If you're looking to launch a new show, attaching a huge name is a good way to start – but that generally means nabbing a massive actor. Apple just proved that there's another way to build hype, though, by teasing Pluribus, which is the creation of Vince Gilligan, the mind behind Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
That makes him one of the most celebrated show runners of the last couple of decades, and whatever he did next was always going to be news. The fact that Apple has sealed a deal with him, rather than Netflix or one of the other contenders for the 'best streaming service' crown is pretty huge for it.
Even in the realm of cryptic teaser trailers, this tiny one is particularly minute, and doesn't make it remotely easy to see what the show's about. It features a woman standing in an office lobby at night, steadfastly licking the bottoms of communal donuts one by one, before panning to a note indicating people should feel free to take one.
Luckily, we don't have to just go on the teaser, which lasts about 20 seconds. Apple's news release about the show confirms that it'll star Better Call Saul's Rhea Seehorn in the leading role, and is apparently "genre-bending". Whether that means it has inflection of sci-fi is anyone's guess.
The blurb goes on to explain that the show will explore how "the most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness" – which sounds a little back to front, deliberately. If it's all about spreading misery, we can potentially expect some dark humour to permeate the affair.
We've got a little while to wait before this all comes to fruition for viewers, though. The show will start with a two-episode premiere on 7 November, before running weekly to a total of nine episodes. As far as I'm concerned, it cements even further that Apple TV+ is the streamer to subscribe to – it just keeps adding more and more prestige options like this one.
