It feels like the app that everyone forgets about, the last one left at school to get picked for a team, but hear me out… right now it’s the best app to have and you’re missing out on some of the best shows of 2023 by not having it.
Yes, there are great shows on the other apps. The Bear on Disney+ is by far the best show on there (prove me wrong), and Dave on Neon should definitely be on your list to watch but overall, Apple TV+ is the best bang for your buck when it comes to shows you’re actually going to be recommending to your friends.
Here are the best Apple TV+ shows of 2023 you need to watch:
1. The Crowded Room
This is the show that made me write this story. It’s Tom Holland’s best performance (in my eyes) and after watching it, you can see why he’s said he needs to take a break from acting.
The show is inspired by Billy Milligan, the first person diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and the first to be acquitted of his crimes for this reason.
The show is a slow-burner but has you more and more hooked as you go. Episode 9 had me burning with anger, made worse by the fact that hardly anyone I know has Apple TV+ so I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.
2. Silo
Did you ever watch The City of Ember?, a niche call back to a 2008 kids movie I know but this feels like the adult version of it, just 10x better.
The show is based on a community that lives in a silo, going hundreds of stories into the ground. They’ve lived there for so long, they’ve forgotten all history from before the silo, even forgetting why they’re there in the first place.
If you’re looking for a show that’s going to have you thinking ‘What is going on here?’ from the very first minute, this is the show for you and you’ll be hooked on the mystery of WTF is going on right till the finale (and then you’re going to be left, like me, thinking that till season 2).
3. Shrinking
If I had to pick one show to be my favourite, it would be Shrinking.
It’s a comedy about a recently widowed therapist, played by How I Met Your Father's Jason Segal, lost in his grief, trying to reconnect with himself, his daughter, and his clients.
That was a really formal way of saying the guy’s life is at rock bottom, has ruined his relationship with his daughter after the loss of his wife, and we get to watch him slowly piece his life back together (it’s funny, I promise.)
It reminds me a lot of Ricky Gervais’ After Life, and with 20-30 minute episodes, it’s an easy one to just have on in the background.
Oh yeah and Harrison Ford’s in it.
4. Platonic
This is another one that’s just good for a quick laugh.
It stars Rose Byrne, and Seth Rogen as former best friends who reconnect after the loss of Seth’s wife ( I promise I don’t just have a thing for shows where the partner dies).
I think because the two played a couple in the comedy ‘Neighbors ’, it kind of felt like a follow-up to that with Platonic being just as funny and relatable ( not that getting into a war with Zac Efron's frat house in Neighbors was relatable, but you know what I mean.)
5. Ted Lasso
I almost forgot to include this and I'm ashamed of myself because Ted Lasso. is. the. best.
I'm not going to pretend Apple TV has always been good, when I got my free 12-month subscription with my iPhone, Ted Lasso was one of the only decent shows on there (that and the Morning Show.)
But Season 3 has come out and it's the perfect ending to Ted's football journey.
Some people were talking trash about the latest season saying it'd lost its magic but to them, I say get yourself and keep watching.
The start of season 3 has Ted, played by Jason Sudeikis, and AFC Richmond heading towards the bottom of the table with things continually going from bad to worse (ok now that I'm writing this, it does feel like I have a weird thing for people having a sh*t time…)
At one point I even thought about stopping watching because it didn't make me happy like the previous seasons BUT I'm so glad I didn't.
The second half of the season wraps things up perfectly in a way that it wouldn't have been able to without those hard-to-watch moments.
6. Hijack
This is still on my list to watch but thankfully Dan Webby from The Edge Breakfast has watched it and had this to say.
‘Hijacked is far from an original story idea - A plane takes off, hijackers take over control, and the passengers have to work out how to overpower said hijackers.
But what made this show so entertaining was the drama and suspense. The intensity slowly builds and doesn’t let up for the whole series. Watch it if you like being on the edge of your seat…
…Avoid if you're a nervous flyer'.
7. Severance
Another one I haven't seen and Sam from our digital team won't stop giving me grief about it.
'Severance takes the notion of work/life balance to a whole new level.
The basic premise revolves around a ragtag bunch of office workers at a biotechnology company who have their subconscious split every time they enter or leave the office - essentially living a double life, one stationed permanently at work and one in the outside world.
Curiosity eventually catches up and a conspiracy begins to unravel - often leaving us with more questions than answers as Severance quickly becomes something you can’t stop watching.
The eerie, mysterious, and subtly charming sci-fi will resonate with Black Mirror fans and is absolutely must-watch telly. I ripped through the first season’s nine episodes in one sitting.'
