Vince Gilligan's 'Pluribus' Smashes Apple TV Records

Vince Gilligan's new sci-fi series, Pluribus, has well and truly swung open the doors to its viewers - to the point where Apple TV nearly buckled under the weight of all those eager eyes. It seems the premiere tanked the app, causing it to crash briefly. No surprise, given that this drama debut has already set a new benchmark - its the Most-Watched Drama to have ever launched on the streamer.

Just one week in and the 2-episode premiere's already clocked up an astonishing 6.4 million viewing hours in the US - and that's per Luminate's reckoning. Beat Severance Season 2 to that record in the process. Not bad for a debut.

Back in 2022, Apple TV won a bidding war for the series and instantly committed to two seasons. "Vince had us hooked from the get-go, his premise was pure inventive gold," says Matt Cherniss, Head of Programming at Apple TV.

Vince's creation stars Rhea Seehorn as someone you might not want to have a coffee with - a person who's literally the most miserable individual on the planet and who's been given a rather... bizzare mission to save the world from happiness. Apple's been clever too, they've released a bonus chapter from the show's in-universe novel on Apple Books to get fans even more immersed in the world.

Pluribus has vindicated Apple TV+'s strategy of backing big-name creators with, quite literally, out-of-the-box ideas. Not to be outdone, Apple TV even managed to sneak itself onto the weekly charts at #4, all despite having fewer episodes on offer than some of its competitors. And if you're the curious type, Apple's just dropped a sneaky peek at the series for you to check out.

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