★★★★★
Apple TV+’s epic science fiction series Foundation concludes its second season this week and it goes out on a remarkable high note.
Who knows what the future holds for the Second Foundation? But I’ve greatly enjoyed this season. The hours I’ve spent getting sucked into this excellent sci-fi show were well worth the investment.
★☆☆☆☆
Apple TV+’s flagship drama The Morning Show returns today for another season of broadcast news back-stabbing after a truly disastrous second season. The show adds a new character — a tech exec played by Mad Men star Jon Hamm — to the toxic mix this time around.
But can the showrunners right The Morning Show’s course? And, perhaps more importantly, does it matter? The show, about a news network and its star executives and anchors, finds itself dealing with contemporary politics a day late and a dollar short.
The new Apple Originals podcast Magnificent Jerk tells the unbelievable story of an eccentric uncle who plays at acting and screenwriting but turns out to be a Chinese gang leader whose life ends up on screen in a low-budget action flick starring Rob Lowe in a fake mustache, according to a new trailer dropped Wednesday.
Former Washington Post journalist Maya Lin Sugarman — the guy’s niece — hosts the podcast. It debuts September 18.
★★★★★
Apple TV+ science fiction show Foundation reaches the penultimate episode of a very fine second season this week
Brother Day demands answers from the people of Terminus, who disappoint him with their conviction. Gaal and Salvor plot a daring escape from the Mentalics. And a great big dogfight in space precedes the showstopping image of the season.
Those eager to see more about the upcoming Apple TV+ series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters can finally watch a teaser trailer. It gives the best look yet at the show set in the MonsterVerse that contains Godzilla and other classic kaiju.
Apple also announced that the series will premier in November 2023.
The upcoming series Where’s Wanda? is a dark comedy that follows parents searching for their missing daughter who discover that behind closed doors, none of their neighbors are who they pretend to be.
It will be the first Apple TV+ series in German.
The four women who sparked the term “supermodel” in the 1980s — Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington — were a close-knit sisterhood and “the original influencers,” according to the new trailer Apple TV+ dropped Wednesday for the upcoming documentary series The Super Models.
The four-part series, which promises never-before-seen commentary from fashion and pop culture luminaries, walks the runway September 20.
★★★★☆
Salvor and Gaal are in trouble this week as incredible Apple TV+ space opera Foundation heads into the home stretch of its great second season.
With the Mentalics moving on our two heroines, it seems that everyone has their fair share of trouble in the episode, entitled “The Last Empress.” Cleric and Constant find themselves at the business end of a Trantor firing squad. Dusk and Dawn see themselves fading into obsolescence. And Sareth’s running out of time to make her move.
The upcoming documentary The Pigeon Tunnel is the final interview with John le Carré, who wrote many best-selling novels about spies and was an MI6 agent himself.
A just-released trailer for the biopic shows the British spy-turned-author discussing his very usual life. The film will premiere on Apple TV+ this fall.
Martin Scorsese’s historical drama Killers of the Flower Moon will debut in theaters in late October. The real-life tale of a serial killer will appear on the Apple TV+ streaming service sometime after that.
The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro, and Apple is clearly hoping it will earn an Oscar or two.
If you miss Ted Lasso on Apple TV+ badly enough, perhaps you’ll pay $30 for 10 of the shortbread biscuits, aka cookies.
That’s the hope of gourmet food purveyor Mackenzie Limited, anyway. It now offers its exclusive, officially endorsed “Biscuits with the Boss” shortbread cookies much like the ones coach Lasso often brought to AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton on the show.
★★★★☆
Everyone’s making compromises this week on Foundation, the gorgeous and exciting Apple TV+ sci-fi series based on the writings of Isaac Asimov.
Day and Demerzel sweat their next move as the Second Foundation rears its head (and Queen Sareth shows her fangs). Salvor and Gaal make the most of a new home. And Bel Riose meets Hober Mallow — with disastrous consequences.
A new trailer for The Morning Show‘s upcoming third season depicts a major crisis hitting the show-within-a-show — but the solution might be worse than the problem.
That solution? A gigantic cash infusion from tech executive Paul Marks, a new character played by Mad Men star Jon Hamm. He dangles the money after the UBA TV network suffers a massive hack attack. The trailer, which Apple TV+ released Thursday, gives us a better look at Hamm as he joins Morning Show stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Billy Crudup.
A TV director just revealed that he and his crew “got away with” using an iPhone to shoot much of an episode of murder-mystery comedy The Afterparty on Apple TV+.
Season 2, episode 8 of the show benefited from the sense of iPhone “found footage” because it takes place mostly during a wedding, so they took pains to make it look like some amateur shot it.
Apple TV+ dropped a trailer Wednesday for it upcoming Irish dramedy Flora and Son, saying “never underestimate a Dublin woman with a guitar.”
Bad Sisters mainstay Eve Hewson stars as that Dublin woman, a beleaguered mom trying to give her rebellious teen son a focus in life through a beat-up old acoustic guitar.
The film debuts in theaters September 22 and streams on Apple TV+ September 29.
Still Up is about the hijinks of a pair of chronic insomniacs who aren’t aware they’re falling in love. Apple TV+ released the trailer Tuesday showing Danny and Lisa’s struggles to sleep and find someone who understands them.
The romantic comedy series will debut on Apple TV+ in a few weeks.
The best Apple TV+ documentaries bring something extra to the nonfiction party. From historical subjects to oddball artistic projects, the streaming service’s finest docs deliver interesting insights in compelling ways (even politically irresponsible).
Here’s a look at the best Apple TV+ documentaries — both series and films — so far.
★★★★☆
Foundation, the epic Apple TV+ sci-fi show about the political machinations and battles being fought for control of a galaxy, finds its players being manipulated in all sorts of scary and surprising ways this week.
Hari looks backward and forward and finds nothing he likes. Cleric and Constant get Trantor’s version of a warm welcome. And finally, Brother Day unveils a new succession plan — that immediately backfires on him. It’s a very fine installment of this most exciting show.
Apple TV+ just gave its first look at Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, an upcoming series set in the MonsterVerse that contains Godzilla and other classic kaiju.
The sci-fi series will star Kurt Russell, and will feature a family searching for their link to the secretive Monarch organization.
Apple TV+ is adapting Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel The Buccaneers into a drama series set to debut in fall 2023. It follows a group of American heiresses setting out to marry British aristocrats.
On Wednesday, the streaming service released the first images from the upcoming eight-part series.
Hijack, the Apple TV+ thriller starring Idris Elba, wrapped up last week, and the finale pushed the series to the very top of the charts. It became the most popular show on any streaming service, according to a market analysis.
With the entire season of Hijack available, now is the time to binge-watch it.
★★★★☆
Foundation finds old flames, new complications and uncertain allies in a very engaging episode this week. Hari, Salvor and Gaal find themselves in the company of a goddess. Dusk, Dawn and Day start suspecting each other. And Sareth gets closer to the truths she came to Trantor to divine.
Unsurprisingly strong performances elevate “The Sighted and the Seen,” this week’s episode of Apple TV+’s epic science fiction series based on the work of Isaac Asimov.
Jorge Mas, the managing owner of Inter Miami CF, says that the addition of Lionel Messi to his soccer team has “more than doubled” subscriptions to Apple’s MLS Season Pass, which allows viewers to watch Major League Soccer games.
Messi joined the Florida team in July. The huge boost in paid viewership is quick work, even for the man who’s been called the greatest soccer player ever.
★★★★★
Swagger closes out its brilliant second season in style this week, as the young basketball players prep for their futures and their most important game yet.
Jace needs to play his best to regain his sterling reputation in time to win over college recruiters — and that’s not all he’s worried about. Plus, Ike and Naim must patch things up in order to be there for the team ahead of a very important game. Entitled “Journey and Destination,” the Swagger season two finale is a very moving sendoff that only this team could provide.
Still Up will follow the romantic hijinks of a pair of insomniacs. The comedy series will debut on Apple TV+ in September.
Apple gave its first look at the upcoming show on Wednesday.
