Nobody has brought this up for a while, but there are a lot of streaming platforms right now. I know, I know: 2022 called, and it wants its half-observation back. But there are, and that’s semi-interesting again because they have started to step out of the coagulated “Let’s copy Netflix as much as possible” ooze and become their own individual things. Prime Video has really found a rhythm with its originals, squeezing every drop of juice out of The Boys as well as having its live sport and Freevee offerings. Disney+ has gone hard on Marvel and Star Wars, obviously, but also has a load of big-budget prequel series for both as well as a huge play-it-in-the-background comedy library. Paramount+ has Yellowstone, and I’m sure … it has some other stuff, too. I keep being surprised by where I can watch 30 Rock (it’s currently on ITVX) and where I can’t watch anything else (I’m forever near a TV saying: “Where on Earth can I stream an old BBC show I’d sort of forgotten the name of?” And the answer is always: BritBox). You can watch 3rd Rock from the Sun on Channel 4, which is what All4 is called now. Everyone’s up to something.
So what about Apple TV+? It’s been hard to figure out what their deal is. There have been a couple of certifiable hits: Ted Lasso felt like the first one to make people finally go from month-long free trial to actual subscription, but Slow Horses, Severance and Foundation have been pulling in numbers, too. In the last couple of years, it has become clear that Apple has a major strategy: give a name star an executive producer credit and the freedom to do whatever the hell they want, and really, really hope for the best. So this is how we get: Mythic Quest with Rob McElhenney; Platonic with Rose Byrne and Seth Rogan; Loot with Maya Rudolph; and – yeah, wow, they really did let Joseph Gordon-Levitt make 10 episodes of Mr Corman, didn’t they? And Shrinking, I had forgotten about Shrinking. Harrison Ford’s first real TV role and it was – never mind. The less said about the imminent threat of “season two of Idris Elba’s Hijack” the better.
