Humans: we’re a weird old bunch, aren’t we? Even weirder when you consider the massive success of an online comic of blue aliens pointing out our idiosyncrasies: currently at seven million followers on Instagram, and now adapted into a TV series.
That series is Strange Planet from the original cartoonist Nathan W. Pyle. Back in 2013, the New York-based artist started posting animated gifs on Reddit about things he’d noticed in his home city. They struck a chord and a few years later he produced a couple of books; NYC Basic Tips and Etiquette and 99 Stories I Could Tell: A Doodlebook To Help You Create in 2018. Then, in 2019, he landed on the idea of Strange Planet. A book followed later that year.
As the much-loved book series now hits the screen, grab a cup of jitter liquid and we’ll tell you how you can watch the show for free.
What’s the big idea?
Four blue aliens live on a planet very similar to Earth, but they describe things in an extremely literal way, and discuss human concepts and emotions in a way that society doesn’t usually allow.
What are they talking about?
You might need a glossary for the series and the bizarre names that are given to things in this parallel world, which appear odd, but make a lot of sense, when you think about it:
Bed – rest slab
Balloon – elastic breath traps
Coffee – jitter liquid
Chicken soup – hot bird water
Sunglasses – personal star dimmers
Socks – foot fabric tubes
Tooth brush – mouth stone brush
Tea – hot leaf liquid
Tears – face fluids
Toast – twice blasted dough slice
Picture – low-detail rendering
Plant – Relocated organism
Umbrella – sky shield
Wine – mild poison
Who is voicing the cartoons?
Stars of the show include Hacks’ Hannah Einbinder and TV On The Radio singer Tunde Adebimpe. The other voice actors include Lori Tan Chinn, Danny Pudi, Beth Stalling, Cedric Yarbrough, James Adomian and Demi Adejuyigbe.
How can I watch it for free?
The 10-part series is being streamed on Apple TV+, which usually starts from £6.99 a month, but the company is currently running a free seven-day trial.
With the first four episodes available on the platform from August 9, there will be a new episode weekly up to the finale on September 20. If you sign up for the free trial a few days prior to this, this’ll give you the chance to binge the entire series in a few days, and have the chance to check out some of Apple TV+’s other critically acclaimed shows. They also have a selection of series where you can watch the very first episode for free to see if you’d like to commit to the service to watch the rest of the series.
And perhaps you would want to stick around: for revealing documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, buddy comedy Platonic or Tom Holland-fronted The Crowded Room.
But if you’re due for an upgrade on an iPhone or any other Apple device – or have bought one in the last 90 days – you’ll get free Apple TV+ for three months, leaving you plenty of time to explore this alien world, or any other one that takes your fancy on the old moving entertainment cuboid.
