Apple TV Plus announced a four-part docuseries about two-time NBA Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson coming to the streaming service at a date still to be announced.
The docuseries will explore Johnson’s accomplishments on the court and off, as well as his global impact, through never-before-seen footage and interviews with Johnson and those in his inner circle. Unnamed “heavyweights in business and politics” will also appear, per the streamer.
In addition to becoming a five-time NBC champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, Johnson changed the conversation around HIV when he announced his positive status in 1991.
The docuseries does not yet have a title, but it has already set its creative team: director Rick Famuyiwa, editor Dirk Westervelt and cinematographer Rachel Morrison. It will be produced by New Slate Ventures and XTR Production in association with H.Wood Media and Delirio Films.
Also in today’s TV news roundup:
FIRST LOOKS
PBS released a sneak peek at “The Oratorio: A Documentary with Martin Scorsese,” which airs Nov. 5 at 9 p.m. and streams simultaneously on PBS’ digital platforms. The documentary reflects on the one-night-only performance in 1826 at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral (which happens to be Scorsese’s home church in Little Italy) that marked the arrival of Italian opera in the New World. The famed filmmaker hosts, while the doc features interviews with opera theater director Claudio Orazi, musicologist Francesco Zimei, music director and organ master Jared Lamenzo, and church parishioners Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan. “The Oratorio: A Documentary with Martin Scorsese” is written and directed by Alex Bayer, Jonathan Mann and Mary Anne Rothberg. Rothberg and Mann also serve as producers with Bayer as the editor. It is produced by Provenance Productions. Watch the clip below.