As somebody who is not American, most of what I’ve seen on Apple TV+ seems to me to be tailored to American tastes (which is of course understandable from an American company, and given that America is the biggest market). I’m probably wrong about this, but it’s how the content comes across to me. For example, I found Ted Lasso to be unwatchable, but Americans seem to love it.
I liked Tehran, and The Servant was interesting (although I got the impression the second series was just filler to stretch it to a third series), but everything else I’ve watched on it — quite a lot of the Morning Show, Saving Jacob(?), the podcasting one starring Jesse Pinkman, probably others — is absolute garbage (in my opinion).
I really think Apple have an uphill battle with this service, as without buying-in a back-catalogue, the offering is anaemic even if you like what’s on there. There are two films I‘ve watched on Apple TV+ that were really good, but this underscores my point — as far as I know, the rights to most/all of the films on Apple TV+ have been purchased post-facto, rather than commissioned by Apple.
I’ve seen John Gruber describe it as the ‘new HBO’, with it allegedly focussing on quality over quantity, but I don’t see this as a helpful comparison. HBO grew up in a different age, and had an entirely set of market circumstances. A streaming service on a rolling monthly subscription needs volume.
I accepted the one-year trial so I could watch Greyhound, but there’s not a chance I’d pay for the rest of the service.