While almost all of Apple’s movie and television production schedules are on hiatus in the midst of the ongoing global health crisis, it seems that the cast and crew of Mythic Quest have stepped up to the plate to offer a special virtual quarantine episode.
Apple debuted Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, a new comedy series from the creators of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, back in February with an initial first-season run of nine episodes that dropped on launch day. It was generally well-received and has already been renewed for a second season, although like almost all of Apple’s second seasons, we’re not sure when we’ll actually see it.
In the meantime, however, if you’re a fan of Mythic Quest, McElhenny and his team have put together a bonus one-off episode, Mythic Quest: Quarantine, that will air on May 22 on Apple TV+.
According to Variety, the cast and crew worked remotely to produce the episode, which was shot on their iPhones in different parts of the country. While iPhones are being used extensively to film various productions such as American Idol and Conan O’Brien, this is rather ironically the first Apple TV+ series that will be using the technique.
As Variety explains it, the new episode will find the Mythic Quest development team stuck working from home on their game development, while dealing with all of the issues that entails, including struggling with solitude, starting competitions, and trying to explain to less tech-savvy team members how to use video-conferencing in the first place.
Lots of workplaces are figuring out this whole working-from-home thing, and the gaming industry is no different. Virtual meetings are a new and special kind of hell, so I think people will relate.
Rob McElhenney, Mythic Quest co-creator and Executive Producer
According to McElhenney, the cast used their own iPhones to shoot the episode, which he calls a “unique piece of television” in only a few days, as a way to film the episode quickly “without sacrificing quality.”
In response to many more people being stuck at home during the ongoing pandemic, Apple began offering some of its Apple TV+ shows for free last month, however Mythic Quest isn’t on that list, making it likely that this special quarantine episode will still only be available to those with an Apple TV+ subscription. Of course, Apple could also use this as an opportunity to help promote the show, so we’ll have to see what happens when it actually lands on May 22. Meanwhile, however, if you’re a fan of the series, this will be a good opportunity to get a bonus fix while you wait for season two to arrive.
A few other shows on regular networks have offered up special one-off releases during the quarantine, including an episode of CBS’ All Rise that was conducted entirely by FaceTime, and a special reunion episode of NBC’s Parks and Recreation. Meanwhile, American Idol has gotten even more creative in sending full iPhone 11 Pro rigs to its contestants so that they can continue to produce from home, and while this is the first Apple TV+ show to product a special “shot on iPhone” episode, by all indications Apple itself is planning to use the iPhone 11 Pro to host its virtual WWDC conference next month.