The 19 best shows on Apple TV

In terms of acclaim, “Severance” has delivered with gusto for Apple TV. It took Adam Scott from a known character actor to a proper television star, and has led to numerous parodies. The show, which has aired for two seasons with a third coming, is a dystopian sci-fi series about a corporation that has created a world in which its employees have two distinct identities: one at work and one outside of work. “Severance” has received a ton of Emmy nominations, with Britt Lower and Tramell Tillman winning for their performances.

You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. “Ted Lasso” is one of Apple TV’s defining shows, right alongside “Severance.” It was as popular, Emmy-acclaimed, and successful as “Severance,” though we are using the past tense. The first season of “Ted Lasso” was great, and it won several Emmys. We thought the second season was good, if a clear step down, but it still won multiple Emmys. By the third season, we, like many fans and to a degree Emmy voters, had grown tired of “Ted Lasso.” And yet, a delayed fourth season was greenlit. Maybe it will be a bounce-back?

Do you like British spy stories? Do you like easy-to-digest procedurals? Then give “Slow Horses” a shot. Gary Oldman headlines the case of “Slow Horses,” though the ensemble is quite impressive. Set in the world of MI5, the show focuses on Slough House, which is where the agency sends malcontents, flakes, and real pains. Of course, they also often manage to save the day.

“Breaking Bad” made Vince Gilligan TV royalty, and he then co-created “Better Call Saul,” the acclaimed spinoff that co-stars Rhea Seehorn, among others. Gilligan may want you to forget “Battle Creek,” a CBS procedural he co-created that flopped in spite of solid reviews. Instead, let Apple TV’s “Pluribus” be seen as his follow-up to his time in the “Breaking Bad” universe. There is a heady, well-crafted sci-fi plot, and there is excellent acting from Seehorn. However, the underlying premise of “Pluribus” is effectively, “What if Apple gave Vince Gilligan all the money in the world?”

You can probably chalk up “Down Cemetery Road” to the success of “Slow Horses.” It’s based on a different book series from Mick Herron, and it was adapted by a “Slow Horses” writer. Emma Thompson stars as a private eye short on patience and people skills who reluctantly gets pulled into a conspiracy. While it seemed like “Down Cemetery Road” could have been a limited series, a second season has been announced, and we’re happy to hear it.

Harrison Ford is on a sitcom! Okay, so like many modern “sitcoms,” it’s more of a dramedy, and the premise did make us hesitant at first. Jason Segel stars as a therapist who starts “getting real” with his patients after his wife’s death, and that could have been cringeworthy. Instead, it has turned out rather well, and did we mention Harrison Ford is in it?

Is “The Studio” overrated? Yes. Is it good? Also yes. We just can’t really parse why it was an Emmy juggernaut. The showbiz satire set in Hollywood is funny, and there is some strong acting, but none of the satire feels all that sharp, and the desire to have the main characters, particularly Seth Rogen, continually end up on the losing side got tiresome. On the other hand, the last two episodes of the first season were genuinely really good, so it ended on a high note.

Vince Vaughn stopped getting the chance to do his Vince Vaughn thing in movies, but it can work in television, evidently. “Bad Monkey” is based on one of those brisk crime novels in the Elmore Leonard vein, specifically by Carl Hiaasen, and those often work well on television. Vaughn stars as a motormouthed former police detective who pokes his nose into a case and then just keeps digging and prodding because he can’t help himself. Only indulge if you do, indeed, enjoy the Vince Vaughn thing, but this is a good version of that in our book.

With a name like “Murderbot,” you know it’s a comedy! Now, it isn’t a sitcom, but the show based on a book series is darkly comedic. The main character, literally named Murderbot, is a private security cyborg that gains autonomy but must hide it. With a successful first season based on the first book handled, a second season, presumably based on the second book, is in the works.

Once people realized that “The Morning Show” was going to be pulpy and, at times, nonsensical, it started to grow in estimation. Yes, the show is over the top, but it’s going for that “Scandal” kind of thing. With a cast that includes Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, that works.

What if the space race never ended? That is what is at the core of “For All Mankind,” an underrated offering from Apple TV. It does alternative history well and also jumps a decade between seasons every time. A Russian-focused spinoff, “Star City,” debuted in 2026.

“Pachinko” is a very specific show, but also one that was acclaimed by those attuned to its specificity. The show, which ran for two seasons, spanned four generations of a Korean family dealing with living in Japan and the discrimination found therein. It’s a show about one Asian community trying to live within another Asian country, the kind of specific reality usually not commented on anywhere Americans can tune in. To that end, Apple TV took a big swing with this show.

On the limited series front, we have “Manhunt.” Sometimes shows that should be limited series pivot and try for multiple seasons. “Manhunt” didn’t bother. To be fair, when you are telling the story of the aftermath of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, you really can only go so far. As the title indicates, the show focused on the search for John Wilkes Booth, but also the ripple effects of Lincoln’s assassination in the United States.

“Mythic Quest,” which chronicled a video game development company, was a funny show, but it is also worth noting for another reason. The show ran for four seasons, but it was canceled after the fourth season. However, Apple then decided to do a send-off for the show’s creative staff. They were given the chance to write and film an updated ending to the final episode of the fourth season to make it a proper series finale. That simple gesture, which is indeed simple for a company like Apple, went a long way toward the show’s overall legacy.

Let’s make a couple of entries kid-friendly. One of the first big gets for Apple TV was the rights to “Peanuts.” This led to a few Snoopy-related shows, including “The Snoopy Show.” Each episode moved at a brisk pace, as each featured three segments. “The Snoopy Show” adhered to the “Peanuts” ethos so adored by generations, and it did well for three seasons before pulling the plug to avoid saturating the market on all things Snoopy.

Here is a show that mixed nostalgia with children’s programming. Kids in the current generation may be new to “Fraggle Rock,” but their parents were also happy to delve back into this world. The ethos of “Fraggle Rock” emerged anew, tapping into that Jim Henson worldview even if the Muppets are over at Disney. The show has done a couple of seasons and a couple of Christmas specials, and never say never to more adventures down at Fraggle Rock.

Hailee Steinfeld popped as a child actor in “True Grit,” and now she’s married to a rich, successful football player, Josh Allen, and still has an acting career. Once film stardom didn’t really take off, she got a shot at television stardom, and it worked more or less. “Dickinson” was never the biggest show on Apple TV, but it ran for three seasons. Steinfeld, a talented actor in adulthood as in childhood, stars as a stylized version of the poet Emily Dickinson. It’s a specific show, but if you are on its wavelength, it works.

What if you had money you didn’t earn, a life experience shrouded in indulgence, and a desire to do right by the world? Well, then you might be Maya Rudolph’s character in “Loot.” The comedy focuses on a woman who divorces her billionaire husband and now finds herself rich and with her bubble popped. She decides she wants to be charitable, but of course doesn’t exactly do that without rubbing a few people the wrong way. By dint of not being too on the side of Rudolph’s character but allowing her to try and do the right thing, “Loot” has managed to thread the needle from a storytelling perspective.

After the end of “Mad Men,” Jon Hamm couldn’t coast forever on the good graces of that show and some fun podcast appearances. Fortunately for him, and for us, “Your Friends and Neighbors” seems to be working. It plays to Hamm’s strengths, as he plays a former hedge fund manager who turns to crime to maintain his lifestyle and his ex-wife's after a recent divorce. After two seasons, the show has been renewed for a third, so while Andrew Cooper may not be Don Draper, Hamm is doing fine for himself, it would seem.