FOR ALL MANKIND: TAKING APPLE TV+ TO THE MOON AND BEYOND

Whilst Apple TV+ may still be small in comparison to Netflix and Amazon Prime, its string of successful series and breakthrough movies have positioned it as a must-have service for all lovers of immersive, thought-provoking material. One of the streaming platform’s most talked-about shows is For All Mankind - its second season launched in February and it’s just picked up a Saturn Award nomination for Best Fantasy TV Series, cementing its worth.

OUT OF THIS WORLD CONTENT

There’s no denying that Apple has struggled to make an impact with its highly-anticipated streaming service just yet - so much so that the company has effectively “admitted defeat,” repeatedly extending the free trial period to encourage customers not to unsubscribe just yet. Apple, perhaps, bit off more than it could chew with TV+, releasing the service at the same time as Disney+, which offers subscribers thousands of hours of content and access to some of the world’s most beloved brands and IPs such as Star Wars, The Simpsons, and Marvel. Fast forward a year from its launch, and Apple TV+ has made some significant progress - not only is the user experience better than ever, but Apple has successfully launched a number of critically-acclaimed shows such as The Morning Show, Dickinson, and SEE, with movies like Palmer also rating well. It is true that Apple’s market share still remains relatively small, and that’s due to the lack of content as of yet. Unlike Netflix and Amazon, which invest billions into programming every year through original series and acquisitions, Apple took a slower and steadier approach. It’s a risky move, but with a

few hard-hitters under its belt, the firm could be onto a winner.

One of those hard-hitters is For All Mankind, a science fiction television series based on an alternate history of the Space Race of the 1960s. The show was created by Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Nedivi and boasts an exciting premise: what if the Soviets were the first to land on the moon? The show, over its ten-episode first season, answers this question, painting a hopeful future as the Space Race gains momentum. For space lovers, For All Mankind follows a whole raft of series such as The Universe, The 100, Lost In Space, and Away, but offers a more immersive and believable storyline. The science-fiction show is a solid effort at an epic, alternatehistory storytelling, and though some critics have said the storyline moves too slowly, it’s been praised for its impressive casting. The sprawling show holds a 73% “Tomatometer” rating, with Alex Cranz saying that the show “lures you in with familiarity and gives you a thoughtful and nerve-wracking 10 episodes for your commitment,” whilst Ed Fortune of Starburst says that the show is “hope enough to be watchable, gritty enough to be engaging and fantastic enough to inspire daydreams.” Tim Stevens of The Spool gave a mixed reaction upon watching the first season of the show, saying “In the early episodes, one may repeatedly find their mind wandering. However, over the course of the five episodes, the show’s slow assemblage of changes starts to find their advantage.” Brad Newsome of the Sydney Morning Herald said that: “For All Mankind deftly blends fictional and historical

characters and does a good job of portraying outdated attitudes and environments, viewing them through a modern lens, imbuing things with abundant contemporary resonances,” whilst Erin Carson of CNET said that “It’s not that the show can’t or shouldn’t encompass all those elements. It just has a tendency to let certain plotlines wander, only to resurface them, giving you a moment of, “Oh yeah, that’s still happening”” proving that, despite praise from critics, the show is not without its faults. The first season of the show premiered in November 2019, shortly after the release of Apple TV+, and a second was commissioned shortly afterwards. The COVID-19 pandemic put a spanner in the works for production, but the cast and crew battled through and ultimately lead to the release of the second season 14 months later in February 2021.

A SECOND SEASON HAS ARRIVED

The second season of the show picks up a decade later in 1983, at the height of the Cold War when tensions between the United States and the USSR at their peak. Ronald Reagan is president and the greater ambitions of science and space exploration are at threat of being squandered as the US and Soviets go head-to-head to control sites rich in resources on the moon. The Department of Defense has moved into Mission Control, and the militarization of NASA becomes central to several characters’ stories: some fight it, some use it as an opportunity to advance their own interests, and some find themselves at the height of a conflict that may lead to nuclear war. Season two offers a different tone and

puts the show on a new trajectory, unlocking new character arcs and changing the nature of the series. The second season of the show appears to be performing even better than the first, with fourteen critic reviews helping it achieve a 100% Tomatometer review on Rotten Tomatoes, with an audience score of 83% at the time this issue goes to print.

Liz Shannon Miller of Collider said that a “sense of wonder For All Mankind has proven capable of capturing, and while Season 2 has its flaws, it’s exciting to know that the story will keep advancing into the future,” and Danette Chavez of AV Club agreed with those comments, writing: “Although its imagination occasionally stalls, the second season of For All Mankind eventually comes together to offer a thrilling journey through sci-fi drama.” “As with the first season, what works best in this series is the angle of reimagining the past,” said Alci Rengifo of Entertainment Voice, whilst Tara Ariano of Vanity Fair was also complementary of the series, writing: “The show works as well as it does because it understands the deepest roots of American identity, good and bad - and its exploration of what is inevitable and what isn’t is what makes it such a fascinating watch.”

Ahead of season two’s release, Apple announced an early-season renewal of the show for a third, demonstrating its commitment to the storyline and promising more excitement to come.

EXPLORING THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE

Where Apple plans to set itself apart from the competition is via world-building expansions, and that’s exactly what it’s done with For All Mankind. Building upon the success of the show and encouraging viewers to further immerse themselves into the narrative, the company commissioned an exclusive podcast for the Apple Podcasts platform, with series actress Krys Marshall hosting the behind-the-scenes look at the show. It’s the first original audio from the technology giant, and its ten-episode run serves as an ‘aftershow’ to each episode of the series, where listeners can learn what it’s really like in

space through interviews with guests from the series, space experts and former astronauts. In recent years, TV companion apps have become a popular genre, with some networks producing their own podcast shows to further engage with their audience, and Apple is no exception. HBO, for instance, launched a Chernobyl podcast to promote its 2019 miniseries, and Apple has also released a podcast for its anthology series Little America. The release comes as part of the firm’s plan to overhaul Apple Podcasts as it faces tough competition from Spotify and Amazon. According to one report, Spotify will overtake Apple Podcasts before the end of 2021, and Apple is working on a premium version of its Podcasts app for ad-free content.

Another world-building exercise tied into the For All Mankind release is the For All Mankind: Time Capsule, an augmented reality (AR) experience that brings the world of the popular Apple TV+ series “For All Mankind” right into the homes of fans to uncover memories from the lives of Danny Stevens (Casey Johnson) and his parents, astronauts Gordo (Michael Dorman) and Tracy Stevens (Sarah Jones), in the decade between season one and season two. It’s a fascinating way to bridge the gap between the two series and allows fans of the show to examine keepsakes to find out details of the characters’ off-screen lives. Speaking of the app, Ron Moore, creator and executive producer

of For All Mankind, said: “AR presents a new and exciting opportunity to bring the world of ‘For All Mankind’ literally into the homes of the audience in a way that hasn’t been possible before. I was intrigued from the very beginning at the idea that we could use AR to immerse the audience in the alternate history aspect of the series, explaining and illustrating some of the historical events and technological advances that are implied in the show but which we never had a chance to fully present. It allows the audience to immerse themselves into the series by interacting with objects, people and media in an impactful and meaningful way that will bring them even closer to world we’ve created.”

AN AWARD-WINNING SHOW

Apple is keen to position Apple TV+ as the home of quality original programming, and has made no secret of its awards show campaign trails. Apple won its first Daytime Emmy Awards with original children’s programs “Ghostwriter” and “Peanuts in Space: Secrets of Apollo 10”, whilst The Morning Show star Billy Crudup won an Emmy for best supporting actor in a drama series - he plays network executive Cory Ellison. For All Mankind is now following in the same trajectory, with The Saturn Awards nominating the show for Best Fantasy Television Series. Apple will compete against The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Locke & Key, The Magicians, Outlander, The Twilight Zone, and The Witcher; it’ll be a tough fight, but Apple stands a strong chance of winning.

Regardless of awards, For All Mankind has set a new standard for Apple, creating a show that not only immerses us into a whole different world, but expands upon that world with podcasts and apps that tie into the Apple ecosystem. Fans of the show can’t wait to see what comes next; whatever season three holds, it’s bound to be out of this world television!