In the age of when so many streaming services are fighting for our attention (and our money), we sometimes rightly let some slip through the cracks. Remember the days of just Netflix – but now we have Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV+ and so many more. It’s almost impossible and extremely expensive to subscribe to all of these. But unfortunately, some of these services haven’t been getting their deserved love. Today, I’m referring to the forgotten sibling which is Apple TV+. I know we all saw and subsequently ignored the little Apple TV app on our iPhones or perhaps even deleted it because storage is both valuable and fleeting but I think this decision is one we all need to reevaluate quickly.
Apple TV+ has grown slowly with a focus on making original content so while they have a far smaller catalogue than some of your favourites, their quality is unmatched. I’m here to guide you into the world of Apple TV by telling you the shows to immediately go watch. Like immediately!
Severance:
Now this was the first Apple TV+ original which I watched and it definitely set a high standard for the platform as a whole! The show is set in a dystopian version of our world where a company, Lumon Industries, uses a medical procedure called ‘severance’ to separate the consciousness and memories of their employees between their home and work life. So as soon as they step into the severed floor at work, all they can remember about themselves is what went on during their last 9-5 work stint and once they step back out into the real world, they are unable to remember a single detail about their work. The viewers follow four severed employees, Mark Scout, Dylan. G, Helly. R and Iving. B, played by Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower and John Turturro respectively. These four slowly get suspicious of Lumon and soon uncover the long twisted conspiracy which explains what is actually going on. There are 9 glorious episodes with so many twists and a cliffhanger that will leave you screaming at the TV. I’m still waiting for the second season but I’ve been promised that it’s on the way!
The show received 14 Emmy nominations and 2 wins but more importantly it has my stamp of approval!
Interesting fact: it is directed by Ben Stiller from Zoolander
Severance — Official Trailer | Apple TV+
Ted Lasso:
Now you’ve probably already heard of my next pick because it’s been EVERYWHERE recently. Jason Sudeikis plays the titular character Ted Lasso, an amateur American football coach, who is brought to the UK to coach the popular Premier League team, Richmond F.C.. But the gag is… he knows absolutely nothing about ‘soccer’. So, what ensues is an extremely lovable cast of footballers, football managers and the extremely optimistic Ted Lasso trying to figure out how not to get relegated and kicked out of the Premier League. And when I say loveable cast, I mean you will find yourself cheering so hard when they win and being close to tears whenever they don’t. I have never been much of a football fan but honestly this show had me checking up on what’s actually going on in the Premier League; to my utter dismay, Richmond FC is a fake team. Nevertheless, the show brought me real laughter and that’s what matters. The third and final season is currently airing.
Another heavily awarded show but again my heavily coveted stamp of approval has been bestowed. I recommend bingeing it!
Fun fact: this started off as an advert for NBC Sports’ coverage of the Premier League.
Ted Lasso — Official Trailer | Apple TV+
Schmigadoon!:
This is one of those shows that its name encapsulates the essence of the show. The wacky and odd vibe of the name is replicated in the show which honestly had me questioning my dislike for random singing in shows. It had me singing along to a song about corn pudding – yes, you read that right! The ensemble cast consists of Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Kristin Chenoweth and of course the leads Keegan-Michael Key (from Key and Peele and Friends from College) and Cecily Strong (from SNL). The main couple are doctors from New York who find themselves trapped in a 1950s-esque musical because of their romantic troubles and the only way to escape is to find true love. This leads the pessimistic and practical ‘big-city’ couple to look for loopholes to get back home. All in all, Schimagadoon! did the thing!
Season two just started streaming and has a slightly darker feel to it because it’s based on grittier 1970 musicals but the show’s comedic touch is still not all lost!
Schmigadoon! – Official Trailer | Apple TV+
Shrinking:
Imagine your therapist loses his filter and starts telling you exactly what’s on his mind such as “Your husband sucks and you should leave him immediately”. Yeah, this show gives us just that! It follows a therapist, Jimmy, played Jason Segel, who just lost his wife and is internally crumbling as a result. He then decides to take a new approach in dealing with his patients: brutal honesty.
I haven’t seen Jason Segel play many characters with considerable depth –barring Marshall when his dad passed in How I Met Your Mother- so I was a little worried about this show, especially because I absolutely love how hilarious Jason Segel is in comedies. But Shrinking strikes a nice balance between drama and comedy very well which is something every dramedy wants to accomplish but sometimes fails to. I don’t know why this was my introduction to Harrison Ford although he is the seventh highest grossing actor in North America but I can certainly see why he holds that title now. I definitely have to give him his flowers because he quickly became my favourite character on the show. This is in fact a difficult task considering I have loved many of the other cast members from their previous projects – Jason Segel from HIMYM, Jessica Williams from Season 2 of Love Life and Entergalactic as well as Christ Miller from Scrubs.
The show came out in January and all 10 episodes are currently out and ripe for an intense bingeing session.
Shrinking — Official Trailer | Apple TV+
So definitely give Apple TV+ a chance, you’ll definitely find some gems! Moreover, nothing has been cancelled prematurely – I’m looking at you Netflix and HBO Max!
Written by: Ozioma Ofoezie
Edited by: Harsheni Maniarasan