The Big Door Prize: Release Date, Cast, And More

Apple TV+ is having success with charming dramedy of late. The Jason Segel and Harrison Ford-led "Shrinking" delighted audiences with its exploration of grief mixed with light-hearted comedy, and was just rewarded with a second-season renewal. Now, it looks like Tim Cook's streaming service is providing similarly heartfelt yet challenging fare in the form of "The Big Door Prize."

Based on M.O. Walsh's novel of the same name, the upcoming series will see Chris O'Dowd ("The IT Crowd," "Bridesmaids") lead an ensemble cast. O'Dowd plays school teacher Dusty, who's seemingly content with his life until a mysterious machine shows up in his small Louisiana town and begins to make everyone, including himself, question their life trajectory. 

With an affable fellow like O'Dowd in the lead role, and coming from "Schitt's Creek" writer David West Read, you can imagine the wholesome energy this dramedy will provide. Read, who's also just been announced as having created another Apple TV+ comedy series starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, has infused the sci-fi premise of "The Big Door Show" with his own brand of light comedy. And if you're intrigued by such a prospect, you can find all the information on "The Big Door Prize," its release date, who's in it, and who's running the show below.

With "The Big Door Prize" set to debut soon, there's plenty of info available about its plot. As mentioned, the series is led by Chris O'Dowd, whose affable energy and everyman aura looks to be perfectly suited to this sci-fi dramedy. O'Dowd's Dusty Hubbard is a schoolteacher, husband, and father who is seemingly comfortable in his day-to-day life. He's known in his small town community of Deerfield, through which he's seen happily cycling in the trailer. 

But when a mysterious machine shows up in the local grocery store out of nowhere, things begin to change for everyone, including Dusty. The machine is apparently capable of informing anyone who uses it of their true life potential. As more and more residents line up to use the "Morpho" machine and take its advisements to heart, Dusty himself starts to question his own existence and whether he's living up to his true potential. As Apple's official synopsis reveals, Dusty's wife Cass also "indulges in the dream that there's something bigger out there for her," as the community is "forced to reconcile with their unfulfilled achievements in pursuit of a better future." While O'Dowd is the series lead, every episode will focus on a different character, showcasing how the "Morpho" machine upends their lives and their assumptions about what they can achieve.

In a /Film interview, O'Dowd and David West Read spoke about the show, with Read explaining how it "touches on grief, fidelity, anxiety, depression, faith — some of the bigger questions." O'Dowd also promised "an exploration in lots of ways, of how society can be cajoled into the idea of expertise or knowledge," which suggests you can expect some light social satire among the drama and comedy, too.