Severance is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed shows on Apple TV+, despite being flat-out weird.
The Premise
Warning: SPOILERS. The show centers on a small group of workers at the harrowingly evil firm Lumon Industries. The employees agreed to a severance procedure that surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives … before they found out what type of company they’d be working for.
Mark Scout leads the team of employees, and finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work … and of himself.
One of the most popular, critically acclaimed and flat-out weird shows on Apple TV+ — the darkly comedic workplace thriller Severance — has resumed production on season two after pausing for the recent writers strike.
Apple posted on X (formerly Twitter) about it Monday. Take a look below.
Apple TV+’s programming slate seems like a crazily oscillating slate of highs and lows. But the highs thus far prove dizzying indeed.
Directors like M. Night Shyamalan, Rupert Wyatt and Kim Jee-Woon, writers like Min Jin Lee, Paul Theroux, Emily Dickinson and Isaac Asimov, high-concept premises and legendary ensembles all meet on Apple’s streaming service.
The result is a collection of art worth signing up for. On the fourth anniversary of the service’s launch, here’s a look at the best shows on Apple TV+.
Fans who miss the psychological dark dramedy Severance on Apple TV+ can now drone out to a full day of the show’s ghostly piano-based theme song with the “8 Hour Work Day Innie Mix,” which Apple released Tuesday on YouTube.
Get it, innies? You can play the eerie mix for your whole 8-hour workday. It’s like having the show’s credits roll all day in your head as you start to question your choices in life.
The Writers Guild of America is on strike, causing problems both immediate and long-term for TV and movie production. And Apple TV+ certainly is not immune.
Production on two Apple series already stopped because of picketing, including the bugle popular Severance. And that raises questions about other series and movies.
Production on the second season of Severance, the Apple TV+ thriller about a profoundly creepy workplace, has seen delays because the series’ two showrunners hate each other, according to a recent report.
Scripts were scrapped amid the two not speaking to each other as director Ben Stiller searched for help. And it seems he finally found it. Stiller also downplayed on-set drama in a tweet.
Looking for your next science fiction binge? Apple TV+ offers some excellent sci-fi series to keep your eyes popping and (more importantly) your brain humming.
From mythic procedurals to New Testament space operas, Apple TV+ gives viewers a number of exciting science fiction series worthy of a watch. Some seem hilariously literal, while others prove truly fantastical. No matter your tastes, there’s something for every sci-fi fan.
Here are our picks for the best science fiction shows on Apple TV+.
Although Ted Lasso is amazing and wildly popular, it’s not the only hit show on Apple TV+. A search engine focused on movies and TV released a top 10 list of everything on Apple’s streaming service, revealing which other series also draw plenty of viewers.
Subscribers to the streaming service might use it to find additional shows worth watching.
Apple TV+ correctly referred to its hit psycho-drama Severance as a “cultural phenomenon” Sunday when it pointed out the show nabbed Best Drama and Best New Series at the Writers Guild Awards. It’s the only show to win two major categories this year.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: We’re talking about all the Apple gear we’re certain will arrive in 2023 — and some we just hope will materialize.
Also on The CultCast:
An Apple Watch Ultra clone for less than $50?!?
More on Apple’s penny-penching strategy of skimping on cloud storage by serving up lower-resolution files.
Our picks for best of 2022 — part two!
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This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: If the EU does indeed force Apple to open up the iPhone to allow alternative app stores, is that a bad thing? Some people think sideloading apps will be fantastic.
Also on The CultCast:
Cool new stuff to try in iOS 16.2.
Why web browsing might be in for radical changes on iOS devices.
How to get Apple TV+ for free so you can watch Severance, our favorite show of the year.
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Apple TV+ earned Golden Globe nominations in five important categories, including Best Drama. The creepy, very popular series Severance earned two of the nominations, and the prison thriller Black Bird got the rest.
The Critics Choice Association showered Apple TV+ Tuesday with 10 nominations for the upcoming 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards. They include Best Drama Series nods for workplace psycho-drama Severance and dark comedy-drama Bad Sisters, plus Best Foreign Language Series noms for Pachinko and Tehran.
Nominations honored six series in total. The other two nominations covered acting in prison suspense thriller Black Bird and family drama The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. See more specifics below.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest iPhone 15 rumors make it sound like we’re getting some major changes on the design front. And, while the switch from Lightning to USB-C sounds like a winner, Apple might pull one of its irritating tricks by making a handy feature exclusive to the iPhone Pro models next year.
Also on The CultCast:
Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals on your favorite Apple gear.
COVID-19 chaos in the Chinese factory complex known as “iPhone City” points to further supply-chain disruptions for Cupertino.
Find My miracles!
Mondo’s Severance collectibles look like a really cool way to dig deeper into the most creative show on Apple TV+.
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
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Collectibles seller Mondo will release a soundtrack Wednesday for Apple TV+’s Severance season 1 in two versions, both on vinyl: Innie Edition and Outie Edition.
On the show — sort of a dark-comedy psycho-thriller — a Lumon Industries employee who has undergone the Severance brain surgery is an “innie” at work and an “outie” away from work, and neither has any awareness of the other.
Does the season 1 soundtrack match that weirdness? Now’s your chance to give it a focused listen on your turntable.
Fans of the hit Apple TV+ series Severance can rejoice that production on season 2 started this week. More of what Stephen Colbert called a “dystopian workplace sci-fi mystery black comedy psychological thriller” is on the way.
Upcoming episodes of the Emmy-winning – and very creepy – series will feature the original stars as well as eight new ones.
Apple TV+ received five nominations for the 32nd Annual Gotham Awards Tuesday, including two nominations apiece for the series Pachinko and Severance and one for the film Causeway.
This comes after Apple took two wins in the 2021 Gotham Awards, which recognize visionary work in indie film and TV. This year’s awards ceremony takes place November 28.
Apple TV+ took home nine Emmys at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards Monday night, including Outstanding Comedy Series for Ted Lasso for the second year running.
The streaming service won four Emmys for Ted Lasso and others for Carpool Karaoke: The Series, Severance, Schmigadoon! and Home Before Dark.
Two of the best-loved shows on Apple TV+ — Severance and Ted Lasso — took home honors over the weekend from the Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards.
Severance won five awards, including Best Drama, and Ted Lasso won two awards, including Best Comedy. Apple TV+ topped all streaming services with 53 nominations overall.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert created a parody Thursday night of the psychological thriller Severance on Apple TV+. The segment’s a must-see for fans of the show, or for fans of nouveu-comedy classic The Office, which figures into the mashup heavily.
I just called Severance a psychological thriller. In his lead-in to the video, which you can watch below, Colbert was probably more accurate.
“Severance is easily one of the top dystopian workplace sci-fi mystery black comedy psychological thrillers I’ve ever seen,” he deadpanned, getting a laugh.
The Television Academy said Tuesday Apple TV+ received 51 Primetime Emmy nominations, including 20 for the hit comedy Ted Lasso.
That matches the show’s record-breaking number of Emmy nominations in 2021. And the psychological thriller Severance received 14 nominations this year, second most among the streaming service’s titles.
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.
The metaphysical-horror-thriller Shining Girls only premiered on Apple TV+ a few days ago, but the Elisabeth Moss series is already in the top 10 most streamed shows. And it’s drawing positive reviews, too.
Plus, the Apple TV+ hit Severance remains on the weekly list of popular shows, despite wrapping up its first season more than three weeks ago.
No stranger to racking up awards, Apple TV+ has now won its first for the unsettling hit drama Severance. Adam Scott, who plays Lumon Industries employee Mark S. on the show, will get The Webby Awards nod for best actor at a ceremony in New York City on May 16.
More streaming viewers watched the drama CODA on Apple TV+ than any other movie or series during the first three months of 2022, according to a ratings tracker. And the thriller Severance on Apple’s streaming service came in third place overall.
That means Apple TV+ streamed two shows with more viewers than anything on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or Disney+.
CODA, Severance and Slow Horses all showed up in this week’s top 10 most-watched movies and TV shows. Each is from Apple TV+, and they show the streaming service has become a strong competitor against Netflix, Hulu and Disney+.
Perhaps this will silence any lingering doubts about Apple’s foray into film and TV.