Slowly but surely, Apple TV (previously Apple TV+) found its footing. The streaming service, which at launch we called “odd, angsty, and horny as hell,” has evolved into a diverse library of dramas, documentaries, and comedies. Now its library is so packed that we’ve declared it “the new HBO.”
Curious but don’t know where to get started? Below are our picks for the best shows on the service. (Also, here are our picks for the best movies on Apple TV.) When you’re done, head over to our guides to the best shows on Netflix, best movies on Hulu, and best movies on Amazon Prime, because you can never have too much television.
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Pluribus
Watch the trailer and you may think Pluribus is a zombie show. Or some kind of sunny apocalypse fable. Perhaps a commentary on AI-curated sameness. It’s sci-fi, yes, but also a deeply thought-out character drama. But honestly, the less you know going in, the better. Everyone has different takes on what the latest show from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan means, but that’s also kind of the point. What viewers take away from it depends on the baggage they bring to it. Ultimately, though, it questions what would happen if the entire world did suddenly live in harmony. That, dear reader, is the kind of question that keeps us up at night.
The Morning Show
Every streaming service needs a flashy mainstream drama with Hollywood heavyweights to pull in viewers. Apple TV has The Morning Show. When Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) loses her morning news program cohost Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) following sexual misconduct accusations, she gets paired up with Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) to revamp the show. What unfolds is a #MeToo-era drama full of TV network intrigue and Sorkin-lite dialog. In its second season, it went deep on Covid-19, and in the third season the series’ fictional network, UBA, finds itself dealing with the aftermath of a cyberattack. The new season, in which the office politics of the network get even more tense and intense, wrapped in November.
Slow Horses
As we wrote last year, Slow Horses is the ideal show for people who want a Pizza Hut-Taco Bell-esque combination of John Le Carré–style espionage thrillers and The Office. Based around the misfits of Slough House, where MI5 agents are sent when they biff it as spies, the show effortlessly jumps from shoot-outs and car chases to quirky conversations and camaraderie. The show's fourth season, which launched last year, was a little more subdued than the ones before, but the fifth hit the gas, with a lot more twists and turns than the one before. Catch up now.
Platonic
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