This day was inevitable. The company that’s made nearly everything in our lives better has now done the same for what we watch on TV. Apple threw its hat (and its
$200 billion+ purse) into the steaming wars fight when it launched its subscription streaming service Apple TV+ on November 1, 2019. Apple CEO Tim Cook described Apple TV+ as a “gift to our users,” and they spared no expense. Anyone with a new Apple product capable of streaming Apple TV+ (iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV) got access to the company’s growing library of TV shows and movies free for a year. Even without the free trial, the service was, and still is, only $4.99, half the price of Netflix’s lowest subscription tier. But they really showed their confidence in Apple TV+ by putting billions towards making the best Apple TV+ shows.
The company reportedly paid a ridiculous $240 million of the rumored $6 billion it spent on its initial slate of shows to launch the service on two seasons and 20 episodes of their morning TV drama The Morning Show, starring heavyweights Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, and Reese Witherspoon. And it’s been reported it plans to pay Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis $1 million per episode for the upcoming third season of the show. Luckily, Apple wasn’t only writing checks; they were producing hits. Ted Lasso won seven Primetime Emmy Awards in 2021 and is widely regarded as one of the best shows on television. The Morning Show has racked up seven Golden Globe Awards in its first two seasons and won Apple TV+ its first Emmy Award in September 2020, less than a year after the streamer first debuted. But money and awards alone didn’t make Apple TV+ a streaming supremacy contender; its ambition did.
Apple TV+ tackled the disillusionment of immigrants chasing the American dream (Little America) and the perils of youth basketball (Swagger). The first starring TV roles in years for Award-winning actors Samuel L Jackson (The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray), Claire Danes (The Essex Serpent), Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto (WeCrashed) came courtesy of Apple TV+. It’s been less than three years, but Apple TV Plus’s impressive catalog of shows is as good as any streaming service’s offerings over the same time, and we decided to rank the 25 best Apple TV Plus shows you should be streaming now.
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