Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Even though they are certainly amongst the best of Apple TV+, you damn with faint praise - since they are still comparatively mediocre in the wider scheme of things. And while you seem to be trying to disagree with what Simmias wrote, you even say you don't want "edgy" - which kinda means, you want bland. You seem to be agreeing with them, after all.

In any event, let's take your three genres and compare them to:
  • The Expanse (SciFi Channel then Amazon, SciFi seasons were better)
  • The Young Ones or Blackadder 2/3/4 (BBC, 1980s)
  • Das Boot (1990s TV version)
...and if you want to see how far these things can be pushed, watch Threads (1984) (warning - relentlessly grim; I'm not saying you'll enjoy it, but I am saying that it's an example of a well-executed, thought-provoking film).

While ATV+ has some better rated shows as listed, it also pushes out significant quantities of very average, very safe, vanilla flavour dross. And even though Ted Lasso is well rated and quite funny, it is about as far from edgy or innovative comedy as it's possible to get. The later seasons just repeated tropes without anything new and rapidly got tiresome - which is a pattern ATV+ demonstrates often; see e.g. Loot S2, Let's Get Physical. In the case of Palm Royale, it was out of ideas and repeating itself before it was even half way through its first season. And we see that again with FAM - it isn't edgy or that clever, as it continues to meander through season after season without any particular direction.

It's just disposable content, not really valued entertainment. That is to say - I can't imagine anyone nostalgically watching Ted Lasso or For All Mankind in a few decades. They won't be regarded as important or classic or even especially memorable.
I strongly disagree with your supposition that not wanting “edgy” means wanting bland. There is a world of amazing, well-crafted, brilliant entertainment to be found in the middle area between edgy on one side and bland on the other.

That said, Apple TV+ has a lot of great content that is either boundary pushing, innovative, unique, or just plain excellent, including: Killers Of The Flower Moon, Severance, Slow Horses, The Afterparty, Bad Sisters, Ted Lasso, Cha Cha Real Smooth, Dickinson, Schmigadoon, Shrinking, We Crashed, The Shrink Next Door, Platonic, Strange Planet, etc. And while it’s pretty middle brow, Presumed Innocent is currently a pretty fun ride.
 
you even say you don't want "edgy" - which kinda means, you want bland.

Edgy must mean different things to different people. It really doesn't have positive connotations to me-- "edgy" sounds to me like something one tries too hard to be. The associations in my mind are: edgy is to exciting as pretentious is to intellectually stimulating or shocking is to eye opening.

Obviously you and others see that word differently, but I just mean to suggest you don't assume the person you're responding to has the same interpretation of it as you do.
 
Handmade films the original production company of Timebandits was preparing a reboot of the movie as a TV serie around the year 2008 (they were working on reboot Eloise, Mona Lisa, … before going bust …) looking at the trailer I would feel that they wanted to keep an 80s feel of the production as opposed to the original plan to make it Hollywood like. It’s good nevertheless to see that the project came up in any manners and new generation of kids will enjoy it
 
That cast promo shot makes it look really bad. Whenever they try so hard to cast the obviously manufactured quirky looking team, it doesn't usually go well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huck and Kengineer
Wow.... another 80s nostalgica piece... Chalk me down as unimpressed.
From the trailer I guess B-52s look forward to doing a Kate Bush.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huck
I absolutely love the original, and admit there is so much more in the concept to potentially do with a remake than most of the random nostalgia rehashes these days. Sadly, this looks... well, extremely not Terry Gilliam.

The original had all kinds of fun stuff in it, but fundamentally it's such a fantastic and memorable movie because it's just so weird. Every one of the random segments plays almost like a deadpan Monty Python segment in all the right ways. This looks funny and "quirky", but the kind of polished, modern, generic "quirky" that you can find all over the place.

Who knows, it could be better than the trailer looks, but I find it almost impossible to believe that this series will manage even a tiny fraction of the funky, bizarre, Terry-Gilliam-ness of the original, and that's what it'd take to make me care enough to watch more than the trailer.
 
No matter how many big names or top tier IP are involved, I just can’t get excited for any of these Apple TV+ shows. They all end up being weirdly bland and safe, regardless of how much they go out of their way to be quirky and edgy. High production values and mediocre writing, every time.
What series have you ACTUALLY watched?
This is a series for kids, by the way. You can't compare this with Silo, Presumed Innocent, Masters of the Air, Severance, Sugar... Among others.
 
How on earth will they shove an Apple device into our faces in every 5 minutes in this show?
You clearly haven't watched Foundation, See, Silo, Masters of the Air, Physical.... They have many shows without product placement.

I find it almost impossible to believe that this series will manage even a tiny fraction of the funky, bizarre, Terry-Gilliam-ness of the original
Fun and quirky are Waititi's strong suits, some examples being What We Do In The Shadows, JoJo Rabbit, Thor Ragnarok. If anything he needs to be reigned in a little because left unchecked he can go too wacky to be funny, such as the disappointing Thor Love and Thunder.
 
Even though they are certainly amongst the best of Apple TV+, you damn with faint praise - since they are still comparatively mediocre in the wider scheme of things. And while you seem to be trying to disagree with what Simmias wrote, you even say you don't want "edgy" - which kinda means, you want bland. You seem to be agreeing with them, after all.
I don’t agree with your characterization of what I said. If I say I’m really happy with a show I don’t consider that faint praise. Not wanting something edgy does not mean I want bland. You quoted my words directly so it’s not necessary to give an interpretation of what I said. People can read that for themselves.

This is Simmias’s comment I responded to and I just listed 3 shows that I was surprised they wouldn’t have been excited about. That’s it.
I just can’t get excited for any of these Apple TV+ shows.

.
 
Edgy must mean different things to different people. It really doesn't have positive connotations to me-- "edgy" sounds to me like something one tries too hard to be. The associations in my mind are: edgy is to exciting as pretentious is to intellectually stimulating or shocking is to eye opening.
Very well said. I feel like writers and directors sometimes focus too much on being edgy when I’d rather they focus on good storytelling. Your comment about trying too hard is at the heart of the issue.
 
Boring trailer.
This is what Hollywood has become now. Rebooting classics and nine times out of ten ruining them. This shouldn't be considered movie making 😂
😂
Can you give an example of this 1 out of 10 where they succeeded? I'm struggling to remember any movie or show that was rebooted by Hollywood and actually went above the original one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Timpetus and Huck
This is like defacing the Mona Lisa, putting a loincloth on Michelangelo's David, or painting clothes on the angels of the Sistine Chapel. Vandalism in the name of political correctness. How perfectly awful.

If you've never seen the original, please do.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Timpetus and Huck
Even though they are certainly amongst the best of Apple TV+, you damn with faint praise - since they are still comparatively mediocre in the wider scheme of things. And while you seem to be trying to disagree with what Simmias wrote, you even say you don't want "edgy" - which kinda means, you want bland. You seem to be agreeing with them, after all.

In any event, let's take your three genres and compare them to:
  • The Expanse (SciFi Channel then Amazon, SciFi seasons were better)
  • The Young Ones or Blackadder 2/3/4 (BBC, 1980s)
  • Das Boot (1990s TV version)
...and if you want to see how far these things can be pushed, watch Threads (1984) (warning - relentlessly grim; I'm not saying you'll enjoy it, but I am saying that it's an example of a well-executed, thought-provoking film).

While ATV+ has some better rated shows as listed, it also pushes out significant quantities of very average, very safe, vanilla flavour dross. And even though Ted Lasso is well rated and quite funny, it is about as far from edgy or innovative comedy as it's possible to get. The later seasons just repeated tropes without anything new and rapidly got tiresome - which is a pattern ATV+ demonstrates often; see e.g. Loot S2, Let's Get Physical. In the case of Palm Royale, it was out of ideas and repeating itself before it was even half way through its first season. And we see that again with FAM - it isn't edgy or that clever, as it continues to meander through season after season without any particular direction.

It's just disposable content, not really valued entertainment. That is to say - I can't imagine anyone nostalgically watching Ted Lasso or For All Mankind in a few decades. They won't be regarded as important or classic or even especially memorable.
Apple+ shows are most notable for bland political correctness. In that sad spirit Apple+ ruined the second season of Teheran by adding Glenn Close and has now simply refused to release the completed 3rd Season of Teheran as Apple thinks it's too politically charged at the moment.
 
For All Mankind?
Ted Lasso?
Masters of the Air?

Everyone has different tastes. I’ve been really happy with quite a few of their shows. But I’m not looking for edgy.
These are just OK shows...not bad but not great. Yeah, everyone has different taste, but the end of the day, when something is very good, it is widely recognized by the general public. For example when Game of Thrones come out on HBO, virtually everyone around me (friends, co-workers, family) were talking about the show, and we were all waiting for the next episode to air. Something similar happened when Breaking Bad and few other shows first came out. These were immediately recognized and acclaimed by the general public as must-watch. For contrast, to this date, I have never ever received a recommendation or comment from anyone I know saying that I must watch Ted Lasso or any other ATV+ show or movie. For me, this is quite indicative about the quality of the productions and the service in general.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: nt5672 and Huck
The pirate taika waititi thing was dreadful. The way the writing fumbled around the social norms of the period was excruciatingly awkward. He’s a much better director than writer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huck
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.