The 10 Best Shows on Apple TV+ Right Now
Slowly but surely Apple TV+ is gaining momentum. The streaming service, which at launch we named “weird, irritable and horny as hellhas grown into a diverse library of dramas, documentaries and comedies. It’s also pretty cheap compared to services like Netflix, and Apple often gives you three free months when you buy a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV.
Curious but don’t know where to start? Below are our selections of the best shows on the service. When you’re done, go to our guides to best shows on netflixAmazon Prime series and Disney+ shows because there’s never too much TV.
Ted Lasso
On the paper, Ted Lasso sounds awful. The incredible story of an American football coach who has never watched a football game, somehow gets a job coaching (fictitious) Premier League club AFC Richmond and tries to make up for his total lack of qualifications by being a nice guy. Sounds unwatchable, doesn’t it? And still Ted Lasso captured the hearts and minds of audiences on both sides of the ocean with its massive cast and irresistibly helpful messages, scooping up fun awards in the process. Season 3 is coming out this spring, and now is the perfect time to catch up.
Servant
Cinematically, M. Night Shyamalan might be a little random, but Servant, which this director produces and sometimes directs, is just great. Focus on a Philadelphia couple – a chef and a news anchor – who lose a baby, only to have it mysteriously come back to life (perhaps) with the arrival of their new nanny. (You really just have to watch the show for it all to make sense.) Moody, quirky, and sometimes even funny, it’ll keep you hooked. And now that the fourth season is underway, there is something to enjoy.
Essex kite
Claire Danes, chin quivering, in period suit, doing her best; Tom Hiddleston as the town priest; rumors of a mysterious mythological serpent – is there anything No love about this show? No no. Essex kite, based on the novel by Sarah Perry, follows a recent widow (Danes) who heads to the Essex countryside to investigate a “sea dragon”. There, she meets the priest Will (Hiddleston), who is much more skeptical about the serpent’s existence. Lush and attractive, this is the perfect mystery of the time.
Severance
Of all the shows on this list, Severance may be the one who firmly established Apple TV+ as a streaming player with up-to-date prestige content. Adam Scott plays Mark, a man distraught by the death of his wife who decides to undergo the Separation procedure, a procedure that separates his memories of work from those of his life at home. He is quite happy with the situation until a former colleague of Lumon Industries tracks him down while he is away from work, setting off a series of events that make him doubt not only Severance, but the work his company does. From there, everything gets weirder and darker every minute. Tense and heartbreaking, this series, much of which was directed by Ben Stiller, will keep you guessing and asking questions throughout the movie.
Little America
Originally released when Donald Trump was still President of the United States, Little America was and still is a timely reminder of what really makes America great. Each episode of this anthology series focuses on a different story of immigrants living in America. Each of these 30-minute vignettes – from an unregistered high school student who discovers his talent for playing squash to a “bra gossip” – are all based on real people – are inspiring and important to watch.
Mythic Quest
An all-too-rare example of a video game TV show that actually works. Mythic Quest is one of the best new workplace comedies of the last few years. Presented in half-hour episodes that are easy to digest, the show follows a fictional game studio known for its World of Warcraft– like an MMO Mythic Quest, as people who succeed through their many quirky relationships. The writing is superb, consistently funny and emotionally impacting when you least expect it, and the show manages to confront real-world issues in the industry without sacrificing laughs.
Foundation
We called Foundation “spoiled masterpiece” in our review, which is still high praise given the difficulty of adapting extensive science fiction for television. Based on the book series of the same name by Isaac Asimov, the dizzyingly ambitious Foundation Jared Harris plays Hari Seldon, a math professor who, along with his loyal followers, is exiled for predicting the impending end of the galactic empire that rules them. It looks incredible, and while the show may suffer under the weight of its sheer scale, it Game of ThronesThe Space Mimic is another one to check out.
morning show
Every streaming service needs a vibrant mainstream drama with Hollywood heavyweights to draw viewers in. Apple TV+ has morning show. Stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherpoon and Steve Carell are in great shape as members of the on-screen team that makes up morning showpopular breakfast news program. morning show doesn’t waste time by immediately showing you how co-host Mitch Kessler (Carell) gets fired due to allegations of sexual harassment. Since then, the show has explored the ramifications of the #MeToo scandal, and while it doesn’t always work out, it’s often a thrilling watch, and you can’t blame anyone for not giving their all to a serious topic.
Dickinson
Hailee Steinfeld as exuberant young Emily Dickinson in a half-hour show from creator Alena Smith. It was part of the original Apple TV+ lineup and quickly distinguished itself with its unusual vision of 19th-century Amherst, Massachusetts. The first season is a set of poignant, surreal vignettes inspired by Dickinson’s work and tracing the imaginary life of a young poet who rebels against her father, the city’s social rules and everything else. The second and third seasons go deeper, exploring not only the poet’s life, but also the roles that race, gender, sexuality, and class played in America’s early days. If you’re a Dickinsonian, love some smart queer drama, or just love a modern Civil War TV series soundtrack, you’ll love this.
For all mankind
A solid slice of alternative history, For all mankind starts with a very clever premise: what if the US loses in sending a man to the moon? How would the space race rivalry between the Americans and the Soviets end? It’s basically a slick, stylish, NASA-heavy historical drama, but since it’s from the brain of Ronald D. Moore, there are a few standout moments and sequences that are centered around a large ensemble cast. The best sci-fi show you don’t watch.