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Streaming services have taken over the world, and there’s something for everyone on each. However, if there’s a particular streamer that tends to stand out with the quality of its original content, it is Apple TV. They continue to build a carefully curated library where the duds are rare, and the hits are ridiculously great.
Over the years, a handful of Apple TV originals have been airtight from the first scene to the last, or, in the case of the shows that are still running, they haven’t made a wrong move just yet. These shows represent the streaming service at its absolute best: sharp writing, gorgeous visuals, and great casting choices. These are the best Apple TV shows, perfect from start to (current) finish.
10
‘Bad Sisters’ (2022–2024)
Yes, the second season of Bad Sisters made a controversial choice by killing off a major character, but risks are there to be taken. As a whole, especially if you consider the first season’s rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, Bad Sisters remains one of the most original, darkly funny, and emotionally satisfying shows Apple has ever produced. It introduces one of television’s most compelling monsters, a villain whose grip is magnetic yet inescapable, which you don’t see until it’s too late. More than anything, though, Bad Sisters emphasizes the bond between sisters, told through a fierce, funny, and deeply moving two-season arc.
Bad Sisters follows five Garvey sisters, who feel protective of each other and are generally quite close. Three out of five sisters are married, and the second sister, Grace’s (Anne-Marie Duff), husband is John Paul (Claes Bang), a manipulative, calculating monster who has spent years slowly destroying her spirit. When the sisters decide to kill him and set Grace free, we get a brilliantly dark comedy of errors, seen through a present-day investigation of John Paul’s death and flashbacks showing the sisters’ hilariously inept murder attempts. Sharon Horgan created and stars in Bad Sisters as the eldest sister, Eva, and is surrounded by an incredibly charming and superb ensemble cast. If you haven’t seen this stunning series, it’s an absolute must. Season 3 is a possibility, but Horgan needs to make that decision.
9
‘Pachinko’ (2022–2024)
Speaking of Kogonada, he was the director and executive producer of one of Apple TV’s most underrated series—Pachinko. This show rolled out quietly, but it’s one of the greatest and most touching historical series that serves as an homage to immigrant families and those who survived the Japanese occupation in Korea. Pachinko ended after two seasons, bringing the saga to a close with an emotional impact that left critics calling it one of the greatest literary adaptations ever made. It’s a show that holds a lot of historical weight, but it somehow never once feels overwhelming and difficult; it’s much rather rich, alive, and celebrates perseverance and humanity.
Pachinko was adapted from Min Jin Lee‘s monumental novel of the same name; it traces four generations of a Korean family from Japanese-occupied Korea to the bubble of 1980s Japan. At its center is Sunja (Kim Min-ha and Youn Yuh-jung), a young woman whose resilience and motivation for life carry her (and the show) through war, forbidden love, and the grueling reality of living in strange, sometimes hostile lands; the show follows her from youth to old age. Every frame feels like a painting in Pachinko, and its emotional core will touch you; I have no doubt you’ll run to buy the book soon after (if you haven’t read it already).
8
‘Servant’ (2019–2023)
Servant is an atmospheric horror story and one of the most unique shows to ever air on television. The cast consists of Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, Rupert Grint, and Nell Tiger Free, who deliver uniformly excellent, increasingly unfiltered performances, while the show very rarely leaves its primary location, giving the feel of a stage play slowly descending into a nightmare. Servant is a complete, four-season commitment that rewards patience, and it’s one of Apple TV’s best decisions thus far.
Servant follows a wealthy Philadelphia couple, Dorothy (Ambrose), a local anchor, and Sean Turner (Kebbell), a celebrity chef, who lose their infant son during Dorothy’s post-partum depression. To help her cope, Sean gets a lifelike reborn doll as a form of therapy and hires a young, enigmatic nanny named Leanne (Free). After Leanne arrives, though, the doll seems to become a real baby, and a slow-burning psychological horror confined almost entirely to the Turners’ opulent townhouse ensues as the mystery of Leanne’s power reveals a more sinister past about everyone involved. M. Night Shyamalan executive-produced the series and directed several episodes, and his fingerprints are all over it: the creeping dread, the religious undertones, the sense that something terrible is always waiting just off-screen.
It’s so fun.
7
‘Silo’ (2023–Present)
Silo is one of Apple TV’s biggest success stories, turning Hugh Howey‘s beloved sci-fi novels into a gripping mystery. The series has consistently earned critical acclaim for its sharp writing, as well as Rebecca Ferguson‘s commanding lead performance. What begins as a simple investigation gradually expands into something far larger, revealing layers of deception in an increasingly disturbing dystopian world.
Set in a massive underground silo housing the last remnants of humanity, the story follows Juliette Nichols (Ferguson), an engineer who becomes entangled in a conspiracy after investigating a series of suspicious deaths. The residents have been told that the outside world is toxic and uninhabitable, but Juliette begins to suspect that the truth is being hidden from them. Silo keeps viewers hooked by constantly challenging everything they think they know about its world.
6
‘Pluribus’ (2025–Present)
Vince Gilligan‘s first series since Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul is an unsettling comedy-drama that sets a woman in the middle of an unusual pandemic, and she fights against it with all her might. To understand why this premise of Pluribus differs from any other pandemic-themed show, in Pluribus, a virus turns people into a happy collective that functions as a hive mind and helps each other, losing any ability to cause harm. And the protagonist hates it. Gilligan’s signature moral complexity drives every scene, but there’s a lightness woven through the narrative, showing the importance of unity, collectivity, and cooperation.
Pluribus shows humanity becoming infected with an alien strain and transformed into a permanently happy, peaceful hive mind sharing one consciousness. However, thirteen people prove to be immune, among them Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), a romantasy novelist and our protagonist. While the infected want to be there for Carol and the other non-infected, she and Paraguay-based loner Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) remain the only ones to fight against their efforts. Pluribus has themes that could be widely discussed, from ethical and philosophical stances to practical and physical demands that the “pandemic” causes, and it’s undoubtedly going to spiral further in its planned four-season run. How exciting.
5
‘Severance’ (2022–Present)
Severance became an instant sensation in 2022, and the long-awaited second season in 2025 deepened the mystery without losing the unsettling, claustrophobic atmosphere. Creator Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller have Season 3 on the way, with Kogonada having joined as a producing director. Severance has already earned over 30 Emmy nominations (together with Creative Emmys) and a reputation as one of the most original sci-fi narratives in years. Every frame was devised to feel unsettling, liminal, and symbolic, while the performances—particularly Tramell Tillman‘s unnerving floor manager Milchik and John Turturro‘s heartbroken Irving—are exceptional.
Severance is set in the office space of the corporation called Lumon Industries, which has pioneered a surgical procedure that splits a person’s consciousness between their work life and home life. When you’re on the clock, your “innie” has no memory of the outside world; when you leave, your “outie” has no idea what you do all day. Mark Scout (Adam Scott) chose severance to escape the grief he’s been feeling since his wife’s death, but his innie is leading a separate life, beginning to suspect something is very, very wrong on the severed floor of Lumon. Severance is a slow-building, visually immaculate thriller that satirizes corporate culture with a cold, Kubrickian precision; in the eyes of many, it’s the perfect series, and it’s hard to disagree with that—it also became the most-watched series in Apple TV’s history in 2025.
4
‘Ted Lasso’ (2020–Present)
Ted Lasso is great because it builds a world where empathy is crucial, friendships bloom from the unlikeliest of places, and self-compassion and working on oneself are necessary parts of life; it’s beautiful, charming, and endlessly funny, and it was meant to end in 2023 with the Season 3 finale. The three-season arc was a complete, emotionally airtight story that ended exactly where it should have, and the Emmys agreed, handing it back-to-back Outstanding Comedy Series wins and acting trophies for Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, and Brett Goldstein. A fourth season is now looming, and while we all hope it justifies its existence, the show’s legacy as a three-season masterpiece is already secure.
Ted Lasso follows the titular American football coach (Sudeikis), who is full of optimism and advice, as he lands in Richmond, England, to coach the soccer team, AFC Richmond. The team’s new owner is Rebecca Welton (Waddingham), who wants him to fail as revenge against her ex-husband, from whom she inherited the club post-divorce. And while everyone finds Lasso to be atypical in the regular British setting, he succeeds in winning people over, rewiring the entire emotional ecosystem of AFC Richmond. Sudeikis takes charge and brings a brilliant performance, but his co-stars, including Goldstein and Waddingham, are often just as brilliant.
3
‘The Studio’ (2025–Present)
Seth Rogen‘s The Studio immediately drew a large audience, earning a quick renewal and strong critical praise for its unique visual and filming styles, great casting choices, and the willingness to skewer the very industry that made it. Rogen finds himself in the role of a lost, often desperate studio head whose job mainly consists of convincing people to show up and do their jobs. The ensemble, including Catherine O’Hara as a veteran producer and Kathryn Hahn as the chaotic head of marketing, is flawless. The Studio won numerous awards for its first season, and though Season 2 won’t have O’Hara in it (she passed away days before S2 production started), here’s hoping it’ll sustain its own sky-high standard.
The Studio follows Matt Remick (Rogen), the newly appointed head of Continental Studios, a legacy Hollywood institution struggling to survive in an era of superhero franchises, streaming upheaval, and algorithmic panic. Matt desperately wants to make great movies, but the industry requires him to make money. Season 1 is a sharp, insider-ish comedy about the collision of art and commerce, where every creative decision is second-guessed by terrified executives, egomaniacal directors, and a parade of celebrity cameos playing heightened versions of themselves. The show is co-created by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, which means the satire is grounded in genuine affection for and deep frustration with the movie business.
2
‘Widow’s Bay’ (2026–Present)
Widow’s Bay is a fantastic addition to Apple TV’s roster of original shows, made up of genuine urban legend scares and ridiculously dark humor that will often make you laugh out loud. Created by Katie Dippold and partially directed and entirely executive-produced by Hiro Murai, the show has that uncanny ability to make you laugh during the most uncomfortable, dark moments. Murai worked on similar shows before, most notably Atlanta, while Dippold wrote several episodes of Parks and Recreation.
Widow’s Bay follows Tom Loftis (the brilliant Matthew Rhys), the mayor of the sleepy New England island town of Widow’s Bay. Tom initially refuses to believe the locals who claim the place is cursed, but after a missing fisherman returns with solid white eyes and attacks Tom in a hospital room, Tom starts to believe in the dreadful history of Widow’s Bay. He gets dragged into the island’s centuries-old supernatural secret, helped and hindered by his eccentric assistant Patricia (Kate O’Flynn) and the conspiracy-minded Wyck (Stephen Root). Widow’s Bay is a treat for fans of horror comedy.
1
‘Slow Horses’ (2022–Present)
Five seasons in, with a sixth and seventh already filmed, Slow Horses has never had a weak link. Despite incredibly short seasons (which is not uncommon for British TV), Slow Horses sustains a loyal audience because finding a series that is as thrilling, funny, exciting, and full of incredible twists that develop the characters with each installment is really hard to find. Slow Horses uses its espionage as a way to set up and reveal everything about our ensemble of faulty spies, and the way each new chapter arrives fully formed and utterly gripping is so perfect that it’s borderline annoying (jk, it’s always great).
Slow Horses follows MI5 agents who’ve messed up at the headquarters and got banished to Slough House, a grimy administrative office adjacent to the main agency and run by Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), an unkempt man full of insults who just so happens to be the sharpest spy in the building. Every new season covers a different novel from Mick Herron, who has written 15 books in the Slough House series thus far, and each is a sharp, tight, and darkly hilarious thriller that proves that the “slow horses” still get things done. In a genre that often burns bright and flames out, Slow Horses just keeps getting better, and it’s a perfect series in many ways.
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Anja Djuricic
Almontather Rassoul
