Well, well, well, look who decided to dust off the old Soviet propaganda machine and give it a shiny Apple TV makeover! That’s right, folks—the streaming giant just dropped the first look at “Star City,” a show that’s apparently going to make us all pine for the good old days of the Cold War. Because who doesn’t love a little existential dread with their evening entertainment?
In this bold new chapter of revisionist history, we get to see the Soviet space program through the eyes of cosmonauts, engineers, and intelligence officers. You know, the same people who spent decades telling their citizens that everything was perfect while secretly eating dirt for dinner. But sure, let’s romanticize it!
The show promises to be a “propulsive paranoid thriller,” which is just a fancy way of saying “everyone’s going to be looking over their shoulder while pretending to smile for the cameras.” It’s like “The Americans,” but with more space helmets and less Keri Russell kicking ass.
The star-studded cast includes Rhys Ifans, who’s probably thrilled to finally play a character who isn’t hanging upside down in a Spider-Man movie. Joining him are Anna Maxwell Martin, Agnes O’Casey, and a bunch of other talented actors who are about to perfect their Russian accents. Spoiler alert: they’ll all sound vaguely Eastern European, which is Hollywood’s version of “authentic.”
The creators—Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, and Ronald D. Moore—are billing this as an expansion of their critically acclaimed “For All Mankind” universe. Because nothing says “expansion” like going from one alternate history to another! At this rate, we’ll have an entire streaming service dedicated to “what if” scenarios where everything went slightly differently.
Mark your calendars for May 29, when the first two episodes drop. That’s right, Apple is giving us a double dose of Soviet-era anxiety right out of the gate. Because nothing says “summer viewing” like watching people risk their lives for a political system that collapsed under its own weight!
The series will run for eight episodes, which is just enough time to explore every possible angle of Soviet life without getting into the really dark stuff. We’re talking about the space program here, not gulags—let’s keep it family-friendly!
Produced by Sony Pictures Television for Apple TV+, “Star City” is poised to be the streaming event of the summer. Or at least until Netflix drops their new true crime documentary about a murderous dolphin. In the battle for your attention span, may the best content win!
So grab your vodka, practice your best “comrade,” and prepare to be transported to a world where the Soviet Union won the space race and everything turned out… well, we’re not sure yet, but it’s probably not great!
Coming May 29 to Apple TV+ – because sometimes the best way to deal with current global tensions is to relive past ones with better production values!
Finn McFrame, celebrated satirical mastermind and self-proclaimed “Emperor of Irony,” started his illustrious career as a cinematographer, where his expertise in capturing every single frame of a squirrel stealing a baguette earned him accolades at obscure film festivals.
Born in the glamorous town of Boring, Oregon, Finn grew up with dreams of being a Hollywood director until he realized that satire, not cinema, was his true calling—or at least the one that let him sleep until noon.
Finn McFrame: changing the world, one satirical lens flare at a time.
