Apple is the latest multi-billion dollar company to branch into television production. But unlike their streaming competitors, who have basked in the freedom from cable television's restrictions, it seems that Apple will be shying away from more risqué content.
The Wall Street Journal reports that about a year ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook watched Vital Signs, a semi-autobiographical series about rapper Dr. Dre that was expected to be the company's first scripted television series. But after watching the show, Cook decided to cancel it, determining that the contents were too graphic.
"The problem?" Entertainment Weekly explains: "Characters doing cocaine, gun violence, and a rather explicit orgy scene." In addition to scrapping Vital Signs, Apple has been quite diligent about ensuring nothing that could be considered controversial ends up on its platform, the Journal reports — even when there aren't massive orgy scenes involved. The company reportedly told director M. Night Shyamalan that he had to remove the crucifixes from the main characters' house in a show he is developing, as Apple doesn't want any religious or political material, either.
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The Journal also reports that when Apple removed the showrunners from a forthcoming series starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, the move was partly motivated because the company "wanted a more upbeat show and took exception to some of the humor proposed." When Apple made the same change to the upcoming Amazing Stories, it was reportedly because the show's material was shaping up to be too dark.
Per one agent who spoke with the Journal, Apple sees its TV service as less like another Netflix and more like an "expensive NBC." Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
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