Some Apple TV+ Episodes are viewable for Free

[OtinG]

I noticed that some of the content on on Apple TV+ was free, or more specifically, you can watch one episode to see if you like it. So I tried watching The Morning Show, episode one. I could only manage to watch half of episode before I couldn’t tolerate it anymore. It was horrible. I can’t imagine how you can take three great actors and produce such terrible, boring garbage. Of course those actors are all known more for comedy, and using them in a dark drama which doesn't seem to have any interesting direction was not the smartest thing to do. I’m glad Apple was allowing a free peek by letting us watch one episode. I’ll never pay 1 penny for that garbage. The best way I can describe that show is to call it an R rated soap opera you might expect to see on HBO or Showtime.

BTW, the video looked rather poor on my iPhone XR screen. I’m not going to waste my time by downloading the Apple TV app to my Rokus or Fire TV devices. No programming of interest and too much money for the subscription service.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I noticed that some of the content on on Apple TV+ was free, or more specifically, you can watch one episode to see if you like it. So I tried watching The Morning Show, episode one. I could only manage to watch half of episode before I couldn’t tolerate it anymore. It was horrible. I can’t imagine how you can take three great actors and produce such terrible, boring garbage. Of course those actors are all known more for comedy, and using them in a dark drama which doesn't seem to have any interesting direction was not the smartest thing to do. I’m glad Apple was allowing a free peek by letting us watch one episode. I’ll never pay 1 penny for that garbage. The best way I can describe that show is to call it an R rated soap opera you might expect to see on HBO or Showtime.

BTW, the video looked rather poor on my iPhone XR screen. I’m not going to waste my time by downloading the Apple TV app to my Rokus or Fire TV devices. No programming of interest and too much money for the subscription service.

HBO did a show called The Newsroom that was very good. HBO does not do programs that are as bad as you say The Morning Show is. Some of the recent Showtime shows I have seen have also been quite good.

What I want to know is what HBO or Showtime shows would you say is comparable to The Morning Show?

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

HBO did a show called The Newsroom that was very good. HBO does not do programs that are as bad as you say The Morning Show is. Some of the recent Showtime shows I have seen have also been quite good.

What I want to know is what HBO or Showtime shows would you say is comparable to The Morning Show?

I was politely trying to say that it is like a soap opera wherein you will hear the f-bomb once every few seconds. In other words, HBO, and other similar services, which have original series tend to be uncensored concerning language. The foul language certainly doesn’t bother me when it it used in well scripted manner that makes sense. However, The Morning Show is poorly scripted and the foul language seems to be there more as a shocking value than anything else. This show is the worst example of scripting and acting I’ve seen in a long time. A poorly written show filled with cliches and really bad acting is difficult to watch. The newsroom talkshow theme is very worn out now, so they probably should have either picked a more unique theme or figured out a way to give it a new approach. They put together a “dream team” of actors, yet the show is really terrible. Maybe they should have gone with a lighthearted comedy rather than a seriously dark drama, after all they hired three good comedy actors in Anniston, Witherspoon, and Carell. If you compare The Morning Show to the movie Network from half a century ago, this series is a negative 5 stars whereas Network was 4+ stars.

[leebase]

I've watched the first couple episodes of See. I didn't think I'd like it from the previews...but I thought it was ok...and visually stunning.

There is a LOT of good Tv out there. A very competitive market. I have a year of AppleTv as I just bought a new iPhone. I like to binge watch, so I'm in no hurry to watch the other shows to see if I like them. Plenty of time to watch later. I'm binge watching the 2nd season of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime Video. It's a good show.

I still pay for cable...so I'm not loading up on multiple streaming platforms. Netflix is pretty safe in my household as I have three daughters that watch it. Prime Video I get "for free" as I pay for prime for the shipping. I have Hulu due to a deal with Sprint. Never watch it.

I'm not a fan of the trend against binge watching. I will wait until the seasons are over and then sign up for a month and binge the show I want to watch. I'm sure people like me are WHY the new services aren't releasing all the episodes at once.

But I'm still going forward with my "sign up and binge, then cancel" approach to all of these new services.

I like the Star Trek on CBS All Access and am looking forward to Picard in January. The Star Wars show on Disney looks to be good. Netflix and Amazon Prime each have a handful of shows I like.

Going to have to start tracking these in a OneNote note like I do with books I want to read.

[OtinG]

I’m not going to pay CBS and other channels another $10 or more per month for their extra programming. That is ridiculous IMO, especially since I’m already paying a service to receive them. When I calculate that the average channel I watch only has a handful of decent shows, it simply isn’t worth $10/mo to watch them.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by leebase

I've watched the first couple episodes of See. I didn't think I'd like it from the previews...but I thought it was ok...and visually stunning.

There is a LOT of good Tv out there. A very competitive market. I have a year of AppleTv as I just bought a new iPhone. I like to binge watch, so I'm in no hurry to watch the other shows to see if I like them. Plenty of time to watch later. I'm binge watching the 2nd season of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime Video. It's a good show.

I still pay for cable...so I'm not loading up on multiple streaming platforms. Netflix is pretty safe in my household as I have three daughters that watch it. Prime Video I get "for free" as I pay for prime for the shipping. I have Hulu due to a deal with Sprint. Never watch it.

I'm not a fan of the trend against binge watching. I will wait until the seasons are over and then sign up for a month and binge the show I want to watch. I'm sure people like me are WHY the new services aren't releasing all the episodes at once.

But I'm still going forward with my "sign up and binge, then cancel" approach to all of these new services.

I like the Star Trek on CBS All Access and am looking forward to Picard in January. The Star Wars show on Disney looks to be good. Netflix and Amazon Prime each have a handful of shows I like.

Going to have to start tracking these in a OneNote note like I do with books I want to read.

I cancelled my cable back in September because they didn't carry the channel my favorite college team is on. I went to Playstation Vue, but Sony is pulling the plug on Playstation Vue, so now I'm using Hulu which works fine.

I got Apple TV+ with my iPad Pro, I get a year of Disney free because I have a Verizon unlimited data plan and I get CBS that I get free because I subscribe to a sports bulletin board (same favorite college team) owned by CBS, plus I have Prime Video as part of Prime so I will have a ton of content for the next year. We will see what I decide to keep or not when I actually have to pay for it.

[kyteflyer]

I watched the first ep of The Morning Show (or is it Morning wars?) ... not impressed. Then again I am not necessarily a fan of either Jennifer Aniston or Reese Witherspoon. See isn't bad, I've seen the first three eps now, and look forward to more, though in the end, the violence may well drive me off. First three eps of "For all mankind" are good. really good. The premise is that the Soviets got to the moon first, with all that might have followed on from that (those were the cold war years, for those that are too young to remember). I plan to watch Elephant Queen, it looks like a really decent documentary, but Dickinson doesn't interest. yet. IN Australia, we don't have integrated TV streaming services, calling up an episode within AppleTV app just causes the TV channel app to open.. so thats all a big no thanks.

It really will have to get a lot better by the end of the 12 months to get me to pay for it. I'm currently subbed to Netflix and Amazon Prime, and am quite happy with those, plus our local SBSonDemand has a shedload of wonderful shows, mostly from Australia and Europe, and I love European drama

[OtinG]

I read yesterday that Apple has already decided that "See," "For All Mankind," "Dickinson," and "The Morning Show" will all get a second season. That seems rather premature to me, but after all, Apple is a tech firm and not a TV production company or network.

One thing I noticed about "The Morning Show" was the huge number of Apple products in nearly every scene. Obviously Apple is going to use these shows to subliminally advertise their products. We see this a lot in TV shows and movies these days. The cola or beer the characters drink was determined by paid sponsorships. Nothing wrong with that I guess. But in AppleTV+ shows you will likely see an iPhone in nearly every scene as well as other Apple hardware and services. I probably wouldn't have even noticed if the acting and dialogue had been half a$$ decent, but it wasn't.

[leebase]

Apple may not be experienced in tv and movies, but they have hired A List talent. Still, every network tv show isn’t good. Well....great shows are hard to come by for anybody.

I just watched that new movie with Norton and Willis (something Brooklyn). I love those two actors and the movie genre. Such a BORING movie my wife and I walked out half way through.

So far Amazon Prime has a good track record in my opinion and Amazon didn’t start with any experience. Jack Ryan, The Amazing Ms. Mable, Mozart in the Jungle, Man in the High Tower, Tin Star, Sneaky Pete, and more.

I am blessed in that I’m generally easy to entertain.

Epic is having a free month and I’m binge watching Pennyworth. Which brings me back to the concept of intellectual property. There is nothing Batman about the series other than the name of the character Alfred Pennyworth and Thomas Wayne. It’s not a super hero show. There are not super villains...doesn’t take place in Gotham.

Seriously...it could be The Kingsman...it’s set in London after WW1. Yet, that we know Alfred goes on to be Bruce Wayne’s butler is the hook that says “I want to watch this show”. Just like the upcoming Picard tv series.

There is a built in fan base that the makers of these shows are benefitting from. That’s worth money.....and the rights holder who built it acquired that demand deserves compensation.

[leebase]

Oops...wrong thread for the IP rant

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I noticed that some of the content on on Apple TV+ was free, or more specifically, you can watch one episode to see if you like it. So I tried watching The Morning Show, episode one. I could only manage to watch half of episode before I couldn’t tolerate it anymore. It was horrible. I can’t imagine how you can take three great actors and produce such terrible, boring garbage. Of course those actors are all known more for comedy, and using them in a dark drama which doesn't seem to have any interesting direction was not the smartest thing to do. I’m glad Apple was allowing a free peek by letting us watch one episode. I’ll never pay 1 penny for that garbage.

I felt the same after watching the whole of the first ep. But later I went back and watched the rest and it gets *much* better. The Elephant Queen doco is lovely. I’m not into poetry or Dickinson but some are saying thats very good. I’m also watching See, and For all Mankind and those are also pretty good.

I think you’ve made an early judgement without actually seeing the best of whats on offer. Its not much but look again in a year, I think its going to get better and better. My only whinge is about the app on AppleTV, its bloody awful!

[leebase]

5 episodes in and See is pretty terrific. Waiting to watch Dickenson with my daughter over the holidays

[pwalker8]

A few weeks in and I still haven't watched anything on Apple +. I have watched a couple of episodes of the new Star Wars series on the Disney+ service. Some of it is that I really don't watch much in the way of TV, especially once you take out sports. Some is that none of the Apple + shows really appeal to me.

[OtinG]

Unfortunately Apple TV+ doesn't have anything of interest to me. Maybe in the distant future when/if they ever get a huge library, but not now.

Disney+ is probably great for people with younger kids, and it is priced low and has a huge library of old and new movies and shows including Star Wars stuff. But I’ve never cared for Star Wars except for Seth MacFarland's Family Guy parodies of episodes 4-6. A talking baby playing Darth Vader; what is not to like about that? But most of the Disney+ stuff isn’t of interest to an old fart like me accept maybe for nostalgia as I grew up watching The Wonderful World of Disney on TV and seeing many of the cheap B movies old Walt churned out. But again, those 1950-1970s movies and shows were designed for kids, and they were churned out cheap and quick, so they rarely appeal to adults these days. The newer movies from Pixar and later are much better though. I still like the original Mary Poppins movie though, but that one was better produced than most, and it is the first movie I remember going to see in a cinema theater back in the early 1960s, so more nostalgic than anything.

I got held up at metaphorical gunpoint by Hulu a few days ago as they announced they are increasing the cost of their Live TV service from $45 to $55/mo, a whopping 22% increase. Their service is watchable, a lot of good channels, but the cloud DVR blows chunks and they have a lot of streaming issues on occasion. I’ll probably cancel the Live TV service from them and stick with their on demand service only. I don’t think the Hulu with Live TV is worth the $67/mo it will soon cost.

I mostly watch OTA TV, which I can get and record with an antenna and my Fire TV Recast, and documentaries on history, science, several DIY home improvement shows, and a few shows like Live PD. I hardly ever watch sports any more. So I’m going to try out Philo TV which is only $20/mo because it doesn't include sports or your local channels from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and PBS. It gets nearly all the channels I watch except for NatGeo and Smithsonian. But I can likely get the few shows I watch from those channels via on demand. Disney is bundling Disney+ with Hulu on demand and ESPN+ together for just $13/mo, so if I switch to Philo TV for live TV I’ll get the Disney bundle for on demand stuff and the occasional sport event I might watch. That will cost less than half of what Hulu with Live TV is going to cost.

I think the TV streaming services will do okay for on demand, but they are quickly becoming too expensive for live TV. Since you also have to pay a king's ransom for high speed internet service to stream, these services are now approaching cable pricing. Cable tends to be more reliable still, but streaming still has ability to cancel when you want without penalty. Unfortunately that contract-less service means they can jackup the price multiple times per year, as Hulu has done and as DirecTV Now did. Sony is shuttering their Playstation Vue service in early 2020, so one of the major streaming players has gone belly up. DirecTV Now was bleeding out customers and money, so AT&T renamed it and raised the prices through the roof. Hulu raising its pricing by 22% indicates they are likely struggling too. I’m afraid live TV streaming won’t be able to survive much longer. On demand will likely survive, but I suspect more channels will offer their own on demand and stop offering it through services like Hulu and Netflix.

[pwalker8]

Streaming services that duplicate cable TV have the same issue as cable TV, i.e. they have to pay for each of those channels. Thus there is a floor cost and when content providers like ESPN raise their prices, those floors go up.

From what I'm told by people in the business, you aren't going to save money streaming content unless you don't watch live sports. If you want a basic Netflix experience and that's it, then you can save money. I'm a sports fan (at least of my local teams) so I don't particularly mind paying as long as I get the content I want.

Eventually we may get subscription based a la carte model where you only pay for the content you want, but odds are if you are a sports fan, you won't save money and given the contracts currently in place, I don't expect it to happen anytime in the near future.