CUPERTINO, Calif.—It’s been a long time and many rumors coming, but Apple has finally unveiled its streaming video service. Dubbed Apple TV+, the service combines some aspects of existing players in the space like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu.
At the vanguard of Apple TV+ is Apple’s own original programming. The company reportedly spent $1 billion developing TV shows and films to include on the service. Upon announcing the streaming service, Apple showed a video featuring the numerous creators it worked with to create original content for the service—filmmakers including Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams, as well as actors and actresses including Reese Witherspoon and Octavia Spencer.
These creators and actors serve as the foundation for Apple TV+, thanks to all the original content they have created (and will continue to create) for the service. Steven Spielberg took Apple’s stage to talk about the reboot of , a sci-fi anthology series that Spielberg hopes will “transport the audience with every episode.”
Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston followed up by talking about their new show, , which pulls back the curtain of the many morning news shows with which people wake up every day. The show will “take an honest look at the complex relationships between women and men in the workplace,” according to Aniston. They were later joined on stage by actor Steve Carell, who is also a part of the show.
Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard were ushered to the stage to detail , a futuristic sci-fi series in which the world’s inhabitants have gone without sight for as long as they can remember.
Another anthology series will come from Kumail Nanjiani, one of the writers behind the hit movie . The series dubbed will focus on “everyday life stuff” of immigrants in the US. Rather than focusing on exceptionality, which many highlighted immigrant stories do, will focus on the small things that immigrants in America accomplish ever day. The majority of the writers on the show are the children of immigrants, or immigrants themselves.
Big Bird also flocked to Apple’s stage to announce a new TV series for kids called . The famous cast of characters will help kids solve problems using coding, emphasizing the importance of computer programming in kids’ education.
