Good to Their Core: The 10 Best Apple TV Originals
In the seemingly endless world of streaming options, Apple TV has low-key turned into an essential venue for smart, innovative, and hilarious original TV series.
Although it’s best known for binge-friendly hits “Ted Lasso” and “Severance,” the library of Apple TV originals runs deep, spanning everything from Hollywood satire to supernatural comedy-horror to reboots of beloved titles. And the best Apple TV shows no doubt will continue to be worth watching for years to come.
It’s easy to get hooked on Apple TV’s original series, and it’s no trouble finding more to watch. Below you’ll find the best original series that Apple TV has to offer.
Looking for the hottest entertainment?
Subscribe to CableTV.com's email newsletter for the latest TV event viewing guides, entertaining takes, and money-saving promotions.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy & Terms and Conditions.
10. “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock”
The original 1980s run of this Jim Henson creation was enough of a cult classic that it spawned a reboot on Apple TV in 2022. Although the series is slightly refreshed to reflect attitudes of the current day, “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock” retains the whimsical spirit and handmade craft of the original Muppet series, with the fuzzy-haired Gobo Fraggle joining Wembley, Mokey, Boober, and Red in their kooky misadventures that impart life lessons. It’s an added plus that the series also features delightful appearances from guest stars like Ed Helms and Daveed Diggs.
9. “Shrinking”
Weird things can happen in your life when you lose a loved one, and “Shrinking” hilariously and heartwarmingly captures how the grieving process can bring about both the good and the bad. Co-created by Jason Segel, Bill Lawrence, and Brett Goldstein (the latter two of whom are also widely recognized for “Ted Lasso”), this Emmy-nominated series stars Segel as a therapist who, after the death of his wife, adopts the position of a “psychological vigilante” and crosses all sorts of ethical lines by dishing out blunt advice to his patients. Harrison Ford co-stars as Segel’s curmudgeonly boss, rounding out a rock star cast.
8. “Cape Fear”
You may already be familiar with the two previous film adaptations of John D. MacDonald’s pulp classic “The Executioners,” including the Martin Scorsese-directed effort from 1991 that stars Robert De Niro. But this 10-episode miniseries may just be the best version of all, with a hunky, delirious, and ultra-menacing Javier Bardem delivering his most gloriously frightening performance since “No Country for Old Men.”
The basic premise is still the same: Bardem is Max Cady, a psychotic ex-con hellbent on taking revenge on the attorneys who got him locked up 17 years earlier. For this adaptation, the plotline dives into murkier territory, with noir-ish twists adding to the terrible tension amid the noir-ish subtropical heat of Savannah, Georgia. Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson fit their roles perfectly as Cady’s targets, a married couple (both attorneys) with secrets of their own.
7. “Pachinko”
A period piece that spans the 20th century, “Pachinko” follows multiple generations of the Baek family, Korean immigrants who venture to find opportunity but also disaster in 20th-century Japan. Based on a bestselling novel by Min Jin Lee, this Apple TV show’s second season is particularly acclaimed for the pristine costume design, nuanced plotting, and awe-inspiring cinematography. You end up with a unique view into the shaping of our modern world, and many insights about how the decisions and actions of parents can end up shaping those of their kin.
6. “Severance”
The trivial rewards and soul-killing indignities of corporate America magnify into a perfect vision of late-capitalist dystopia in “Severance.” A puzzle-box thriller done up with a retro-cool set design, the series stars Adam Scott as a corporate drone who, along with his coworkers at a biotech company, signs up for a medical procedure that splits his memories between his life in the office and at home. Needless to say, this makes for a horrible new definition of work-life balance, and the show’s most surreal moments do little to dispel the feeling that many of us with experience in the corporate world have already been living some version of this severed reality in our own jobs.
5. “Pluribus”
“Ignorance is bliss,” a villain once said in 1999’s “The Matrix,” and this series — created by Vince Gilligan of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” fame — takes that idea to its logical conclusion. In a premise that also carries a whiff of Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World,” the global population has been taken over by an alien virus, turning everyone into a smiling hive mind. Only a handful of humans are immune to the virus, including a romance novelist played by Rhea Seehorn who rebels to the efforts at assimilating her with rude defiance. It makes for darkly comedic viewing, raising familiar existential questions about whether or not the world is better off with a happy and 100% compliant human population.
4. “Slow Horses”
Gary Oldman was brilliant as the pudgy, meticulous George Smiley in 2011’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” and now he’s flipping the script on espionage tropes yet again as another anti-James Bond type. On “Slow Horses,” he holds it down as Jackson Lamb, the disgruntled, boorish, flatulent leader of an office of MI5 rejects who have all suffered disastrous career setbacks in their efforts to protect the United Kingdom from enemies foreign and domestic. Dismissed by the big bosses at London headquarters, this crew of misfit spies nevertheless press on, investigating convoluted cases and saving the day time and again. “Slow Horses” makes for a solid TV adaptation of a series of spy novels by Mick Herron, acclaimed heir to the master literary spook John Le Carré.
3. “Widow’s Bay”
It’s like “Jaws” but funnier and way freakier: A quaint New England town is trying to get more tourists to visit, and the only problem is that the place is haunted by a curse that carries with it all manner of supernatural horrors. Matthew Rhys is pitch-perfect as the mayor in steadfast denial about the town’s curse, while Stephen Root does his thing as the local true believer.
2. “Ted Lasso”
It’s hard to imagine a country as devoted to soccer as England actually tolerating a Premier League coach who knows nothing about the sport. But “Ted Lasso” plays nicely into the American myth that all it takes is a good attitude and a lot of pluck to do right for the world, and the show is so fun to watch because it has a whole lot of heart. It’s the most wholesome Apple TV show you can find, thanks in no small part to Jason Sudeikis’s homespun fake Missouri accent.
1. “The Studio”
Hollywood needed “The Studio.” The movie business is struggling from all angles these days, and co-creators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg pull no punches in their withering satire of the movie executives who green-light films on Los Angeles studio lots. With the help of some cinematic heavyweights — including Catherine O’Hara, Zoë Kravitz, Martin Scorsese, and Ron Howard playing an unforgettable asshole version of himself — this hilarious Apple TV show offers a glimpse into the ins-and-outs and many absurdities of today’s big-budget movie culture.
FAQ about the best Apple TV Originals
Are there any good Apple TV originals?
Yes, there are many good Apple TV originals. The platform is best known for TV series including “Ted Lasso,” “Severance,” and “Slow Horses.”
What are the top 10 series on Apple TV?
The 10 most critically acclaimed Apple TV shows are “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock,” “Shrinking,” “Cape Fear,” “Pachinko,” “Severance,” “Pluribus,” “Slow Horses,” “Widow’s Bay,” “Ted Lasso,” and “The Studio.”
What are the best Apple TV original movies?
Although Apple TV isn’t as well known for original movies as it is for TV shows, the best Apple TV original movies are “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Tetris,” “Argyle,” and “CODA,” the latter of which won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor in the Academy Awards in 2022.
