1

Apple TV+ is the new HBO.

HBO is in trouble. Actually, the entire enterprise, Warner Bros. Discovery, is in trouble. Once you start excising product to save money to stanch red ink you’re going in the wrong direction. When you’re pushing the envelope, do not be beholden to the Street. Because the Street only understands the distant future, the Cathie Wood future. They’ll invest in that, in the fantasy, but something more tangible, that they can kind of see now? They want to see profits. And tech has told us over and over again that to put profits first is to hamper your company. It’s all about users baby, never forget that in the attention economy. You want a huge user base,

And most people watching HBO are doing so via their cable provider, not via HBO Max. If they’re not watching in real time, they’re pulling up shows via on demand from said cable company. In other words, it’s positively old school. A dying paradigm. Now it’s all about subscribing to the individual streaming outlet, in this case HBO Max. There’s no differentiation between the two at this point, and even though cable subscribers get the app for free, they’re not using it. So when they cut the cord, and eventually everybody will, will they lay down an additional fifteen bucks a month for HBO Max after they’re already paying for Netflix and Amazon and maybe Hulu and Disney+ too? Doubtful. You’ve got to establish the habit, early, you’ve got to not only addict people, but get them used to paying. They’re comfortable paying the cable company, but you’d be stunned how many oldsters are still fearful of coughing up their credit card information. And HBO is the oldster channel.

But HBO offers premium product. And it continues to come up with hits. Albeit not a plethora.

But everybody is going to streaming.

Apple TV+ is streaming.

Apple TV+ started from scratch, there was no catalogue, no “Friends” or “Seinfeld,” it was only new product. But Tim Cook made a decision early on that it would only be highbrow, inoffensive content. It wouldn’t be salacious for no reason, it would not play to the lowest common denominator. And this is different from every streaming outlet other than HBO, which as I stated above, is not really about streaming.

Is everybody interested in highbrow content? No. But highbrow has a halo, it reflects positively on the underlying enterprise, it gets respect, and notice. People feel good about themselves when they talk about highbrow content.

Now Apple TV+ started with some misfires, stuff you didn’t need to see, like “The Morning Show.” But then came “Ted Lasso.” Comedy is incredibly hard to do, which is why networks don’t focus on it anymore. And it doesn’t travel well internationally. But the whole world is excited about “Ted Lasso.” That was the beachhead.

Now to be clear, although Apple TV+ was cheap, most people were watching for free. THEY’RE STILL WATCHING FOR FREE! Yes, Apple raised the price, and I paid for a month, but now I’m watching three months for free because I have a Roku? That’s nearly everybody, or close to it. And Uber Eats had a promotion and…

Apple is building something here.

And Apple is so damn rich that unlike its streaming competitors the streaming division does not have to balance the budget, may never have to balance the budget. Because ultimately, it’s about selling subscriptions, a bundle. And Apple TV+ is part of that bundle. It’s not about hardware anymore, it’s about software. And with Apple TV+ the Cupertino company is hewing to its paradigm, i.e. not volume, but quality. They don’t make a cheap iPhone…they don’t make a cheap anything! And Apple products impart a good feeling upon their owners. You may hate Apple, but it’s a large cult, and the members don’t care about your hate.

And Apple TV+ keeps rolling out one quality show after another. It’s not quite a juggernaut, but unlike Netflix there’s no dross, no reality detritus, the viewer is respected, and that counts for something.

2

“Slow Horses” is based upon the books by Mick Herron. My college buddy John Hughes recommended the books long before there was a TV series, although he hipped me to the TV series when the first season became available. Now I’m gonna check out one of the Herron books, because John is an intellectual, and most of these crime/mystery books are barely more than outlines.

So…

Don’t confuse “Slow Horses” with “Fauda.” “Slow Horses” is genre, fantasy, it doesn’t feel real at all. This is what studios are purveying, most notably with their superhero movies. But the truth is we’re all human beings, and we react to the visceral and real, and that’s “Fauda.” And if you can’t handle a little blood…then I guess you never had a boo-boo, you’ve never been injured, and you’re convinced you’re never going to be killed in a school shooting, or a mall shooting, they seem to happen every week in America, not only does Janie have a gun, seemingly everybody does!

“Fauda” is visceral, cutting edge, it feels real. And it’s tense and you should watch it.

You don’t have to watch “Slow Horses.” However, it’s done on a highbrow level, both the cinematography and the acting.

The first season was mostly set-up, establishing who and what the Slow Horses were.

The second season is pure plot. We know who the characters are, now we’ve got a story.

And I must say, I was not riveted by the first two and a half episodes, but then I got hooked. It’s not a big commitment, it’s only six.

You see there are the twists and turns, the surprises endemic to this genre.

But the real reason “Slow Horses” works is the acting.

Primarily Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the overseer of Slough House, of the Slow Horses. In the first season Oldman verged on chewing the scenery. But he’s more three-dimensional in the second season. He’s more believable. And Oldman gets so much credit for playing against type, he’s not a handsome beau, who knows when he last had a shower, he’s disheveled and unbothered by it, which is a great contrast to other productions where we get wooden actors in designer clothing and you can see, but you cannot feel.

Kristin Scott Thomas is always good, but she is not playing to the audience, she has no need to be liked, and that makes her ever more believable.

Jack Lowden as River Cartwright is a tad too good-looking. You know he’ll never die. But, he makes mistakes, he has blind spots, and that makes him transcend his looks.

Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho… He’s the computer expert/hacker. On one hand he’s a bit too one note, but by the end of the series he shows a bit more commitment as opposed to his usual detached demeanor.

My personal favorite is Saskia Reeves. You can Google her and find her attractive, a babe, but here she plays the secretary/assistant who puts not an ounce of effort into her look…Reeves looks her age, which is 61. But her beauty, her intelligence shines through. In an industry where everybody gets plastic surgery, where no one grows old, Reeves is a revelation.

So they’re all mixed up in the plot, and you get hooked by the story, and it’s complicated and…

Like I said, this is genre work. You’ve seen this construct before. Only “Slow Horses” is done at a highbrow level, it respects the audience, it’s not buffoonery on parade.

And it’s better than stuff endorsed by the hoi polloi, like “Poker Face,” which the “New York Times” labeled “the Best New Detective Show of 1973.” You’ve seen “Poker Face,” it’s just new faces with a slightly different plot. This is the stuff that HBO was the antidote to. This is the stuff the “Sopranos” fans pooh-poohed.

“Slow Horses” is not “Poker Face.” It’s a bit different from what you’ve seen before. It respects you. It does not play to the lowest common denominator.

It’s this high quality and respect that Apple is building its streaming service upon. Apple is not trying to be all things to all people. And Apple’s shows are not the indie movies that win awards but no one goes to see. The work is more mainstream than that. And it is series, which you can sink your teeth into.

We’re all looking for great stuff, when we find it we tell everybody about it.

People are now talking about Apple TV+, because you know if it’s on the service it might fail, but it’s a noble failure, everybody tried to do their best, to create great work.

And sometimes they succeed.

But still…

Watch “Fauda.”