Apple’s nebular television project may not have a start date or clearly defined concept, but it definitely has big names. Two more were added on Thursday, when the company announced that Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, the husband-and-wife duo behind “The Big Sick,” would be developing a show for them.
The series will be called “Little America” and tell real-life stories behind immigrants in the United States, based on a series in Epic Magazine. According to Deadline, who first reported the deal, the stories will be “funny, romantic, heartfelt, inspiring and unexpected.”
Epic, where the story behind the Oscar-winning film “Argo” originated, does not hide the political message behind “Little America.” Their intro says “Everyone [in the U.S.] came from somewhere else. . . . but it can be easy to forget from inside. And that’s when politics can turn ugly, as it has recently, with our political narrative becoming a story of blame and fear.”
The “Little America” stories are meant “to counter that narrative.”
While little to nothing is known publicly about Apple’s TV project, it has a lot of money and talent — and seemingly commitment — behind it. “Little America” joins a drama from Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, a reboot of “Amazing Stories” from Steven Spielberg, a space series from Ronald D. Moore (who handled the reboot of “Battlestar Galactica”), and a series based on the novel “Are You Sleeping” starring Octavia Spencer.
The creative team for “Little America” will also include Lee Eisenberg (“SMILF”) and Alan Yang (“Master of None”).
