The Apple TV Draft

November 24, 2025·2 hr 2 min·5 clips

Mark Gurman calls the Financial Times' Tim Cook retirement story 'simply false' — but Jason Snell isn't convinced.

Thanksgiving opens the door. Mike links the holiday to gratitude rather than just turkey, and thanks the listeners who have stuck with Upgrade through almost 600 episodes. Jason is on board, and the mood stays warm before the show turns toward the draft. Because it is a festive week, the seasonal choice is, somehow, an Apple TV content draft. The coin flip gives it just enough theater. Mike uses one of the original Relay Challenge coins, Jason calls big R, and little R gives Mike the first pick. The whole thing is proudly unofficial. They call it an exhibition draft and a non-sanctioned draft, which lets it feel competitive without getting too precious about the rules. Apple TV has gotten crowded. While making the list, they find 200 plus pieces of television content, plus a bunch of movies, inside Apple TV. That is the useful part: the draft works like a catalog walk-through, where a title might jog someone's memory or point them toward something they missed. The name change gets a quick nod too. They call it Apple TV now, note that it used to be Apple TV+, and move on. Favorites matter here. Mike says they are making a list of good stuff they like, and Jason says picking favorites is part of the exercise. From the excerpt, the setup is gratitude, sponsor support, coin-flip ceremony, and two co-hosts turning a crowded Apple TV catalog into a friendly holiday game.

As heard by us

A relaxed Apple TV draft that turns favorite-picking into a useful tour through the service's catalog.

Upgrade uses Thanksgiving week as an excuse for a low-stakes Apple TV draft, with Mike Hurley and Jason Snell picking through a catalog they say now runs to more than 200 TV titles, plus movies.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Two hosts work through 200-plus Apple TV titles so you can skip straight to the good ones.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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