The 20 original series on Apple TV+ you should make time to watch

Arguably AppleTV+’s biggest show as of yet, Ted Lasso is a feel-good and heartfelt comedy that has captured the hearts of audiences around the world. Jason Sudeikis plays the titular Lasso, an American football coach hired to manage a struggling English Premier League football team. Ted knows nothing about the sport but makes up for it with his optimism, kindness, and spirit. The series expertly balances both dramatic and comedic tones, with the end result feeling like a warm hug.

Inspired by the #MeToo movement, The Morning Show is a riveting workplace drama starring Hollywood heavyweights Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Aniston plays veteran anchor Alex Levy, while Witherspoon plays progressive newbie journalist Bradley Jackson. Their workplace is shaken up by a sexual harassment scandal involving Alex’s former co-host, Mitch Kessler, played by Steve Carell. The series addresses timely topics and is further elevated by its starry cast.

One of the streamer’s best and most intriguing shows is the mysterious Severance , starring Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, Christopher Walken, and more. It follows a team of office workers who undergo a ‘severance’ procedure, which removes their memories of home while at work and their memories of work while at home. With its unique and trippy concept, the series is full of twists and suspense that will have viewers completely hooked. This is certainly not just another day at the office.

Based on a true crime story, Black Bird is a dark and compelling watch that stars Taron Egerton, Paul Walter Hauser, and the late Ray Liotta. Egerton plays Jimmy Keene, sentenced to ten years in prison when he receives an offer from the FBI. If he can get a confession from suspected serial killer Larry Hall, he will be freed. However, the task proved more challenging than he could have thought. Hauser won many awards for his disturbing performance, including an Emmy.

Chris Evans trades the MCU for gritty drama in Defending Jacob, which co-stars Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery. In the show, an assistant district attorney’s world is turned upside down when his teenage son is charged with murder. He becomes torn between protecting his son and upholding the law that he has sworn duty to. The ethical and social themes are layered and fascinating, while Chris Evans proves he is more than just Captain America with his top-notch performance.

Foundation is a sci-fi epic that is sprawling in scale and visually spectacular. The show stars Jared Harris and Lee Pace and is set in a galaxy where humans are scattered on planets and living under the rule of the Galactic Empire. Harris plays psycho-historian Hari Seldon, who predicts millennia of chaos and tries to preserve his culture among his followers. The show has one of AppleTV+’s largest budgets and is a must-watch for fans of grand sci-fi like Star Wars and Dune. 

Hailee Steinfeld stars as famed poet Emily Dickinson in Dickinson, a period piece with a modern twist. The series explores the constraints of society and gender through Emily’s rebellious defiance during the nineteenth century. Heavily fictionalized and stylized, the series is inspired by Dickinson’s life but has its own unique and comedic tone. For example, rapper Wiz Khalifa stars as an embodiment of Death, and Emily swears, takes opium, hallucinates a talking bee, and twerks. 

Based on the New York Times bestseller by Min Jin Lee, Pachinko is a sweeping drama that follows a Korean immigrant family across four generations as they leave their homeland and try to survive. The series features Youn Yuh-jung, best known for her Academy Award-winning performance in Minari. Large in scope and rich in storytelling, it tells a moving, inspiring story backed by extraordinary acting performances and masterful cinematography. 

From Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard, Central Park is an animated musical comedy full of vibrancy and charm. The series follows Owen Tillerman and his family, who live and work in Central Park. They must work together to fend off a rich hotel heiress who wants to transform the park into condos. Full of heart and catchy tunes, the series boasts an all-star voice cast that includes Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, and more. It ran for three seasons on the streamer.

Bad Sisters is an Irish black comedy series that follows the Garvey sisters. They are bound together by the shock deaths of their parents and their promise always to protect one another. One of the sisters, Gracie, is married to a man who is jealous of her close relationship with her sisters and targets anyone who gets too close to his family. The lead actresses have ripping chemistry, and the show offers a murder mystery full of surprises and biting humor. It is totally binge-worthy.

Gary Oldman leads an all-star English cast in Slow Horses, a spy thriller based on a series of novels by Mick Herron. Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, the obnoxious leader of a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents who have become the organization’s dumping ground department. Oldman is a standout as the sloppy yet intelligent boss and is joined by actors Jack Lowden, Olivia Cooke, and Kristin Scott Thomas. The show has also received a number of Emmy nominations. 

From the team behind Ted Lasso , Shrinking is a drama-comedy series starring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford. Grieving the loss of his wife, therapist Jimmy Laird begins to tell his clients exactly what he thinks. It is not clear how his new approach of brutal honesty will help people, but he begins to make huge changes to others' lives, including his. The show has the perfect balance of laugh-out-loud and heartfelt moments and will touch and charm audiences. 

From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan comes Servant, a supernatural horror series starring Harry Potter ’s Rupert Grint. The story follows a Philadelphia couple mourning the death of their infant son. They replace him with a lifelike reborn doll as a form of therapy, who Dorothy believes to be real. This invites a mysterious force into their home that unearths their dark secrets. The series is full of psychological thrills and twists that Shyamalan is so well known for.

Lessons in Chemistry is an empowering and thought-provoking miniseries set in the 1950s, based on Bonnie Garmus's novel of the same name. Brie Larson plays Elizabeth Zott, who dreams of becoming a scientist during a time when women were told they belonged in the kitchen. She accepts a job on a TV cooking show, which she uses to teach overlooked housewives around the country about scientific topics. Larson shines in this important period piece.

Trying is a British comedy series starring Rafe Spall and Esther Smith. They play Jason and Nikki, a couple who want to have a baby but are struggling to conceive. They decide to adopt, and impressing the adoption panel becomes a challenge thanks to their chaotic friends, family, and lives. The series is extremely relatable and insightful for those having trouble starting a family and is certainly a comfort watch in a world full of intense television. It’s an underrated gem on the streamer.

For those who love a good murder mystery that is also lighthearted, The Afterparty is a perfect watch. Both seasons (so far) of the anthology series revolve around a murder, where each character recounts what happened in their own episode, but everybody has a different story. The first season takes place at a high school reunion, while the second season takes place at a wedding. Full of unique elements like musical numbers, The Afterparty is both thrilling and absurd.

Things get post-apocalyptic in Silo , a high-concept sci-fi drama series starring Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins, Common, David Oyelowo, and more. Set in a bleak and toxic future, the story follows a community that exists in an underground silo where they believe they are protected from the ruined and inhabitable surface world. When Juliette, an engineer, is tasked with investigating the death of a colleague, she discovers alarming secrets that threaten the silo’s existence. 

From Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the team behind Band of Brothers and The Pacific, comes Masters of the Air, another World War II set drama. It follows the Mighty Eighth Air Force of the United States Army, which engages in aerial battles against the Germans. It features a huge ensemble cast that includes young stars like Austin Butler, Callum Turner, and Barry Keoghan. The visuals and action sequences are breathtaking, and the themes around war hit deeply.

There have been many movies and shows about the space race, but never anything quite like the imaginative For All Mankind. The series is set in an alternate world where the Soviet Union beats the United States to the moon, and the space race continues for many years to come. It offers an intriguing fictionalized version of history, which explores the challenges that would have followed and where humanity would be if this version of events were true. 

Acapulco is a charming and colorful comedy series starring Eugenio Derbez. In the present day, Maximo Gallardo looks back to 1984, where as a young man, he gets his dream job at Acapulco’s hottest hotel resort. However, he realizes it is far more challenging than he could have imagined. Full of lovable characters and heightened ‘80s nostalgia, Acapulco is a vibrant and purposefully over-the-top romp that makes for great escapism and whimsical fun.