fellow streaming newcomer Disney+ did. But Apple TV+ continues to deliver a stream of top-notch shows — and some must-see movies.

With dozens of series and more than 20 feature films, where should you start? Here’s our guide to the best shows and movies on Apple TV+, in no particular order.

Apple TV users can install the tvOS 15.1.1 update for the media streamer. It was introduced for all to download on Monday.

Virtually nothing is known about it now, however. But it’s almost certainly a simple “bug fix.”

Apple TV+ space opera Foundation deals with every kind of ghost in this week’s exciting installment. Haunted ships with death wishes, old friends back from the dead, and new powers discovered in the darkest hour.

Brother Day makes a foolhardy decision to outwit a religious order, Salvor Hardin must cooperate with her captors to keep a rescue mission from becoming a suicide run, and Brother Dawn discovers the joys of sex.

This week on The Morning Show, veteran anchor Alex Levy tracks down her shamed former colleague Mitch Kessler in Italy and demands an ass-covering statement before she returns to the states.

Of course, nothing is ever simple on Apple TV+’s show about the morning news and the nightmarish people who produce it. COVID-19 is ramping up, and Alex won’t be able to leave Italy even if she wants to. So she’s stuck with Mitch, the last place she wants to be.

This is a fine episode from the standpoint of the performances of The Morning Show’s big stars and the writing that paints their characters as believable human beings. It’s also the single worst episode of television you could hope to air right now — a phalanx of bad decisions that would shame an entire season of The Newsroom.

Civilization is collapsing, the adults in the room are dying, and the aliens are starting to reveal themselves. Does anyone stand a chance? Apple TV+’s pulp sci-fi series Invasion encounters new hurdles and reaches paranoid heights this week.

Both Monty the school bully and Ahmed the cheating husband near the limits of their likability and desperation, while Caspar, Aneesha and Mitsuki find new stores of courage and resolve to combat their horrible new realities. And everybody’s fates rest upon what happens next.

NBA star Kevin Durant turned his experiences as a young basketball player into Swagger, Apple TV+’s highly promising sports drama. The series, which premieres Friday on Apple’s streaming service, follows the trajectory of a rising basketball star as he becomes a legend with help from his community.

Powered by strong acting, kinetic directing and a compelling storyline about life both on the court and off, Swagger scores from the jump. It looks like one of Apple TV+’s strongest series to date.

Dr. Brain will be the first Korean Apple Original when it launches on Apple TV+ in early November. It tells the story of a scientist so desperate to find out how his family was killed that he’s willing to connect his brain to theirs to access their memories.

A trailer released Monday gives a first look at how intense the six-episode series will be. Watch it now!

This week on Foundation, Apple TV+’s space opera is on a collision course with destruction and death. And even if Salvor Hardin can stop the Anachreons, it might be too late to save Terminus.

The sci-fi series speeds toward its endgame this week, with all of its plot threads in free fall and war inevitable.

This week on The Morning Show, Cory throws everyone a curveball in his attempt to salvage Hannah’s reputation. Bradley, Daniel, Chip, Mia, Yanko, Stella and Laura all go into a panic.

And so, the Apple TV+ show about a morning news show enters crisis mode again. Is it too late to stop the train wreck? Or will Cory’s strategy work?

The second season of Apple TV+’s first crime series ends with a series of reveals, reversals, betrayals and murders. Truth Be Told fully hit its stride this time out, and it’s been a pleasure spending time with podcaster Poppy Parnell’s family, real and adopted.

The season finale mostly satisfies — and leaves me hoping for more.