10 Best New TV Shows Nobody Is Watching
7. The Big Door Prize
Slowly but surely, Apple TV has built one of the best rosters in streaming. The major attention goes to the astonishing Severance and much loved Ted Lasso (disastrous final season notwithstanding), but the hidden gem is the high concept, perfectly executed Big Door Prize.
Starring a career-best Chris O’Dowd, The Big Door Prize is based around a superb what-if premise. A mysterious machine appears in a small town which can, purportedly, calculate your life potential - the limit of any individual’s achievements.
The set up is the perfect gateway for boundless metaphysical musings, but The Big Door Prize is no stuffy theoretical exercise. Developed by Schitt’s Creek writer David West Read and based on M.O. Walsh’s novel, the show’s focus ripples outwards, focussing episodically on the residents of Deerfield, whose hopes, dreams, failures and successes are brought into light.
Anchoring it all is O’Dowd’s Dusty, simultaneously the straight man amidst the upheaval caused by the machine and the anchor for the show’s perfectly pitched weirdness. The Big Door Prize is set for a second season, so has evidently performed well enough for Apple’s needs, but deserves far more hype.