[VIDEO] For All Mankind on Apple TV+ is a Good Show full of Great Corvettes!

Don’t you hate it when you see a preview for an awesome-looking show and it ends with “Season 3 Coming Soon?” Unless we’re talking about a cultural phenomenon like The Last of Us, Yellowstone, or Stranger Things, “Where the heck was I for the first two seasons!?” is a strangely familiar thought to have in a decade where network TV is still fighting to stay relevant, Netflix is dumping $17 billion annually into its original programming bloat, and the dozen-or-so other streaming services are all out there with their own content jockeying for market share. We’re living in a golden era of television, but it’s never been easier for quality shows to get lost in the shuffle.

You can count Apple’s For All Mankind among the causalities of this very-2023 problem. While it hasn’t had nearly as many promotional dollars thrown at it as the technology company’s headliners like Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, or the excellent new Silo, but after one episode, FAM has already established itself as must-watch TV; not just for its intriguing premise and surprising human/political drama, but also for its unparalleled Corvette action!

After opening with a hopeful montage of the decade after President Kennedy dedicated the nation to putting a man on the moon, For All Mankind settles in on July of 1969. The pilot sees the whole world collectively glued to the evening news of a landing module touching down on the lunar surface, but the show’s mood is suddenly somber. We discover why as the landing party emerges from the capsule, speaking Russian and planting a Soviet flag. The flooring plot twist of the USSR becoming the first nation to put boots on the moon kicks off an alternate history where a rejuvenated and ever-escalating space race becomes the Cold War’s primary playing field. This whole “what if” scenario is fascinating, and I recommend checking it out for yourself, but the part that this site is mainly concerned with also comes during the fallout from the US “losing the moon.”

The day after the moon turned “red,” the astronauts report to NASA, where American hero Deke Slayton delivers the first of the show’s signature inspirational pep talks; “I was at the Cape with the rest of the Mercury astronauts when Jim Webb came down and told us the Russians put the first man in space. Webb wanted us to put a good face on for the press. So we did, but not for a while. First, we had to be pissed off, and we were. Gus could hardly speak. And Al, glad Al Shepard’s not here today. Al was really pissed…” before giving them all the rest of the day off to “be pissed off” away from work and the press. Once Deke is out of earshot, his directive sends all of the angry Apollo astronauts sprinting into the halls because “the last one to the bar buys!” Then we get the money shot! Main protagonist Ed Baldwin (who is based on real-life Apollo 10 commander Thomas P. Stafford and played by uncharacteristically tall actor Joel Kinnaman of Suicide Squad, House of Cards, and Altered Carbon fame) is one of the first to reach the incredible lineup of Midyear and C3 Corvettes – quick aside: was there ever a cooler group than the astronauts of “The Right Stuff” era and the immediately subsequent years? If there was, I haven’t seen them! Baldwin pilots a two-tone ’68 or ’69 L88, which obviously means he won’t be the one paying for drinks. His Apollo 10 crewmate, Gordo Stevens (who, along with his wife Tracy – played by the lovely Sarah Jones – are loosely based on Mercury 7 astronaut Gordo Cooper and his pilot wife Trudy) gives Baldwin the only real run for his money, but his small-block C2 is no match for his friend’s mighty 427!

And so goes the show; any time an astronaut shows up somewhere, his arrival is foreshadowed by approaching V8 thunder; like any good Bond film, FAM is the definition of escapist television. Along with the heavy helping of America’s Sports Car, the strong sense of unity – in spite of our flaws – and national pride is extremely refreshing! See the best Corvette clip below, and binge the whole series on Apple TV+ if you like what you see; it’s certainly worth a look!

Source:
Million Movie Clips / YouTube

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