The Big Door Prize does one thing extremely well in its first trailer

The Big Door Prize does one thing extremely well in its first trailer

There are probably more people who know better than to trust strange pieces of biometric-capturing technology in the world of Apple TV Plus’ upcoming comedy The Big Door Prize from David West Read. But in the series’ first trailer, almost no one can be bothered to think about whether they should be messing around with the eponymous machine because they’re all far too busy having the time of their lives thanks to what it does for them.

Based on M.O. Walsh’s novel by the same name, The Big Door Prize tells the story of a sleepy little town that’s turned upside down when a mysterious machine that can show people the untapped potential for greatness they have within them appears one day. When the “Morpho” first appears, neither Dusty (Chris O’Dowd) nor his wife Cass (Gabrielle Dennis) is all that sure of what to make of it. But when the machine starts spitting out alternate life paths for people who place their hands on its console, it quickly becomes a phenomenon in the town, and more and more people rush to take its advice into consideration.

The Big Door Prize’s trailer doesn’t convey just how the machine determines whether folks would be better off as “superstars” or “healers,” but it does focus on how serious an impact the Morpho starts to have on everyone as they start to put more faith in its predictions. As someone who’s seemingly always felt sort of listless, the idea of suddenly being given existential clarity rubs Dusty the wrong way, which makes a certain kind of sense. But that same kind of direction pushes others around Dusty out of their comfort zones in ways they can’t help but feel might be good for them, and the show feels like it’s going to spend a lot of its time pushing viewers to consider this situation from a variety of perspectives.

Whatever the Morpho actually is, it may be every bit as untrustworthy as Dusty assumes it to be. When The Big Door Prize premieres on March 29th, though, he’s going to have one hell of a time convincing everyone else to stay away from it.

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