Top 10 Apple TV+ Originals

We live in a world where there are so many streaming services that it definitely feels like there are too many, and they all just keep getting more expensive, that the "cheaper post cable era" of cord cutting we were promised doesn't ring true any more. It feels harder and more expensive to watch TV than it did back then, when streaming promised us a cheaper easier future of TV.

Than being said, when Apple announced that they were getting into the streaming space, I was a little worried that another player in the crowded market would be too much. However, I have been incredibly impressed with Apple TV+. While some services have struggled with quality new originals lately, I feel like TV+ has been consistent with just top tier tv shows and films. When others focus on quantity, TV+ has focused on quality. They probably have the smaller library of all the services, but I don't feel over whelmed with choice, and everything I try is typically really good. Also, while streaming has been more friendly to tv shows than it has been to films, TV+ has actually had some really great films. Also, while some services are buckling under their quantity over quality approach leading to just insane levels of cancel rates. Netflix has been the worst lately at canceling shows so quickly after acquiring or launching content, but TV+ does the opposite. They are so confident in investing in their show that they actually do the practice of green lighting season 2's+ before a show even airs. They are promising viewers investment so that viewers can trust shows with their time. While other services keep raising their costs, even by double in just the past few years. TV+ is only $6.99 and I feel lis better than most services that cost more than double. At the lowest price, and with the subjectively highest quality, I feel like Apple TV+ has some of the best value in streaming. The craziest thing about this being a top 10 list...is that most of these would easily be the best thing to debut recently if they were on any of the other streaming services, especially when it comes to films.

I wanted to do this article for a while now, but I had previously had a potential for a percieved conflict of interest in my day job, that I no longer have. The only bias that remains is being generally a fan of Apple products. That being said, this article is in no way sponsored by apple, and is my sole opinion. It is not monetized and is for the entertainment purposes of our readers.

Here are the top 10 Apple TV+ original projects according to me. Let us know your favorite shows and films from TV+ in the comments on your favorite social media!

(No Spoilers)

10. Ghosted

Ghosted turns the formula for the traditional spy action flick right on its head. It takes itself less serious, but in a way that doesn't turn into a full comedy. It is hard to describe...but this doesn't feel like a straight comedy or parody, but is also really funny. It's the juxtaposition of seeing Chris Evans aka CAPTAIN FREAKING AMERICA in the role of clueless every day civilian thrown into the role of spy action man. His genuine performance is what really sells this. It turns on the head, the tradition male spy and James Bond girl role of this film, making Ana De Armas character the "unstoppable spy badass" instead. She sells the role of strong female protagonist really well, and it is done in a way that avoids the mistakes of similar roles that have been negatively received. She is the strong super spy, but she has character growth, she makes mistakes, she isn't lifted up by putting any one down. She is easily the best part of the film, as she is a solid well written character that is relatable to everyone.

Besides being well written, funny, and well acted, this is over all just an enjoyable ride.

(Official Images from AppleTV+ Presskit, Fair Use, Images Owned by Apple)

9. Tiny World

There are a million animal documentaries to choose from. There really is. To stand out, to make it onto a top 10 list, I feel like something as saturated as an animal docu-series really needs to stand out. These aren't just good animal documentaries, but they are entertaining to those of us who may not watch this type of content often. I will admit...I mostly watched this because my toddler likes animal documentaries, especially with small cuddly animals. It was fantastic enough for me to put it on this list. Apple TV+ has multiple animal documentaries and each really does something unique, and the production value is just incredible, enough to maintain value next to scripted fictional content. Apple has also really made sure that these documentaries have quality narrators with Paul Rudd (Wait....Ant Man ... Tiny World? Was that a clever Pun apple?!!!)

Tiny World focuses on small animals in very small habitats. It even does an entire episode on an average American suburb backyard. To think that quality animal documentaries could be filmed in one's back yard is astonishing. This show has phenomenal quality imagery.

(Official Images from AppleTV+ Presskit, Fair Use, Images Owned by Apple)

8. Earth At Night in Color

Continuing the theme of unique and different animal documentaries, Earth at Night in Color was something never done before or seen before. They use newer camera technology to capture night time animal life in never before seen visibility. I have seen nighttime documentaries before and there was always that classic "night vision" green. This is like the difference between black and white tv and 4k UHD. It is something to really see.

7. Prehistoric Planet

As someone who has grown up loving dinosaurs since I was a small child, I have seen lots of dinosaur documentaries growing up. It is truly incredible the technological improvement that has taken place. If you go back and watch old Dino-doc's of the past, the CGI has not aged well at all. Animatronics (like from the original Jurassic Park have aged better, but those are too expensive for these documentaries. This is some of the best CGI I have seen ever in a Dino-documentary and it really is next level realism. If you have young children as I do, or just love dinosaurs, this could be the best Dino experience ever. The surprise standout from this experience, is just the incredible environments. I can't tell if they are using real footage or cgi environments or some blend, but whatever process they are using, the environments are just incredible.

(Official Images from AppleTV+ Presskit, Fair Use, Images Owned by Apple)

6. Emancipation

Figuring out where to place Emancipation on this list feels weird... It's like asking which Stephen Spielberg film is best, E.T. or Schindler's List. How do you compare such an apples to oranges experience. Super serious and frankly depressing historical films measured against content that is arguably more just fun entertainment. How is one "better". How do alien popcorn entertainment measure against humanities darkest hours?

To be honest...This is an incredible film, its spot on this list is largely arbitrary because it is just unlike anything else. This is a dark, historical, drama about America's darkest period, the slave trade. It is dark. It is sad. It is a period of time that is a terrible embarrassing splotch on our American history. It is important. It is incredible well shot and acted. If it wasn't for the awkwardness of Will Smith's relationship with the Oscars in real life, Smith could easily have slapped his way to a Best Picture and Actor award.

5. Silo

I love sci-fi. I love retro-scifi. I love science fiction mysteries. But the thing I love most is the false reality archetype. I love sci-fi that deals with some version of "what we are told isn't real". I love stories that in some way set up a reality that we or the protagonist is supposed to question. Now there's two ways this can go. In some cases, the audience is clued into the truth, but the characters are not; where in others, the audience is still wondering what the truth really is.

Silo approaches this in an incredible way. Audiences are clued in to a mystery, a truth about the silo early on, but it takes awhile for the characters to be clued in. However, no spoilers, but the twist at the end of the first season is that the "Actual truth" of what lies outside the silo isn't exactly what we as the audience were lead to believe either. The show does a great job of convincing the audience that they know what the characters are working torward discovering when we clearly do not. The twist ending is unexpected and leaves as much mystery as it answers.

It also approaches the protagonist strategy very oddly. The show does something I have never really seen before. the characters you meet in the pilot...lets just say don't have the character arc you expect...and the arguable "main" protagonist is introduced oddly late? It's is just unique but well executed.

4. CODA

This film is the first streaming film to win Best Picture at the Oscars. To be so good to overcome Hollywood's prejudice against streaming is more than anything I could say about this film. It is an emotional and sad coming of age story about a hearing girl growing up in a deaf family. It will make you cry. Even if this isn't your usual type of film; it is worth a watch I promise.

3. For All Mankind

We went from the Wrights brother's first ever airplane to landing on the moon in about 60 years. That level of technological evolution is just insane. We build a spaceship capable of taking humans to the moon back in the 1960's, 30 years before I was born, and back when the most powerful computers were larger than a room and less powerful than the iPhone in my pocket.

To be honest...one of the biggest questions I have is I really wonder why since 1960 to 2023...we haven't seen any where close to that level of technological evolution when it comes to flight and space travel. We went to the moon and just...stopped. We don't even have the technology today to recreate that let alone surpass it.

What makes For All Mankind so intriguing is...it doesn't feel far fetched. it feels strangely normal. After seeing three seasons of reasonable technological evolution, the show's premise begs a serious real life question? Why didn't we go back to the moon?

No other show has caused me so much existential crisis as seeing perfectly reasonable representation of 1990's with Facetime. Like why couldn't they figure that out back then? This alternative history "scifi" show is so oddly realistic that it makes our own reality seem implausible. It makes our timeline feel hilarious.

(Official Images from AppleTV+ Presskit, Fair Use, Images Owned by Apple)

2. Mythic Quest

If it wasn't for the number 1 pick's existence, Mythic Quest would be a Huge number one for this list, and easily a favorite on any streaming platform. It is so incredible well done. More gamers and nerds need to watch this show as it could easily take the place of the "nerdy comedy" hole left by Big Bang Theory. These two shows don't share the same exact type of humor at all, but their setting and cast of characters feel at home in nerdy fandom. The nerdy, gamer, fandom would really resonate with the setting a video game development company office work place. Like TBBT, it pokes just as much at fun at the group portrayed as it does shows its love for it, in a way that feels balanced, inclusive, and tasteful. Mythic Quest's first season really just sold us on fantastic cast of characters.

I love the humor in this show, the cast, the characters, the setting, everything. As a diehard gamer, a gamer who knows a lot of developers, this show just feels at home.

HM: Lessons in Chemistry

Before I get to number 1, I wanted to take a brief moment for an honerable mention. There were other amazing TV+ originals I left off this top 10 list, but Lessons in Chemistry deserved a mention. The reason I only have it as an honerable mention is that we only have the first two episodes at the time of this writing; so I feel like it is too early to really judge. However this show is really good so far. Brie Larson does an amazing job as the lead. This show is funny and charming and delightful. I don't care if you are one of the die hard MCU Captain Marvel haters...this is a fun show. It has science and romance mixed in a way that doesn't work but does. Interesting is some of the biggest criticisms she has faced in Captain Marvel, are not present here. Here she is shown to have struggles, flaws, and character growth. She is a very real human character, complimented by her struggles.

The first two episodes show some of the most real romances. It is not dressed up as larger than life like Hollywood does. It is awkward, slow, funny, mistake ridden. These characters are not rom-com characters, but feel like real humans who have real insecurities. It might be one of the more relatable romance stories on screen.

1. Ted Lasso

I don't really care about sports. I have watched soccer exactly once in my life. To say that this show did not immediately stand out to me as something I would be interested in an understatement. I would never have watched this show. However, it got so much praise, and so many of my friends and coworkers at the time were watching it. I decided to at least watch the pilot. I remember staying up late binging most of the first season, laughing at 2 am, unable to stop.

Fast forward to today, I have a Ted Lasso shirt, coffee mug, calendar, and wall art. This show is simply one of the best on streaming, and is so humorous, real, heartwarming, and deep. It isn't even the stereotypical sports feel good story. This isn't about a coach rallying a team of misfits to a championship and they win at the end. In fact...this story feels almost less about soccer than anything. It feels as almost as if soccer is just the setting in which the characters meet, and the story is really about the people. You could love soccer or never watch it and still love this narrative.

Have your ever met someone who just immeasurably likable? No one has a negative thing to say, and this person is just so "nice" that you feel bad have any other feeling than to like them? Someone that is so kind or positive that it pushes you to want to be better? That's a feeling this show gives.

This show has just top tier execution, acting, story telling, humor, and a feeling optimism in bad scenarios. It resonated with me really strongly because its story hit so close to home. This is story starts with a US football coach traveling across the globe to start a new life in a new country playing a new sport. I first watched the show while making a big life change of my own. I was literally on my way across country, moving to a new state and a new job when I first watched this show, and it just hit home. I was born and raised in my home state for my whole life, and been at my job for 7 years. This was a big change for me, and Ted Lasso was making an even bigger one. It was comforting in a timely way.

I highly recommend this show to anyone who hasn't seen it, sports fan or not. This is an award winning master piece that I am not afraid to oversell. This show has impacted our pop culture in a way that is nothing short of phenomenon. BELIEVE!