Here are the top 10 best Apple TV Plus shows

Apple TV Plus shows started immediately with the streaming service’s launch in November 2019. Since then, we have seen a low but steady trickle of new series debut on the service, and now there’s enough content to really dive deep into its selections. But which series are the best Apple TV Plus shows? Good question, and one we aim to explore here. 

As you will see, the original Apple TV Plus series already has a variety of content; from children’s shows to more mature series just for their moms and dads. You can learn more about Apple TV and what to expect from it here.

Remember, if you buy a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV box, you get one year of the service for free (read more about it here.) For everyone else, you can sign up now for Apple TV Plus for $4.99 a month, following a seven-day free trial, at the link below. 

Best Apple TV Plus shows

1. For All Mankind

This is our favorite of the current crop of Apple TV Plus shows. It’s an alternate history tale, showing the Soviet Union winning the race to put a man on the moon in 1969. In response, the NASA of this timeline decides to keep going. Part of their plan is to recruit more women and minorities into the US space program much earlier than what happened in our reality. It’s a different look at how early space exploration could have happened.

2. Dickinson

Emily Dickinson is the real life US poet who inspired tons of other writers over the decades. This show examines a fictionalized version of Dickinson’s early life. The twist is that this incarnation of the poet, as played by Hailee Steinfeld, and her friends act and sound more like teenagers in modern times. It’s not exactly historically accurate, but it is entertaining.

3. Home Before Dark

We have read stories about fictional young reporters in school. However, this show tells the story of a real-life young journalist, Hilde Lysiak. As played by Brooklynn Prince in this series, the 11-year old Lysiak publishes her own newspaper for her community. Things take a big turn for her as she starts investigating a murder that happened near her home.

4. Ghostwriter

This reboot of the classic children’s TV series focuses on four kids. They attempt to solve mysteries that are tied into well-known books like The Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland. If you have kids and want to encourage them to read more, this series might be a good first step.

5. Defending Jacob

This Apple TV Plus show is based on the best selling novel of the same name by William Landay. Chris Evans takes off his Captain America uniform and shield as the star of this series. He plays an assistant DA in a Massachusetts town, who suddenly has to deal with the fact that his son Jacob is accused of murdering a fellow classmate in school. This is an old-fashioned murder mystery, but with some family drama as well.

6. Mythic Quest

HBO’s Silicon Valley made a comedy out of the creation of tech startups. Mythic Quest does something similar. Instead of an internet app company, this show is about the workings of a video game developer. Specifically, it centers on the creator of an MMO game, and his team members that have to deal with his sometimes outrageous ideas and requests. Rob McElhinney, the co-creator of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, also co-created this show, and stars as its lead character Ian Grimm, who sometimes believes his job is to “create worlds�.

7. Little America

This series isn’t as flashy or as high concept as most of the other Apple TV Plus shows on this list. However, it may be more human and heartwarming. It’s an anthology show, with each episode following an emigrant as he or she tries to make a life in America. Episodes have shown the life of a Nigerian boy who comes to Oklahoma and becomes a cowboy, along with a Chinese woman who ends up winning a cruise for her family. It shows the American experience through many different eyes.

8. See

This sci-fi series takes place hundreds of years in the future, after an unnamed disaster strikes the Earth, and blinds all humans. The few survivors manage to stay alive, and one tribe of people, led by Aquaman’s Jason Momoa, weds an already pregnant woman. To their surprise, she has twins, both of which can see. This development gets the attention of a rival tribe, who wants the twins for their own purposes. This is a different sort of post-apocalyptic tale with heart and family.

9. Servant

M. Night Shyamalan is an executive producer of this thriller series, and also directed two of its episodes. The show itself fits with his dark storytelling themes. A young couple deal with the tragic death of their baby boy. However, the wife later starts to take care of a reborn doll that she thinks is really alive. The husband hires a nanny to help take care of their “child� but she seems to act like this thing is real as well. Get ready for some Shyamalan-style twists and turns in this series.

10. The Morning Show

This show is by far the biggest high-concept series on Apple TV Plus. It also has the biggest stars, with Jennifer Aniston as a national morning news anchor who is shocked when her co-anchor, played by Steve Carell, is fired for alleged sexual misconduct. To make matters worse for Aniston’s character, she also has to deal with a rising young female reporter, played by Reese Witherspoon. The office and media politics can sometimes get a bit confusing and dull, but the performances by Aniston, Carell, Witherspoon and Billy Crudup as a news executive make this show very watchable. 

That’s our look at the best Apple TV Plus shows so far. We will update this list when more shows debut on the service. In the meantime which ones are your favorites?

Again, you can sign up for the service at the link below, which costs just $4.99 a month after a seven-day free trial.