Apple pushes 'Carpool Karaoke' launch back to 'later this year'

It appears Apple's first foray into original video content, "Carpool Karaoke," will not make its scheduled April debut, as the company on Monday again postponed a launch party initially slated for March.

Apple did not offer an explanation for the apparent delay, saying only that "Carpool Karaoke: The Series will premiere on Apple Music later this year," reports Reuters.

CBS Television Studios, Apple's partner on the project, offered a similar statement on Monday, saying, "We're excited about our 'Carpool Karaoke' for Apple Music, and look forward to everyone seeing it later this year."

Apple first announced it was working on a spinoff of The Late Late Show With James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke" last July. Similar to its namesake, the Apple Music version of "Carpool Karaoke" pairs musicians, actors, sports stars and other pop culture personalities together as they go on a road trip and listen to their favorite tunes.

Apple lined up an A-list cast for season one, including Will Smith, Metallica, Chelsea Handler, Blake Shelton, Shaquille O'Neal, John Legend, John Cena, Ariana Grande, Game of Thrones co-stars Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner, and more.

At the Code Media conference in February, Apple SVP of Internet and Software Services Eddy Cue said the series would be available for streaming on Apple Music sometime in April. He also debuted a trailer that teased a selection of the 16 celebrity pairings for the 30-minute long shows.

The short ad also revealed a new Apple Music section called "TV & Movies" that will one day include both "Carpool Karaoke" and Apple's upcoming "Planet of the Apps" game-style reality TV show.

For Apple, "Carpool Karaoke" represents a first foray into digital media content creation, an area that has seen tech firms like Amazon and Netflix thrive. With coffers full of cash, Apple was long rumored to enter the space. For now, the company is attaching its original programming effort to the fledgling Apple Music streaming service, a platform Cue says has the ability to cultivate pop culture.

Whether the "Carpool Karaoke" delay also impacts "Planet of the Apps" is unclear.

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33 Comments

scotty321 312 comments · 20 Years

About 7 years ago

Apple, please. We are all begging you. Shoot this dog in the head now and put it out of its misery before the whole world knows what a disaster this idea is.

ihatescreennames 1971 comments · 19 Years

scotty321 said:

Apple, please. We are all begging you. Shoot this dog in the head now and put it out of its misery before the whole world knows what a disaster this idea is.

Serious question: why is it a disaster? I have never seen the Late Late Show or Carpool Karaoke (except for in one of the keynotes last year). However, I work with a bunch of people who are very excited about it.

fastasleep 6450 comments · 14 Years

They must be having trouble producing the component that makes this show entertaining at scale.

slprescott 759 comments · 10 Years

Apple's decision to announce production of three shows (Carpool Karaoke, Planet of the Apps, Vital Signs) before they're available is a break from the company's tradition of not commenting on unannounced products.

In my opinion, it's a mistake... and an example of why Apple's normal approach (NOT commenting on unannounced products) is best. If a concept doesn't live up to the producers' original hopes, let it die a graceful death behind closed doors.

williamh 1045 comments · 13 Years

ihatescreennames said:

scotty321 said:

Apple, please. We are all begging you. Shoot this dog in the head now and put it out of its misery before the whole world knows what a disaster this idea is.

Serious question: why is it a disaster? I have never seen the Late Late Show or Carpool Karaoke (except for in one of the keynotes last year). However, I work with a bunch of people who are very excited about it.

I may not be the very best person to answer this but I'll take a crack at it.
(I'll explain why I'm not best at the end for whoever might be interested)

The Carpool Karaoke episodes from the Late Late Show were really good. But then you take something really good, overdo the crap out of it, run it through a PC committee, and you end up with something seriously lame. Like you take a good voice assistant technology and call it "Bixby." Also think of what happens when middle-aged people try to intentionally do stuff that will appeal to "the kids." Or when little kids start adopting trends started earlier by their older siblings . . . totally obliterates whatever was cool about it. I totally see how Apple doing Carpool Karaoke could turn out badly. Apple could even damage their brand if it's LOL horrible.

I'm not the best person to answer because I am an old guy who doesn't watch any sports, don't have cable, married, kids, etc. The only show I watch is "The Grand Tour" and UK Top Gear even though it's not as good since the guys left. I don't follow Hollywood, don't care about fashion, etc. Just about all the music I want to listen to is from the 90s or earlier. (but check out Thao and the Get Down Stay Down) I think I'm pretty cool but I doubt my family or anyone else agrees. I watched a few Carpool Karaoke on Youtube to see what it was about after Apple announced their deal. Red Hot Chile Peppers were great, did some of my favorite songs. But I saw how kids reacted when the adults started joining Facebook. It could happen to Apple. They need to be careful with this. Apple has a PC risk-averse corporate culture, they could look like the biggest douches if they ruin this.