Here’s the interesting thing, for me, about Apple TV+. I can sit here — mind you, as someone who’s been a subscriber since the iPhone …
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Here's the interesting thing, for me, about Apple TV+. I can sit here -- mind you, as someone who's been a subscriber since the iPhone maker launched the service back in late 2019 -- and instantly rattle off more than half a dozen series that I think are just the best of the best, and so good that it keeps me happily subscribing to the service. Ask me to do the same thing for Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and maybe Max, though, and ... well, let's just say we'd definitely be here for a while.
My favorite thing about Apple's streamer has been the same now since it started (and likewise, for that matter, the same goes for my chief complaint). When an Apple TV+ show is good, it is sublimely good. And, correspondingly, when it misses the mark, it misses it in embarrassingly dramatic fashion.
Needless to say, these seven Apple TV+ shows below are very, very good. And for different reasons -- this list of my all-time favorites (so far) includes everything from feel-good comedy to prestige drama to sci-fi, and more.
I was going to go in alphabetical order, but I'll start with this Israeli spy drama that's so good I've watched it a grand total three times now.
Two seasons of Tehran are currently available to stream on Apple TV+, with a third season already finished but reportedly delayed because of the ongoing turmoil in Israel. Long story short, I watch a ton of spy series, and Niv Sultan is so fantastic here as a Mossad hacker/agent (as is Shaun Toub, who plays her Iranian nemesis). Season 1 starts by secretly inserting Sultan's character inside Iran to disrupt the security at a nuclear facility -- and pretty much everything goes wrong, which obviously makes for pulse-pounding, super-addictive TV.
The tradecraft, the ripped-from-the-headlines storytelling, the fantastic acting and writing -- Tehran is one of the most criminally underrated series on any streamer right now. Anyone who loves the espionage drama, or for that matter just really loves quality dramas, needs to binge Tehran right freaking now.
This next Apple TV+ gem, meanwhile, has filled the Ted Lasso-sized hole in my heart, and then some.
Three seasons in, Acapulco hasn’t lost any one of its shine for me whatsoever. It’s a vibrant, colorful, and supremely feel-good series about a young man in 1984, Maximo Gallardo, who lands his dream job at the hottest resort in Acapulco: Las Colinas. Narrated by an older Maximo, the show blends heart and humor, depicting his rise among a lovable gang of eccentric co-workers. The older Maximo's narration, by the way, gives the show a heartwarming Wonder Years/How I Met Your Mother vibe that you can't help but appreciate.
Notwithstanding the nostalgic 80s vibe throughout, by the way, the abundant culture and delightful setting of Acapulco will also have you wanting to dust off your passport and head to Mexico as soon as you’re done bingeing this incredibly wholesome series.
We move next to Drops of God, which is basically like Succession meets the rarefied world of fine wines.
The plot centers around the death of a celebrated wine expert, a man who leaves behind a vast fortune -- as well as a series of tests to determine who will inherit it. His estranged daughter and his protégé are pitted against each other in the high-stakes competition, and following their respective emotional journeys involving everything from wine to memories to familial relationships makes this series a compelling watch for both wine lovers and fans of great drama alike.
As of this writing, we've just learned that a second season is coming to Apple TV+. That definitely deserves a (clink).
Based on Min Jin Lee’s acclaimed novel of the same name, Pachinko tells a sweeping, multigenerational story about a Korean family across four generations. It's got a richly layered narrative, highlighting themes of identity, resilience, and the importance of understanding one’s cultural heritage and place in the world. And the production value is off the charts, making it feel sort of like something A24 might do with a TV show.
Pachinko is very much a story about fate, chance, how one goes about playing the game of life — and how the rules are seemingly stacked against some people from the outset. The title is a metaphor, referring to both the game of Pachinko and to how much of an uncertain gamble life is. As an aside, the “In Between Days” scene during Episode 4 -- in which the character Solomon dances in the rain -- is one of the best sequences I’ve ever seen in a TV show.
Travel shows have been done to death, with so many intrepid, adventurous personalities traveling all over the world to record amazing and wonderful sights. This hilarious Apple travel series playfully skewers all that by tapping a funny curmudgeon who doesn’t really like to travel — well, outside of luxurious hotels — as its host.
Even better, while host Eugene Levy may appreciate the creature comforts of home, he’s also genuinely curious and nice, and his big-hearted personality shines through, making The Reluctant Traveler another feel-good Apple standout.
I got obsessed pretty quickly with this next Apple TV+ drama, starring Rebecca Ferguson and based on Hugh Howey’s Silo book series, in a way that reminded me of my reaction to Lost.
In short, Silo is a highly addictive sci-fi series set in a dystopian future, one where the last 10,000 humans have taken refuge in a vast underground silo to avoid a toxic environment aboveground. The plot centers around a community ruled by stringent laws and shrouded in secrets, with residents increasingly questioning their reality and the true origins of their world.
Tensions escalate, various mysteries come to light, and the gripping storyline -- with its themes of control, freedom, and survival -- offers a tense viewing experience that will keep you hooked from start to finish.
As if one critically acclaimed, near-perfect espionage drama wasn’t enough, Apple TV+ also has one more to offer fans of the genre. Slow Horses is adapted from Mick Herron’s series of spy novels that have made him the de facto successor to John le Carre.
Gary Oldman stars here as irascible spymaster Jackson Lamb, and he leads a disgraced unit of MI5 agents who’ve been put out to pasture for one nearly career-ending mistake or another -- all of them relegated to “Slough House” (the spooks who work there, by the way, are derisively known as Slow Horses, a slight twist on the name of their office). Basically, the attraction here is in seeing the spy genre turned inside out. The inhabitants of Slough House look pretty ordinary, are out of shape, make dumb mistakes, and are never less than utterly compelling.
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