Apple TV Plus early reviews: Are the new shows any good?

Apple TV Plus is almost here. The new streaming service launches Friday with a lineup of exclusive TV shows and movies. If you're considering signing up, read on for a taste of three Apple originals: The Morning Show, See and For All Mankind.

Stars like Jennifer Aniston, Jason Momoa, Reese Witherspoon and Oprah are on board, but are Apple's new shows up there with streaming hits like House of Cards, Stranger Things or The Handmaid's Tale? And is it worth paying for instead of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu or Disney Plus, which lands Nov. 12?

To find out, we checked out three major new shows that will be available to stream when Apple TV Plus launches Friday. Hit the links to our full reviews to find out more about each Apple original. We'll update this post as we review additional shows including Dickinson, an irreverent half-hour comedy about enigmatic poet Emily Dickinson. 

In the kingdom of the blind, Jason Momoa wears the crown. He keeps an eye out for action in this post-apocalyptic drama about a world where everyone has lost their sight, written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight.  This entertaining fantasy show is a decent watch now Game of Thrones is nowhere to be seen, largely thanks to Momoa's charismatic performance and Knight's novel twist on the genre. "See observes the Game of Thrones template by anchoring fantasy in committedly deadpan performances and eyefuls of wince-inducing violence, " I write in my review. Read the full review of See here.

It's a new dawn for office politics as this drama tackles the #metoo era and revelations about sexual harassment in the workplace. Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston both produce and star in the show in which changing times cause chaos at a TV network rocked by the indiscretions of one of its stars, played by Steve Carell.  "The Morning Show is a massively contemporary workplace drama about women in an often hostile industry," writers our reviewer Patricia Puentes. "A story about how the moral compass established by the #MeToo movement has rocked everything, even the morning broadcast TV show you probably no longer watch." Read our full review of The Morning Show here.

It's one small step for Apple as this new drama presents an alternate history of the space race in which Russia reached the moon first.  Our reviewer Erin Caron says the show does a good job of weaving together fact and fiction, but "has a tendency to let certain plot lines wander, only to resurface them, giving you a moment of, 'Oh yeah, that's still happening.'" Read our full review of For All Mankind here.

The first three episodes of each show will be available on day one, with more episodes following afterward. Also available to stream at launch are three kids' shows: animation Snoopy in Space; Sesame Street spin-off Helpsters; and Ghostwriter, a reboot of a spooky '90s adventure show. The first movie on the service is nature documentary The Elephant Queen, and Oprah will launch a new book club.

Apple TV Plus costs $5 a month and offers a seven-day free trial. If you buy a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod Touch or Mac you qualify for a free one-year subscription, but that doesn't apply if you already own an Apple product.

For more information on how to watch Apple's streaming service and whether it'll work on your devices or in your country, check out our complete guide to Apple TV Plus. More shows will be added to Apple TV Plus soon, starting with M. Night Shyamalan's Servant on Nov. 28. Future shows include a reboot of Steven Spielberg's anthology series Amazing Stories and an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels, while other big names include J.J. Abrams, Damien Chazelle, Chris Evans, Brie Larson, Kumail Nanjiani and Sara Bareilles.

This post will be updated as more reviews come in. 

Originally published Oct. 28 and will be updated as additional reviews come in. 

Source: Cnet.com

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