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Steven Spielberg’s 5-Part Apple TV Sci-Fi Series Makes a Surprise Comeback

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Steven Spielberg doesn’t just make sci-fi; he makes sci-fi in a way only he can. His stories feature a human element amid the alien and supernatural occurrences, which makes his work resonate with many audiences. Recent shows like The Boroughs have been lauded for their magical, Spielbergian feeling. And while Spielberg is known for movies, he has occasionally dipped his toes into television, bringing his grand visions to the small screen.

That’s why Apple TV enlisted him back when the streaming service was launching as Apple TV+. Among the streamer’s earliest shows was a 5-part sci-fi series that never got the attention it deserved and was canceled after one season. The series was a remake of Spielberg’s 1985 award-winning series Amazing Stories. The 2020 version had a longer runtime than its predecessor, which was only 25 minutes per episode. The season followed an anthology format, with each episode telling a distinct story featuring entirely different characters, settings, and eras. It enlisted episodic guest stars such as Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf), Victoria Pedretti (You), Josh Holloway (Duster), and Austin Stowell (NCIS: Origins).

Six years later, Amazing Stories is seeing renewed interest, especially in America. The series has been among the most-watched in the past week, according to data from FlixPatrol, with viewers seeking it out on Apple’s PVOD service iTunes. Shows cultivating a new audience years after they ended are not uncommon, but are usually catalyzed by a recent development, and for Amazing Stories, it could be Spielberg’s new sci-fi movie, Disclosure Day. The film opened in theaters on June 12 and has been lauded as a masterpiece with an 84% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz
Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like?
Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky

Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.

🏜️Paul Atreides

🖖Capt. Kirk

Princess Leia

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🔦Ellen Ripley

🔥Max Rockatansky

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01

How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher?
The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.





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02

What is your greatest strength in a crisis?
The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.





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03

What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for?
Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.





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04

How do you relate to the people around you?
Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.





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05

You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do?
How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.





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06

What has your heroism cost you personally?
Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.





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07

How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in?
Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?





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08

When everything is on the line, what keeps you going?
The answer is the most honest thing about you.





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Your Hero Has Been Identified
Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…

Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.

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Arrakis · Dune

Paul Atreides

You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.

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  • You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
  • You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
  • Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
  • That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.


USS Enterprise · Star Trek

Captain Kirk

You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.

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  • You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
  • Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
  • Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
  • That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.


The Rebellion · Star Wars

Princess Leia

You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.

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  • You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
  • You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
  • Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
  • That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.


The Nostromo · Alien

Ellen Ripley

You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.

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  • You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
  • Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
  • You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
  • When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.


The Wasteland · Mad Max

Max Rockatansky

You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.

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  • You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
  • Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
  • Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
  • That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.

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Why Was ‘Amazing Stories’ Cancelled?

Shows getting canceled is rarely about one thing or another; it’s a combination of many factors, and for Amazing Stories, those problems started early when the original showrunner, Bryan Fuller, left the series because of creative differences. Apple TV — still in its infancy stage — halved the original ten-episode order, and when the show premiered, it didn’t make a huge impression on viewers or critics. It failed to capture a wide audience due to low ratings, and the anthology format did it no favors, as there was no cast appeal. Ultimately, Apple TV opted not to order more episodes, effectively ending the show’s short run. Still, Amazing Stories is a decent, heartfelt watch that’ll keep you guessing throughout.

Stream all episodes on Apple TV in the U.S., and catch Disclosure Day in theaters now. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.


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Release Date

1985 – 2019

Directors
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Chris Long, Mark Mylod, Michael Dinner, Sylvain White

Writers

Don Handfield, Jessica Sharzer, Peter Ackerman, Richard Rayner, Leah Fong

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  • Tom Willett

    Funeral Director

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