ted lasso | the m0vie blog

New Escapist Column! In Defense of Apple TV+…

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist earlier this week. With the upcoming release of Severance on Apple TV+, it seemed like a good excuse to take a look at one of the most interesting players in the streaming wars.

Apple TV+ lacks many of the advantages shared by its competitors. It doesn’t have a deep library of back content and intellectual property like Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount+. It also lacks the reach of Netflix or Amazon Prime. However, slowly and surely, without the comfort of existing brands and established intellectual property, Apple TV+ has managed to carve out a unique and distinctive identity in the stremaing wars. Not everything on the service works, but there’s generally a sense that anything that made it to screen is there because somebody fought for it.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Television | Tagged: apple tv, brand, dickinson, intellectual propert, see, severance, streaming, streaming wars, ted lasso | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Ted Lasso” and How We Watch (and Discuss) Television…

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Darren

I published a new column at The Escapist today. With the end of the second season of Ted Lasso, and with the ongoing discussion around the show, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look back at the evolving conversation around the series.

The discussion around Ted Lasso has followed an interesting arc. It premiered to lukewarm reviews, that seemed almost grudgingly positive. However, the first season seemed to find its audience in hindsight. Once it was completed, the season drew both serious consideration and enthusiastic praise from a variety of outlets. Many viewers came to the first season as a complete object, a collection of episodes that they could binge at their own pace. In contrast, this growing audience watched the second season week-on-week. It’s interesting to wonder if this shaped the more divisive response to the second season.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Television | Tagged: binging, Conversation, criticism, debate, discourse, podcast, streaming, ted lasso, Television | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The Escapist Movie Podcast – “Ted Lasso and the Onslaught of Optimism”

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Darren

The Escapist have launched a movie podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard and Marty Sliva for the twenty-third episode of the year. Because Ted Lasso seems to be generating a lot of buzz and attention, we thought it might be fun to talk about the show, about optimism in popular culture and about the half-hour comedy format in general.

You can listen to back episodes of the podcast here, click the link below or even listen directly.