Since its inception, Apple TV Plus has felt like an undiscovered gem. That’s not to say that the streamer doesn’t have hits. Obviously, there are titles like Severance, Ted Lasso and Seth Rogen’s new Emmy-nominated comedy The Studio that all deserve your attention. But outside of those three shows, it still feels like most people are uninformed about the epic content library on Apple’s streaming platform.
Sci-fi fans, I put together a separate list of the streamer’s best sci-fi offerings. If you’re looking for genre suggestions, you should go check that article out. Those titles won’t be found here.
I have filtered through Apple TV Plus’ content library to find the best TV series you probably haven’t watched yet. The 16 shows featured below have won Emmys and are led by top-notch talent. These dramas, comedies and thrillers are well-written and push the envelope in some way. You want something thought-provoking, heart-wrenching or knee-slapping? You’ve come to the right place.
Read more: Apple TV Plus Review: Small Library but the Quality Is Top Notch
Seth Rogen co-created and stars in this dysfunctional comedy series about a movie studio’s attempt at staying relevant in Hollywood. Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O’Hara, Chase Sui Wonders and Bryan Cranston round out the cast. It’s the whopping list of celebrity cameos, though, that really sets this series apart from other comedies. Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Anthony Mackie and more show up in the most unexpected and hilarious ways. There’s nothing else like The Studio on TV.
Jason Momoa stars, served as writer and executive produced the period drama Chief of War. The series tells the story of the unification of the Hawaiian islands against the threat of colonization at the turn of the 18th century. The show features a predominantly Polynesian cast and explores this time in history from the indigenous perspective.
Acapulco stars Eugenio Derbez as Maximo, a man reminiscing about his younger years working at a hotel in 1980s Acapulco. It’s a light-hearted series that is nostalgic and full of heart, which feels like an anomaly in our current TV era. You want a bright and fun show, with low emotional stakes? This is the series for you.
Slow Horses is the first television series starring Sir Gary Oldman and that detail, in and of itself, should be enough to get you to tune in. The program is inspired by Mick Herron’s Slough House book series and follows Jackson Lamb (Oldman) and his crew of low-level spies as they face espionage challenges and criminal conspiracies in each season. It’s a smart thriller that’ll keep you clued to the screen. You’ve never seen Oldman like this before.
Taron Egerton is Dave, an arson investigator, and Jurnee Smollett is Michelle, a police detective, who team up to track down a duo of arsonists wreaking havoc on their community. Smoke is a brooding drama series inspired by true events. There’s a twisty mystery fueling this program, and it boasts a strong cast, which also includes Greg Kinnear, Anna Chlumsky, John Leguizamo, Rafe Spall and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine.
If you thought the return of Happy Gilmore was the only golf comedy worth watching, think again. Stick stars Owen Wilson as Pryce Cahill, a jaded ex-golfer who is given a second chance at the sport in the form of a 17-year-old golf prodigy named Santi (Peter Dager). If you’re looking for another feel-good sports series like Ted Lasso, you should definitely give this show a shot.
Dope Thief is inspired by Dennis Tafoya’s 2009 novel and follows friends Ray and Manny, who decide to impersonate DEA agents so they can steal from drug dealers. Things go sideways when their tiny crime unveils a massive drug operation. Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura lead the series, ensuring this enthralling drama is led by top-tier talent.
In this dark comedy, Jon Hamm plays defamed hedge fund manager Andrew “Coop” Cooper, who decides to try home invasions as a means of generating income. The twist on that twist? He’s robbing his wealthy neighbors. What he doesn’t expect through all this thievery is the dark secrets he uncovers about the members of this upper-crust community.
Black Bird is inspired by the true story of Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton), a man who made a deal with the FBI to go undercover in a maximum-security prison to shorten his sentence. I forgot to mention, this is a place that houses the criminally insane and his mission is to make friends with Larry Hall, a suspected serial killer, so he can discover information about where the bodies are buried. That is, if he can get a confession in the first place. Paul Walter Hauser gives a career-best performance as Hall.
Pachinko is a sweeping drama that follows multiple generations of a Korean family from the early 1900s through the 1980s. Seriously, it’s hard to sum up how beautiful and complex the storytelling is in this series in a few sentences. I’ll just say the performances, cinematography and conflicts featured here are absolutely fabulous. It’s probably the best show on this entire list, if I am being honest.
Jason Segel, Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams star in this dramedy series about a broken therapist who strives to piece his life and family back together after a heartbreaking loss. There’s an intriguing balance found when Jimmy (Segel) breaks from professional norms to help his clients heal while seeking to do the same for himself. It’s sad, hilarious, poignant and profound. To me, this is what mental health stories on TV should look like.
When you center a murder mystery in Florida, you have to expect things to get weird. And they do just that in Bad Monkey. It’s a quirky sort of drama that stars Vince Vaughn as Andrew Yancy, a detective-turned-restaurant inspector, who gets sucked into a murder case after fishing a severed arm out of the ocean. Bill Lawrence (of Ted Lasso, Scrubs and Shrinking fame) created the dark comedy, which is inspired by the book by Carl Hiaasen.
Presumed Innocent, based on the novel by Scott Turow, hails from executive producer David E. Kelley and stars Jake Gyllenhaal as smarmy lawyer Rusty Sabich. Unlike the 1987 movie starring Harrison Ford, this series delves way deeper into the multi-layered scandal that put Sabich in handcuffs. The exploration of every character, all of whom seem awful in some way, adds to a morally corrupt narrative that makes this a riveting, albeit sometimes frustrating, watch.
Here we have yet another book adaptation to add to this list, and, thankfully, Lessons in Chemistry is a feel-good delight. Inspired by Bonnie Garmus’ book of the same name, the series follows a chemist named Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) who finds herself taking a job as host of a cooking show. Being a story that takes place in the ’50s, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Zott faces loads of sexism in the workplace. She perseveres, though, and brings a quirky scientific element to her Julia Childs-like role, making this period piece a fun show to dig into.
I didn’t know what to expect when I clicked play on Platonic. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne have co-starred in other projects together, but their delightfully oddball dynamic in this one stands out. The story follows two long-time friends who reconnect in their 40s only to find that, even though they live very different lives, they share common midlife struggles of trying to figure out where they fit in this rapidly changing world. It’s also nice to see a non-romantic exploration of a friendship between a man and a woman. Contrary to what When Harry Met Sally said, it is possible.
Sharon Horgan created this dark comedy series — which takes inspiration from the Belgian show Clan — about a group of sisters who deal with the fallout of the murder of JP, one of the women’s husbands, who, because of his distasteful behavior, is referred to throughout the show as “The Prick.” The series shifts narrative regularly to reveal bits and pieces behind who killed the man, while showcasing the dysfunctional dynamic between these bad sisters. Horgan stars opposite Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene and Eve Hewson.
