Vital Signs (lost shelved Dr. Dre Apple Music series; 2017)

Unconfirmed promotional image for the series found on IMDb

Status: Lost

Vital Signs is a shelved autobiographical six-episode scripted drama series, starring and executive produced by rapper and entrepreneur Dr. Dre. The series was slated to be distributed by Apple Music, planned before Apple ventured out into original programming with Apple TV+. The show is known for its supposed dark content.

Production

The project came to fruition as Apple started its push towards original content. The series was said to have started filming in 2016, first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. It was initially described as a six-episode scripted dark drama series.

While representatives of both Apple and Dre declined to comment on the project, there was no shortage of info from sources who have seen material and content from the production. Sources described the project as "semi-autobiographical", with each episode focusing on a different emotion and how Dr. Dre "deals with it". Numerous big names were allegedly attached, such as actors Sam Rockwell and Mo McRae, director Paul Hunter (producing under his imprint Eye Candy), and writer Robert Munic, who hand-picked by Dre himself to write all six episodes. The series was reportedly slated to drop all at once, with Apple being "very bullish" and ambitious with the project.

Sources also described to THR about an "extended sex orgy scene", describing filming the very week of the report where naked extras were simulating sex in the Hollywood Hills; this report gave notoriety to the series before it even came out. Scenes with violence were described to have been filmed or planned, in addition to sexual content, however at the time no sources went into much more detail.

In 2017, sources told Business Insider that Dre was reshooting certain parts as he was unhappy with some of the final product. During the same year, Apple reportedly hired Sony Television executives and set aside $1 billion to prepare for the content slate as they prepared to get more serious with original content.

In April 2017, Actor Ian McShane went on to tell Seth Meyers on his late night show that he would be starring in the series, and that he had the role as Dr. Dre's feeling of "Vengeance". He also further specified that Sam Rockwell would play Dre's "Ego", and that The Wire actor Michael K. Williams would play Dre's "Negativity". He also clarifies about a character named "Prodigy", however no actor was attached to the claim. No other actors were cited. Sam Rockwell also relayed this information to EW, adding the aforementioned orgy scene was "interesting".

McShane also revealed the project was slated for release in August of the same year, however, the month came and went without the show seeing a release.

Shelving

In 2018, two years after the series started filming, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook himself had shelved the series. The series reportedly contained excessive gun violence, women "doing lines of cocaine", and the aforementioned orgy scene, which "troubled" Cook, leading him to shelve the project entirely.

Cook went on to state that even though Apple wanted to make series with big stars and talent, they wanted projects with mass appeal for families and general audiences to enjoy. Vital Signs did not fit that vision with its subject matter, as Apple had different goals in 2018, and filming started a year before its big push towards original content and goal reevaluation.

Fate

Dr. Dre, Apple, or any of the cast has commented on the project's shelving, and any details about its subject matter has stayed largely unknown since.

Since the shelving, an IMDb page has materialised, complete with a cast. However, the cast listing does not match that described by sources or interviews and remains unconfirmed. A promotional image portraying Dr. Dre on a grim backdrop with bloody hands was added to this page; the source is unknown, and it's not realised if this was meant to be a promotional image for the series or for something else.

Reports floated around that the series could be shopped to other networks, but nothing is known to have come of that.

Since the inception of Apple TV+, darker shows have made their way under Apple's TV+ banner, going against their previous statement of wanting "mass appeal". This leaves questions as to whether or not this series could finally release; however, there is nothing that suggests that Apple will revisit releasing the show for good, and Vital Signs is assumed to stay shelved indefinitely.