Apple Inks Deal for Emily Dickinson Series Starring Hailee Steinfeld

Wednesday May 30, 2018 12:31 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's latest original television series is a half-hour show about the life of poet Emily Dickinson, which is set to star Hailee Steinfeld, reports Variety.

Apple recently gave a straight-to-series order for the show, which is described as a "comedic look into Dickinson's world" that explores the "constraints of society, gender, and family from the perspective of a budding writer who doesn't fit into her own time."

Image via Shutterstock
Emily Dickinson was a prolific American poet known for short lines, slant rhyme, and irregular use of punctuation. Much of her work focused on death and immortality, and she lived a reclusive life.

Hailee Steinfeld will take on the titular role of Emily Dickinson. Steinfeld, who is also a musician, is known for her roles in "True Grit," "Pitch Perfect 2," "Pitch Perfect 3," "Ender's Game," and most notably, 2016 coming of age film "Edge of Seventeen." The Emily Dickinson show will mark Steinfeld's first serious television role.

Alena Smith, who was previously a writer on "The Affair" and "The Newsroom," will serve as writer and executive producer on the series. David Gordon Green, known for "Stronger," Red Oaks," "Vice Principals," and "Pineapple Express" will direct.

Apple has more than a dozen original television shows in the works, which are outlined in our Apple TV roundup. It's not yet clear when we will see the first of the shows debut and on what platform, but rumors have suggested they could start launching in 2019. The first of Apple's shows was picked up in October of 2017, so a 2019 timeline makes some sense.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 13
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)
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Mr. Dee
19 months ago
Apple is creating a lot of shows no one is gonna watch but the Apple executive team.
Rating: 20 Votes
Avatar
BasicGreatGuy
19 months ago
Emily Dickinson and her life was anything but comedic. She suffered from depression and rarely left her home. She had a morose fascination with death. I guess slanting history so generation X, Y, or Z will tune in, is the goal with this series.
Rating: 9 Votes
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GermanSuplex
19 months ago
Apple's original content is shaping up to be some sort of library for those too old for Disney but not old enough for Lifetime. Almost all of their music exclusives revolve around rap/hip-hop or pop and their original content looks similar. No diversity. I'm more of an R&B/Soul guy, new and old (not the rap they call R&B today).

Having these shows or those exclusives isn't the problem, but is there anything different for others? The closest they've came is the rumors of some sort of science show or reboot, don't even remember the show as I'm not into things like Star Trek/Star Wars/etc. But a lot are, so at least it was different from the other stuff that's been circulating.

As a streaming music service, its great, but I'd really like to see some stuff on there thats a departure from the high-school scene.
Rating: 7 Votes
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WBRacing
19 months ago
Thank goodness. Each day I have visited Macrumors on the hour, every hour, just in the hope that Apple would ink this deal. Good times.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Brandhouse
19 months ago

Apple is creating a lot of shows no one is gonna watch but the Apple executive team.


Leave this stuff to Netflix. I haven't seen one thing that Apple is proposing to bring to our screens that I'd consider watching.
Rating: 5 Votes
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paulcons
19 months ago
One could say they are no longer REALLY creating a "great tech consumer experience." There's a load of issues that worked 100% even back in OS9 that simply no longer work. They sure ARE good at monetizing, big time. Expect these to be exclusive as itunez rentals for 5-8 bucks per show. Not in the least interested.
Rating: 5 Votes
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bartolo5
19 months ago
If Apple shouldn't be doing something, is precisely producing original content. Just focus on what you've always done best, creating great tech consumer experiences.
Rating: 5 Votes
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Someyoungguy
19 months ago

X doesn't need it slanted. We're already loaded up on antidepressants thanks to growing up under Boomers, so we're ready for anything millenials can throw at us. ...if only millenials would pay enough attention to us to bother. Come on millenials, we can be cool too, please love us lol

Come to think of it, X is aptly named. By the time the Boomers finally die off and get out of the way in management and government, we'll be old farts too, and the enormous mass of millenials will swamp any influence we may have had completely. The big crisis of the boomer debt will barely fall on our shoulders, and with our shrinking lifespan having us dying off within about 5 years of then we won't hold the solutions, so all focus will land squarely on our adult kids, and finally, the whatever/nevermind generation will be X'd out of history completely as a total dud. Missing generation is right.


For the rest of Thunderskunk's wedding toast, please write to P.O. Box 13, Desolation, NY 86666
[doublepost=1527765905][/doublepost]

Who exactly is the audience for this kind of programming? Those who can't pull themselves away from listening to NPR and drinking green chai tea? I mean, come on. This is fine if part of a large library of content, but it's hardly something that is going to excite the masses (or even a decent amount).

Also, if I could go a few days without seeing the word "gender" in relation to a marketed entertainment product that would be great.


It will be interesting if the viewership is, indeed, so small that they start making desperate, last-ditch efforts, like dropping in non-sequitur car chases or naked breasts. After Emily strains and struggles to pen her latest garden poem, she and two other Ford Quadricycles engage in a low-speed chase as horses saunter past the "excitement".
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
xalea
19 months ago
Who exactly is the audience for this kind of programming? Those who can't pull themselves away from listening to NPR and drinking green chai tea? I mean, come on. This is fine if part of a large library of content, but it's hardly something that is going to excite the masses (or even a decent amount).

Also, if I could go a few days without seeing the word "gender" in relation to a marketed entertainment product that would be great.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
ThunderSkunk
19 months ago

I guess slanting history so generation X, Y, or Z will tune in, is the goal with this series.


X doesn't need it slanted. We're already loaded up on antidepressants thanks to growing up under Boomers, so we're ready for anything millenials can throw at us. ...if only millenials would pay enough attention to us to bother. Come on millenials, we can be cool too, please love us lol

Come to think of it, X is aptly named. By the time the Boomers finally die off and get out of the way in management and government, we'll be old farts too, and the enormous mass of millenials will swamp any influence we may have had completely. The big crisis of the boomer debt will barely fall on our shoulders, and with our shrinking lifespan having us dying off within about 5 years of then we won't hold the solutions, so all focus will land squarely on our adult kids, and finally, the whatever/nevermind generation will be X'd out of history completely as a total dud. Missing generation is right.
Rating: 2 Votes

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