There’s a strong chance you’re reading these words on an Apple device, whether a phone, tablet, or computer. It’s a ubiquitous tech company, one that burrowed its way into the history books of creative culture with the introduction of the iPod in 2001. Now, Apple remains part of the cultural conversation in large part thanks to its streaming service, the simply named Apple TV (RIP +).
In a streaming landscape absolutely stuffed with content, Apple stands out with an emphasis on production value, star power, and quality control. You don’t log into this service looking for laundry-folding background noise. You’re looking for appointment television to pay attention to, from “Severance” to “Widow’s Bay” and everything in between. As Apple SVP of Services Eddy Cue told TheWrap, “We don’t want to be the most. We want to be the best.”
If you’re looking for more of the best, check out these 10 Apple TV shows without a single bad season. Happy streaming!
Acapulco
“Acapulco,” front to back, is one of the most charming series you can watch on Apple TV. It’s a comedy full of sweetness and silliness, and another strong piece of proof that Eugenio Derbez is one of the great comic actors working today.
Loosely inspired by the 2017 comedy “How to Be a Latin Lover,” the series features Derbez as a reimagined version of his character Maximo. This Maximo is a wealthy business magnate recounting his unlikely story of success to his nephew, Hugo (Raphael Alejandro). As such, the show alternates between the present timeline and 1984, when young Maximo (Enrique Arrizon) comes of age while working at a resort in, you guessed it, Acapulco, Mexico.
The show feels like a spikier, more impish “Wonder Years,” with Derbez’s Maximo serving as a mildly unreliable narrator, rendered through clever filmmaking techniques. It’s also like “The White Lotus,” but whereas that show traffics in cynicism, at the core of “Acapulco” is a huge, beating heart, a statement of simple sentimentality that never crosses into cloying distaste.
The Afterparty
From the mind of Christopher Miller (“Project Hail Mary,” among many others) comes “The Afterparty,” a genre-hopping, puzzle-box anthology series. It startles the viewer with genuinely shocking murder-mystery plotting while keeping things moving with a rapid pace of jokes. Think “Search Party” meets “Poker Face,” and you’re getting warmer.
The magnetic Tiffany Haddish stars in both seasons as Detective Danner, and while Haddish largely eschews her buckwild shenanigans in favor of a more restrained tone, she’s just as compelling. In the first season, she’s investigating the murder of Xavier (Dave Franco), a pop star found dead at a high school reunion afterparty. In the second, it’s billionaire Edgar Minnows (Zach Woods) who’s been murdered at a wedding afterparty, and Danner’s on the case again.
Haddish is surrounded by a murderer’s row (pun intended) of comedic talent, including Ben Schwartz, Ilana Glazer, Anna Konkle, and a killer (pun intended) cameo from Keke Palmer. It’s one of the best shows on Apple TV, one you’ll binge through with ferocious speed.
Central Park
What if “Bob’s Burgers” went fully musical? That’s an efficient pitch to get you ready for “Central Park,” another of Apple TV’s most charming shows. But it barely scratches the surface.
Co-created by “Bob’s Burgers” maestros Loren Bouchard and Nora Smith, alongside musical comedy performer Josh Gad, “Central Park” follows the Tillerman-Hunter family, led by Owen (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Paige (Kathryn Hahn, one of the best TV character actors). The family lives in Edendale Castle within New York City’s Central Park, with Owen serving as the park’s manager. As the brood gets into all kinds of mishaps, including a wealthy hotel heiress plotting to redevelop the park, they often break out into song, with the catchy tunes crossing genres from traditional musical theater to disco to Latin pop and everything in between.
The three-season show is hilarious, touching, and stuffed to the brim with imagination. It grants endearing storylines to all of its characters, from the children, especially Molly, played in season one by Kristen Bell and in the final two seasons by Emmy Raver-Lampman, to its villainous threats, especially Stanley Tucci and Daveed Diggs playing female characters you have to see to believe.
Dickinson
With shades of “The Great” and “Marie Antoinette,” “Dickinson” is an appealingly postmodern spin on the period piece, one of the best historical TV shows of all time.
Hailee Steinfeld stars as the now-acclaimed poet Emily Dickinson, a young woman with artistic aspirations and passions that ruffle the feathers of her buttoned-up family, especially her father, Edward (Toby Huss). Emily is also in love with her best friend, Sue (Ella Hunt), despite Sue being engaged to Emily’s brother (Adrian Blake Enscoe).
Emily bumbles her way through these circumstances using modern language set to contemporary music, while the show’s refreshingly frank take on their queer relationship firmly places it in the 21st century. It’s great fun watching Steinfeld imbue the role not just with the pathos we associate with Emily Dickinson but with a deft comedic touch, too.
But “Dickinson” isn’t just for comedy fans. If you dig “Bridgerton” and wish the whole “string quartet covers of pop tunes” concept went 20 steps further, this is your next binge.
For All Mankind
An alternate history sci-fi barn-burner with an irresistible premise, “For All Mankind” will sink its hooks into you and practically force you to binge it. It’s Dad TV for the hip dads, offering enough intrigue from top to tail to captivate the entire family.
Basically, the series, co-created by “Battlestar Galactica” mastermind Ronald D. Moore, asks a deceptively simple question: What if the Soviet Union won the space race? In other words, what if Russian cosmonauts landed on the moon first, stripping the United States’ 1969 Apollo 11 mission of its historic distinction?
Over five seasons, with a sixth and final season set to premiere in 2027 as of this writing, “For All Mankind” answers this question thoroughly, extrapolating the butterfly effect across numerous areas of global culture. It also leaps forward roughly a decade between seasons, giving the whole enterprise a pointedly darker “Forrest Gump” feel.
There’s nothing quite like “For All Mankind” on television, not even other alternate history shows like “The Man in the High Castle.” It’s thrilling, intelligent, and all-encompassing stuff.
Foundation
Speaking of intelligent science fiction barn-burners: “Foundation” is the show for any Trekkie who’s found the contemporary Paramount+ “Star Trek” series lacking, or for any TV fan looking for sci-fi that treats you as smarter than the average space-bear.
Taking place in a far-flung future ruled by a trio of genetically engineered clones of a powerful emperor (Lee Pace, Terrence Mann, and Cassian Bilton), “Foundation” imagines a mathematical science so powerful that it can predict the collapse of the Galactic Empire. This theory is developed by mathematician Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), who joins forces with the young Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) after she solves a famously difficult conjecture. The pair begin their valiant quest to preserve humanity’s knowledge and limit the devastation to come, conflicts with the Empire be damned.
“Foundation” is an adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s celebrated book series, and unlike looser Hollywood treatments of his work, such as “I, Robot,” this show submerges you fully in its arcane lore and esoteric concepts. If you’re up for the challenge, you’ll find a consistently engaging series.
Mythic Quest
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is one of television’s most notoriously dark comedies, a depiction of incompetence and downright sociopathy. But when a trio of “Sunny” writer/producers, Charlie Day, Megan Ganz, and Rob McElhenney, moved to Apple TV to create another unorthodox workplace sitcom, they leaned into warmth and empathy. The resulting show feels less like “Sunny” and more like “Ted Lasso,” though it retains the appealing edge you’d expect from the creators.
“Mythic Quest” takes place at a video game studio, with McElhenney starring as Ian Grimm, the creator of the in-universe game. As the team navigates an ever-changing marketplace and creative environment, tensions rise and strong personalities clash. But “Mythic Quest” is ultimately a celebration of collaboration, a series that loves its island of misfit toys and the work they create together.
It’s also full of great, self-contained episodes that play almost like short films, especially the Season 1 highlight “A Dark Quiet Death,” giving its four-season run, which also features a couple of standout specials, an intriguing and captivating shape.
Servant
An unsettling horror series born from an unexpectedly fruitful creative pairing, “Servant” is stuffed with surprises, dark humor, and some of the nastiest turns you’ll see on TV. Forget Ryan Murphy: “Servant” is a show that truly earns the distinction of being an American horror story.
Married couple Dorothy and Sean Turner (Lauren Ambrose and Toby Kebbell) hire an enigmatic live-in nanny, Leanne (Nell Tiger Free), to help care for their son, Jericho. Just one problem: Jericho is a doll.
What began as a therapeutic tool for Dorothy following the accidental death of the real infant Jericho has developed into a full-blown delusion, enabled by her hesitant husband. But Leanne’s arrival brings a curious change to life in the Turner household — and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
The series comes from thriller writer Tony Basgallop and genre filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (who executive produced the show and directed several episodes), with both parties highlighting each other’s strengths and boosting any possible weaknesses. It’s consistently constructed with care and ample tension, with its game performers carrying Basgallop’s plot twists along with élan. It’s a horror show without a single bad season; turn off the lights and enjoy.
Shrinking
“Shrinking” is a lovely, lovely show. It’s laugh-out-loud funny while maintaining a potent emotional core. It’s willing to dive into dark and difficult subject matter with grace and good humor, though it never feels like it’s pandering. It’s one of the great dramedies you can stream right now.
The show stars Jason Segel as Jimmy Laird, a therapist struggling with the death of his wife (Lilan Bowden). In the wake of his grief, he dramatically changes the way he deals with his patients, alarming but intriguing his therapist colleagues, Paul (Harrison Ford) and Gaby (Jessica Williams).
This core trio of Segel, Ford, and Williams gives rich, well-observed performances. They’re asked to navigate all kinds of material running the gamut of tonal experimentation, and they do so with aplomb. The show recalls the best moments of works like “Scrubs,” “Ted Lasso,” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” — fitting, given that it was created by Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein, and Segel himself.
Slow Horses
Many action-thriller spy shows, from “24” to “Jack Ryan,” are relentlessly paced and full of audacious plot twists and set pieces. “Slow Horses” moves, as its title suggests, a good deal slower, focusing more on knotted character dynamics than exaggerated global threats, much to its benefit.
The series centers on Slough House, a British Intelligence center where embittered spies are discarded from the limelight. Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman, a career highlight) leads his crew of eccentrics with a visage of apathetic hostility. But when the going gets tough, Lamb’s Slow Horses rise to the occasion, proving to their country they’ve got more pace to give.
“Slow Horses,” as shepherded by creator Will Smith (not that one), delivers appropriately compelling plots of terrorist organizations and subterfuge. The main attraction, however, is the strong, unique, endearing, and quite prickly character work, almost making the show feel like a particularly dark sitcom. It’s cozy and intense in equal measure, a great cuppa you’ll want to steep in for quite some time.
