'Severance' season 3 gets update from Apple TV Plus exec — and it's a bummer

Tom's Guide

3 days ago

"Severance" season 3 just got an update from an Apple TV Plus executive, and now I'm seriously concerned.
"Severance" season 2 just scored the most 2025 Emmy nominations of any show — 27 in total. That should be reason to celebrate, but then Apple TV Plus head of programming Matt Cherniss had to pour cold water on the joy.
"I think everyone's just going to take a deep breath and enjoy where we're at," Cherniss told Variety in an interview about the sci-fi show's Emmy successes.
"I know they're going as quickly as they can. When you have the success that a show like 'Severance' has, you want to make sure you deliver on every level when the show comes back, and that takes some time. But they're on it, and I think I'm feeling really good about where we're at.'
Now, that does seem to end on a positive note, but Cherniss's next comments did little to assuage my concerns. "No one wants it to be another three-year gap," he continued. "I don't believe that we have a production start date yet, but we're moving in that direction."
Call me crazy, but those comments seem to indicate that we'll be waiting a long time for more "Severance."
To be fair, nobody has been promising a quick turnaround. Back in March, executive producer Ben Stiller told the ITV morning show "This Morning" that "Severance" season 3 is coming "as fast as possible," but not that it'd be here any time soon.
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"I would love to tell you how long you'll have to wait," Stiller told show presenter Ben Shephard, "but the goal is definitely not to wait between, you know, [season] 2 and [season] 3."
Apple TV Plus gives you access to amazing originals with exciting new shows dropping all summer long.
Based on Cherniss's comments, though, it doesn't sound like that goal is being met.
It's worth noting that Cherniss's comments contradict what we've heard from Stiller to date, at least to a degree.
In January, Stiller gave an update on season 3, saying that the creative team was working on the new season. A month later, in February, Stiller repeated his insistence that "Severance" was already back in production, just before Apple officially greenlit season 3.
But Cherniss just said that the show doesn't even have a production start date yet. So, someone here either isn't right, or there's been some miscommunication.
Either way, it seems like season 3 is doomed to repeat the biggest mistake of season 2, and take too long a break between seasons. Then again, season 2 just took home 27 Emmy nominations, so maybe Stiller and Apple TV Plus know what they're doing.
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made.
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