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Apple cancels show on the eve of TV Plus launch

Apple has cancelled one of the original shows that would have aired on Apple TV Plus on the eve of the launch.

Bastards was planned as an eight-episode series about two Vietnam veterans who go on a shooting rampage after the woman they both love dies in an accident, but creative differences between showrunners Warren Leight and Howard Gordon and Apple executives put an early stop to that.

Leight and Gordon reportedly preferred to concentrate on the story’s darker aspects, but Apple executives didn’t agree.

They were looking for “aspirational programming” and wanted to highlight the two men’s friendship.



This is a clear indication that Apple plans to focus on family-friendly content.

That would place it on the other end of the spectrum from HBO, which makes fewer TV shows than its cable and network competitors, but specifically targets an adult audience with shows about ‘anti-heroes’ such as The Sopranos (Tony Soprano) and The Wire (Omar Little).

Networks such as AMC and FX did quite well following the same route.

Apple clearly prefers not to directly compete with them.

The company’s TV Plus might have more in common with Disney+, which will soon launch a couple of original series aimed at families.

However, Disney does have an advantage with its existing selection of TV shows and films that people can watch while they wait for new shows.

Apple Plus TV will most likely come with a free trial offering series such as Dickinson and The Morning Show.

Its initial selection is nevertheless not nearly as extensive as any of its competitors, making the cancellation of Bastards a significant setback.

Apple, on the other hand, has huge financial resources, and unlike competitors such as Netflix that rely heavily on subscriptions to survive, it can be profitable without Apple TV.

The company is expected to announce information such as subscription rates and the official launch date next week.

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About the author

Chris

I've been a passionate evangelist for Apple and the Macintosh throughout my working life, my first love was a Quadra 605 working with a small creative agency in the south of Norfolk UK in the mid 1990's, I later progressed to other roles in other Macintosh dominated industries, first as a Senior graphic designer at a small printing company and then a production manager at Guardian Media Group. As the publishing and printing sector wained I moved into Internet Marketing and in 2006 co-founded blurtit.com which grew to become one the top 200 visited sites in the US (according to Quantcast), at its peak receiving over 15 million visits per month. For the last ten years I have worked as an Affiliate and Consultant to many different business and start ups, my key skill set being online marketing, on page monetisation, landing page optimisation and traffic generation, if you would like to hire me or discuss your current project please reach out to me here.

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