Apple TV+ Recommendations

I just read a short review of it based on your comment. I’m in. i’ll line it up this weekend to watch with my wife.

Has anyone watched the episodes of Hello Tomorrow! that have dropped? Any of them? We just subbed for a little bit and I saw the first three episodes. If you’ve seen the trailer you’ll undoubtedly get the feeling that it’s set in the Fallout universe (hover cars, lots of robots, retro '50s aesthetic) but the focus is not on the setting and honestly after the first episodes shows off all that wacky retro stuff the setting feels pretty mundane. After three episodes it feels like the overarching storyline and the main conflicts are becoming pretty clear. I will probably watch the next couple of episodes but I’m not 100% sold on it yet.

Yes, I watched them last night, quite enjoyable but this was the strangest thing about it - it has such a strong setting that the story does nothing with (so far). It might have well been set in the actual 1950’s. I’ll probably keep watching though, Billy Crudup is great, and maybe they’ll justify the setting at some point?

I just finished watching the first episode of it and it truly is an alternate universe–not only is it all Fallout-y (pre-apoc) with hovercars and weirdly unnecessary gadgets like self-tightening ties and robot dogs, but no one bats an eye at interracial marriages or black people living among white people*. The a-historicity (if that’s a word AND the right one) bothers me some, but I’ll keep watching. Billy Crudup is an amazing actor, and the rest of the cast is great too.

*If that holds, it’s already a better world than we live in now, apart from the rapacious consumerist-capitalist culture, but I’m sure the other shoe is going to drop soon.

Holy shit, watched a few episodes of Shrinking tonite:

The first episode was fine (particularly for a first episode), but after that it really started to take off. Depth in a comedy? Woah…yes, please. Hopefully they keep this up, but strongly recommend checking it out.

@pyrhic This way my friend!

Wife and I love this. Maybe me a bit more because I’m such a Scrubs whore and this feels very much Scrubs-y but with mental health focus. Watched the newest ep the other night and it’s still really working. The newest probably didn’t have quite as many LOL moments, but it did have some great ones and the characters are all coming together. Fav new show in a long while.

Does no one else here watch Mythic Quest? I was pleasantly surprised that there was a third season to watch.

I do - quite enjoyed the 3rd season.

Ah, a fellow fan. Also, how can Ashly Burch already be going gray? It’s gotta be fake, right?

Jessie Ennis as Jo is freaking hilarious(that scene when she’s reporting to David about Brad’s “suspicious” behavior).

Jo is definitely the highlight of the show for me. As to Ashley Birch’s hair, I was assuming that was bleached with no dye.

Really enjoy Mythic Quest as well, definitely worth giving a shot. Some episodes that come out of nowhere with how good I found them to be.

BTW, in this third season, it’s spot on that someone with Ian’s ego combined with his obliviousness would be a CryptoBro. And that resurgent Evil Brad would immediately suggest NFTs for the MMORPG as a monetization strategy.

Back to Hello Tomorrow!, it’s pretty clear almost from the get-go that the whole lunar time shares thing is a scam, similar to that of The Music Man (travelling salesman comes to town, gets people all excited, takes their money, skips town). I mean, Mr. Jenkins is really just a little tortoise in a terrarium who belongs to some washed up TV star who lives in a nursing home, right?

Of course you’re right @Papageno. I watched the 4th episode to see if any new revelations occurred but as far as I’m concerned it’s just pulling back the curtain one inch at a time. Like many current-day series, they take their sweet time developing the plot.

Unless what we’ve seen is just the hook and there’s a twist later. Otherwise it’s probably just a re-telling of The Music Man and instead of falling for a Marian the Librarian, Jack reconnects with his son, and maybe even his estranged/ex-wife as the “redemption.”

On the show’s subreddit, someone speculated on what year this might be. If WW2 is supposed to be The War someone mentioned, then, given Jack’s apparent age and that he was too young to serve then, it’s probably around 1980 or so. But how is that 1980 so stuck in the late 50’s/early 60’s design and styles-wise?

Anyone else still watching Hello Tomorrow!?

Now even Mrs Maybury (Allison Pill) is starting to come under the spell of Jack Billings. Although the way the episode ended was crushing for Jack.

I’m still watching it, but mostly as a meta commentary on itself. The trailer gave such promise of a great show, and I’m dreaming of it being better. It’s… fine? But the promise it gave up front is all smoke and mirrors.

As seen in the Severance (AppleTV+) - Adam Scott in a weird Ben Stiller joint thread, @Rock8man wants a list of stuff to watch on Apple TV+:

My personal favorite ATV+ shows (not necessarily an exact ranking):

Severance - Best dystopian sci-fi ever created?
Shrinking - Wholesome comedy/drama about a therapist trying to get by after a tragedy. Plus Harrison Ford.
Ted Lasso - Wholesome soccer team comedy
For All Mankind - Alternate timeline of the space race if we never stopped competing with the Russians.
Mythic Quest - Great workplace comedy about a video game company.
The Afterparty - Murder mystery told through different perspectives.
Schmigadoon - A couple gets trapped in a town where everything is a musical.
The Morning Show - Aaron Sorkin-esque fast-talking drama about a morning program. Big stars.
The Problem with Jon Stewart - Long-form discussions of issues facing our country.

In addition there’s been some pretty decent movies:

Greyhound - Tom Hanks WW2 naval drama
Finch - Tom Hanks post-apocalyptic sci-fi
Tetris - See the thread - we are talking about this now!

There’s a lot more than this, these are just some of my favorites coming to mind.

Edit: Special mention for Silo, the upcoming show I am most excited about (and am re-reading the first book in preparation for):

Slow Horses is a very British spy show, slow paced and dark.

Pachinko is a very interesting, trilingual show focusing on the Zainichi in Japan. (Korean-Japanese who’ve been there ~100 years and still face widespread discrimination. They weren’t even full citizens till the 90s). They are regarded as yakuza, seedy, and trash. Recent example, DHC cosmetics CEO called out Suntory as korean tainted because they use korean-japanese models. Suntory has apparently been a target of racist right-wingers the last ~20 years.

Trash tier:
Invasion
Foundation