New Report Outlines Difficulties and Challenges During Apple TV+ Development

With just over two weeks until the launch of Apple TV+, a new report shines some light on the difficulties in the service’s development.

A new report from The Hollywood Reporter shines some light on the trials and tribulations of getting Apple’s upcoming TV shows off the ground.

When Apple TV+ launches on November 1, the service’s shining star will be the Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston vehicle “The Morning Show.” It’s the most expensive show for the service, coming in at $300 million USD for two seasons. The show’s development, however, has been nothing but easy:

In April 2018, Carson was ousted in favor of Bates Motel showrunner Kerry Ehrin. It had been 10 months since the Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker had tapped Sony TV veterans Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg to lead its Hollywood invasion. Now it was back to the drawing board for the show the duo wanted as their calling card. Apple — which, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, had been in heated arbitration alongside Media Res, Aniston and Witherspoon against Carson over his “created by” credit — was getting a crash course in the messy business of entertainment.

“The Morning Show” isn’t the only product that has seen difficulty in development. According to the report, similar last-minute changes were made with “Amazing Stories,” and the sci-fi drama “See” is said to be going the same way:

According to dozens of interviews across the industry, Apple CEO Tim Cook is experiencing his own learning curve despite hiring respected showbiz execs. But while there have been some missteps (in addition to Carson, Steven Spielberg anthology Amazing Stories parted ways with showrunners Bryan Fuller and Hart Hanson, and sources say the Jason Momoa sci-fi epic See will soon make a change at the top), the interest surrounding Apple’s Hollywood debut remains high.




Expanding on Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories,” The Hollywood Reporter notes that “creative difficulties” led to the removal of both Fuller and Hanson. As such, the show is likely going to miss Apple TV+’s launch date, leaving the service one show short:

The corporate meddling has led to some creative differences. During early development of Amazing Stories, Fuller and Hanson received pushback from both Apple and studio Universal Television over what sources describe as their vision for an edgy, high-concept anthology. (One story would have followed a crazy cat lady murdered by her feline friends.) Though the show was meant to be part of Apple’s launch slate, the departure of the producers delayed the project. Apple, interested in a more aspirational version of the show, opted to bring on Once Upon a Timeduo Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.

The entire report speaks on the service’s development and is absolutely worth a read. It’s available over at The Hollywood Reporter.

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