By Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency
Nov. 12, 2019 -- It’s begun.
I’m talking about the streaming wars. Yes, they’ve been going on for quite a while: behind-the-scenes rumors, buyouts, public announcements, cancellations, transplants, some actual premieres, the works. But it’s really begun now, because two heavyweights have taken the field: Apple and Disney.
(Also, “it’s begun” is a really cool lede that I’ve always wanted to use.)
Chronologically, Apple TV+ came first, on Nov. 1. Unlike Netflix, Disney and Amazon Prime, Apple didn’t collect, collate and curate a vast library before launch. But it did throw Netflix-size bags of money at writers, showrunners and production companies to create a slate of new shows.
“The company is said to be spending several billion dollars a year on original programming,” Jason Cross of Macworld.com wrote on Nov. 8. “It’s nothing compared to the $12 billion Netflix spent on content in 2018, but it’s still a big investment.”
A smattering was available on launch. I gravitated immediately to For All Mankind, about a world where the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union never ended. It begins in 1969, right around the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing in our world.
Copyright Apple TV+.
For All Mankind explores what happens if the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. never stop competing in space.
And they nailed it. For All Mankind gets the period clothes, cars and culture exactly right. Men drink a lot and cheat on their wives. Women have few options, mostly stay home with the kids and smile stiffly in an atmosphere of casual misogyny. The astronauts all drive Corvettes. Everyone smokes, all the time, everywhere.
And yet there is greatness, too. We did, after all, get to the moon. Although this show puts a surprising spin on that.
For All Mankind isn’t perfect. For one thing, it overstates Wernher von Braun’s importance in NASA management. But hey, drama. And it stars some folks whose work I enjoy, such as Joel Kinnaman (Altered Carbon, Suicide Squad) and Shantel VanSanten (The Flash).
I don’t know if that sort of craft and care was lavished on every production, but I suspect the effort was made. Especially for the other three scripted shows, all high concept: Dickinson (Emily’s coming of age), The Morning Show (starring superstars Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carrell and Reese Witherspoon) and See (dystopian sci-fi starring Aquaman’s Jason Momoa).
Apple TV+ also launched with new children’s fare (“Helpsters,” “Snoopy in Space”), YA (“Ghostwriter”) and unscripted (“Oprah’s Book Club,” “The Elephant Queen”). The streamer also offers some familiar movies and TV shows, some of which is free (HBO’s “His Dark Materials,” Starz’s “Outlander”) and some you have to rent or buy (CW’s “Batwoman,” History Channel’s “Vikings”). This seems to be a result of Apple TV+ riding into town on the back of the pre-existing Apple TV app, which already offered the third-party material. I imagine it will all be phased out in favor of originals over time.
Meanwhile, fear not the interface. It’s relatively intuitive – actually familiar, if you’ve ever used Netflix.
Apple TV+ is probably the cheapest streamer available, at $4.99/month. And if you’ve recently bought an Apple product, or plan to soon, you’ll get a year for free, which is even cheaper. This is a good excuse to upgrade that phone or tablet.
One downside I had with Apple TV+ was difficulty logging in the first time. Despite having recently bought a laptop — and thereby getting the free year — it took multiple attempts to log in, with all the foofaraw of having codes sent to my phone and so forth. And then I received confirmation emails for two identical accounts, which means a long phone call to customer service in my future.
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Noelle, starring Anna Kendrick (left) and Bill Hader as Santa’s children, is one of the Disney originals on the new streaming service.
This difficulty was mirrored at Disney+ when it launched in the early morning hours of Nov. 12. Not that I was awake at that time, but I did try mid-morning, only to get the Blue Screen of Death. Checking online I found I was not alone; news stories reported widespread problems of this sort. I finally got in just after noon, after having reported the problems to Disney online, and also successfully launching my account on a tablet first (evidently the problems mainly involved smart TVs and the PlayStation app). I don’t know which of these efforts solved my problem, so if you have login woes, I recommend trying both.
Disney acknowledged the problems in a tweet: "The consumer demand for Disney+ has exceeded our high expectations. We are working to quickly resolve the current user issue. We appreciate your patience."
Seriously? They didn’t anticipate demand?
I call shenanigans on Disney and Apple. Both companies had their launches in the works for months, if not years, and they should have anticipated any difficulties. Apple, as noted, already had an app in place, where all problems should have been ironed out years ago. And Disney? Well, you just expect better from the House of Mouse, especially when demand overwhelmed their servers back in August when they offered a discount on Disney+. That was kind of a red flag, guys.
But speaking of cost, Disney+ goes for $6.99/month. You can bundle Disney+ with ad-supported Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99/month.
As to content, anyone with any interest in the subject is probably already aware of the vast library that awaits on Disney+. The entertainment behemoth has five major brands – Disney, Marvel, National Geographic, Pixar and Star Wars – and the interface is arranged by brand. Click on one of these:
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Disney+ will include Iron Man and all but seven Marvel Cinematic Universe movies at launch.
- Disney: Tons of content, including old favorites like Dumbo, Frozen, Moana, Pirates of the Caribbean and even the first Mickey Mouse short, Steamboat Willie. New material includes Noelle, starring Anna Kendrick, about Santa Claus’ children.
- Marvel: All but seven of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are on hand, including Avengers: Endgame, with a new scene of Tony Stark meeting his daughter when she’s an adult. Four of the missing are Ant-Man and Wasp, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok, which haven’t finished their Netflix contracts yet. They’ll arrive soon. The other three are Incredible Hulk and the two Spider-Man solo movies, which are distributed by other companies (Universal and Sony, respectively), and will never arrive on Disney+. If that gives you a sad, perhaps the inclusion of a lot of animated material, including the popular ‘90s X-Men cartoon, will cheer you up.
- Pixar: Name it and you’ll probably see it: Finding Dory, Incredibles, Toy Story, Monsters University and more. A few films are winding up runs elsewhere (Coco, Toy Story 4) and will arrive within a year.
- National Geographic: You might not think of NatGeo as a big brand, but it includes a ton of fascinating material I can’t wait to browse, like Destination: Mars, The Dog Whisperer and The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great. And NatGeo is where The World According to Jeff Goldblum will appear, served with a side of sarcasm and extra quirk.
- Star Wars: Once again, a few key items will be missing due to soon-to-expire contracts, such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story. But pretty much the rest of the canon is present, including not only the movies but Star Wars: The Clone Wars and seven other animated shows. Better still, Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian” arrives on launch, and the first episode is just as gorgeous as the movies.
So yes, the streaming wars have begun. But so far there are no casualties – just a cornucopia of entertainment, right in time for the holidays. It’s almost like they planned it this way.
Find Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), on his website (captaincomics.ning.com), on Facebook (Andrew Alan Smith) or on Twitter (@CaptainComics).
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