I recently bought an Apple TV 4K to replace an aging 1st generation Apple TV. Buying that hardware from Apple got me a year of the Apple TV+ streaming service for free. After watching some Apple TV+, I can't really recommend that, unless you get it for free. There is *very* little content on there compared to Netflix or Amazon Prime. The best is probably The Morning Show, but afterwards there is nothing much.

But of course there is Mythic Quest, a TV comedy series about people running a MMORPG. How could I possibly not watch that? It isn't as if there are a lot of other TV series about MMORPGs. But while the references to MMORPGs and gaming culture were okay, the comedy was a bit flat, and the characters too over the top to be believable or engaging.

And then I watched the 10th and last episode, Quarantine, and it was probably the best episode of any TV show I've watched this year. It takes the characters you have come to know over the length of the series, and puts them into COVID quarantine, where they can only communicate via videoconferencing. And for anybody who has been in that situation, working from home and videoconferencing, this is pure gold. It is funny, and sometimes heartwarming, and the first time I see a representation on TV of what the pandemic does to the large majority of us who didn't yet catch the virus.

If you watch only one thing on Apple TV+, watch that one! (If you watch more than one thing, because you have for example signed up for the 7-day free trial but don't plan to subscribe, watch The Morning Show as well. A bit too "woke" for my taste, but the cast is exceptional, and the story is interesting.)

- posted by Tobold @ 6:36 PM Permanent Link