Apple TV+
Erik Bates | November 15, 2021
[hidden by request]
Scott Hardie | November 16, 2021
We're enjoying Ted Lasso now. It's as good as its reputation.
Kelly and I have divergent tastes, so I don't know how much we'll get around to seeing, but I'll check out those titles, Erik. Thanks.
Why oh why does their website not have a search feature? If I hear about a good show and want to add it to my list, I have to search in Google for "show name site:tv.apple.com" to find it. Ridiculous.
Evie Totty | December 9, 2021
Ok cool that I came across this.
First let me say that two months or so ago, I said something I never thought I'd ever say:
"I gotta catch up on my AppleTV shows" 0.o
I got a year's subscription through my new phone purchase (that's a story for its own blog post) and didn't give a blank about it until Sudekis won the Globe for his role and the show won too I think? So I checked it out.
And loved it. Loved it!
But for months, I still couldn't be bothered. But I kept hearing about 'The Morning Show'. So, a week or so before Season 2 premiered I binged Season 1. OUTSTANDING. I checked out Mr. Corman - not sure if I got to the second episode.
And then...
FOUNDATION rolled around.
So I was watching:
* Ted Lasso
* The Morning Show
* Foundation
With The Problem with Jon Stewart periodically (v good) and a dip into Invasion (didn't get past the first night of multiple episodes) and then Finch with Tom Hanks when it premiered.
I was shocked lol.
About the extra costs: I have not experienced this. BUT I suspect you were selecting shows that are actually on other streaming services (because as I flip through my AppleTV app on my phone, it's listing shows I watched on Prime, Disney+, Paramount+, and Hulu) and the cost is to subscribe to those services with ATV being the hub.
Yes, the lack of search is maddening. And my TV is my daughter's old Roku - and it doesn't support the AppleTV app, so i have to string an HDMI cable from my computer to the TV if I want to watch it there lol.
I keep forgetting about For All Mankind, Erik! Thanks for the reminder.
Scott Hardie | December 11, 2021
Yeah, the Apple TV+ originals seem pretty good overall. I've only seen Ted Lasso and loved it, but Kelly has been watching several others and had good things to say. Honestly, from where I stand, it seems like Apple TV+ has the highest average rate of quality among their originals. Netflix and Disney+ throw a similarly jaw-dropping amount of money at their shows, but Netflix's shows still often manage to look cheap and dark, while at least half of the shows on Disney+ are just advertisements for other branches of the massive Disney media empire The other streamers can't compete with those deep pockets, give or take a splurge on special effects for a given Star Trek episode on Paramount+.
I don't know how Apple knows what shows I watched on other services, but all of these companies buy data from each other (a related ad appears on Facebook within two minutes of me searching for a term on Google) so I'm sure that's possible. But why offer me things that I've already seen? Wouldn't they want to promote something new? If the goal is to get me to think, "I can cancel the other services and just use Apple TV+ and have one interface to watch everything," then 1) they're overestimating how much I like Apple TV+'s interface and 2) I'm more likely to think, "Why should I bother continuing to subscribe to Apple TV+ when I can already access its content elsewhere?" It's been a month and I'm still not sure that I have an answer to that question.
Thanks for the additional recommendations, Evie! I'll take a look.
Samir Mehta | December 11, 2021
It might be that Netflix incepted us on streaming but I still say they’re the gold standard for variety and form. Best standup by far, best animation. Historically the best streaming shows ever (OitnB, the Crown, and Bojack). Amazon and apple are not far behind but have yet to give a transcendent show other than fleabag and Ted Lasso.
What was not mentioned, and is gaining fast, is HBO max. They have the only real inventory of great classic and foreign films, and it’s not close. Ghibli, Fellini, Ray, French New Wave. Wowzers.
Samir Mehta | December 11, 2021
It might be that Netflix incepted us on streaming but I still say they’re the gold standard for variety and form. Best standup by far, best animation. Historically the best streaming shows ever (OitnB, the Crown, and Bojack). Amazon and apple are not far behind but have yet to give a transcendent show other than fleabag and Ted Lasso.
What was not mentioned, and is gaining fast, is HBO max. They have the only real inventory of great classic and foreign films, and it’s not close. Ghibli, Fellini, Ray, French New Wave. Wowzers.
Evie Totty | December 12, 2021
Scott - AFAIK you cannot access the AppleTV content anywhere else.
And I agree - HBOMax is turning up the heat. Prime is sucking balls right now IMO. They have a few things, but once it's watched, there's nothing. (Fleabg is Prime btw Samir. I adored it.)
But Netflix is where I go back to. 'Play Anything' has gotten me to a few gems I'd been aware of but ignoring (Ragnarok, Money Heist).
I agree that the ads should suggest something new based on your searches...
But I'll also say that I've dumped Chrome (I get emails from CISA and it seems Chrome has a vulnerability at least once a week) and went to Edge (Brave seems to not like my laptop) and DuckDuckGo as my search engine to keep the bots out of my 'bedroom'.
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Scott Hardie | November 15, 2021
I know that several people here have Apple TV+, because Ted Lasso keeps coming up in conversation.
Kelly and I subscribed to it last night and we're trying it out. Scrolling through the various menus, it seems like nearly everything requires additional money to watch. In fact, outside of the "originals" that are unique to the platform, I don't recall seeing a single show or movie on there that I could watch for no additional charge.
Are we paying $5 a month just to see the handful of Apple TV+ originals that appeal to us? Or are there other outside shows and movies included with the service that I'm missing? And what do you think of the service overall?