7 Apple TV Shows That Are Perfect Masterpieces

Image via Apple TV Published Aug 26, 2026, 5:34 AM EDT Jennie Richardson is a TV Features and Lists Writer for Collider, and a graduate student pursuing an MFA in Fiction Writing. In other words, she really loves stories. Sign in to your Collider account In the last handful of years, Apple TV has made a name for itself as a streamer, and it's known for having strong shows across genres. Apple TV's science fiction series have well-crafted world-building and nuanced characters, and they make excellent use of their impossibly high stakes. Meanwhile, the streaming platform has also become known for its comedy series, due to their distinct senses of humor and hilarious character dynamics. Apple TV has a number of excellent limited series, as well as some fantastic new shows with just one season so far. What is especially impressive, though, is that a number of the platform's shows have managed to maintain a strong quality for multiple seasons. These shows were able to draw viewers in early on with their unique premises and compelling characters, and from completed shows to ongoing ones, they are all excellent all the way through. These are seven perfect Apple TV shows that are perfect masterpieces throughout every season. 1 'Ted Lasso' (2020–Present) Image via Apple TV Ted Lasso is currently in the middle of its fourth season, but already, the show's latest installment is off to a strong start. The series follows Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), an American college football coach who is hired as the new coach for the English football team, A.F.C. Richmond. Ted has almost enough enthusiasm to make up for his lack of experience in this entirely new sport, but little does he know, the team's owner (Hannah Waddingham) hired him in the hopes that he would fail. Each season of Ted Lasso takes Ted and his team on an intentional and emotional journey. Season 4 has been a big shake-up for the show, moving Ted into a new chapter with an entirely new team. Still, every season of Ted Lasso has continued to stay true to the central premise, which sees the optimistic Ted trying to turn things around for his players despite the seemingly insurmountable odds working against them. 2 'The Big Door Prize' (2023–2024) Image via Apple TV+ Based on the novel of the same name by M.O. Walsh, The Big Door Prize is a small-town dramedy series with a speculative twist. Life in the small town of Deerfield, Louisiana, is shaken up when a strange machine suddenly appears inside the town's general store. Whoever uses this machine will be given a short but conclusive result that tells them their biggest life potential, ranging from answers related to their careers to those that promise a better personal life. The Big Door Prize is a fantastic series from start to finish. Its characters are all complex and flawed in captivating ways, and the machine forces all of their complicated dynamics and messy secrets to the surface. Those who have previously believed that they were happy enough start wondering if they might want something more, while those who have been unhappy for a long time start to have hope for the first time in a while. The Big Door Prize is a thoughtful and touching series that puts the bulk of its focus on its characters, using its unique premise to tackle themes like grief and regret. 3 'Dickinson' (2019–2021) Image via Apple TV+ Dickinson is a fictionalized retelling of the story of Emily Dickinson (Hailee Steinfeld), combining its period drama structure with comedy and romance elements for a truly fantastic result. The events of the series start when Emily is dealing with a number of big changes in her life, some welcome and others not so much. Emily is being pressured to find a husband, and now, her brother (Adrian Enscoe) is going to marry her best friend, Sue (Ella Hunt), for whom she has feelings. At the same time, Emily is set to finally get one of her poems published for the first time, setting off the chain of events that will change her life and legacy forever. The series follows both Emily's work as a writer, as well as her complicated personal relationships, especially her romance with Sue. Dickinson is a sharply funny and emotional series that both excels as a work of historical fiction while also standing out on its own. Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one. 🏜️Paul Atreides 🖖Capt. Kirk ✊Princess Leia 🔦Ellen Ripley 🔥Max Rockatansky FIND YOUR HERO → 01 How do you lead when the stakes couldn't be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you. AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward. BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes. CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction. DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission. EI don't lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I'm already moving. NEXT QUESTION → 02 What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails. APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly. BImprovisation — I'm at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a new one. CConviction — I know what I'm fighting for, and that certainty doesn't waver under fire. DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury. EEndurance — I outlast things. I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What is the thing you'd sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass. AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it. BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind. CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire. DThe truth — what actually happened, what's actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not. EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are. AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated. BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself. CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it. DWith professional care but clear limits — I'll protect you, but I won't pretend we're family. EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don't trust easily, but when I do, it holds. NEXT QUESTION → 05 You're facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you're the only one who sees it defines everything. APrepare in silence. If they won't listen, I'll be ready when they finally have to. BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself. CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore. DDocument everything. The truth matters even if no one believes it yet. EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That's the only argument that counts. NEXT QUESTION → 06 What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they'd pay it again. AMy innocence — I've seen what I'm capable of, and I can't unsee it. BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it's a lonely one. CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause. DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what's out there now, and I can't pretend otherwise. EAlmost everything — and I'm still not sure what I'm carrying it all for. But I keep going. NEXT QUESTION → 07 How do you feel about the rules of the world you're in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What's yours? AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why. BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it. CThe system is the problem. I'm not here to work within it — I'm here to dismantle it. DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself. EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What's left is instinct, and mine are reliable. NEXT QUESTION → 08 When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you. ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters. BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they're counting on me. CThe belief that what we're fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one. DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don't stop. That's just who I am. EI'm not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I'm still on it. REVEAL MY HERO → Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible. Paul AtreidesYou carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you're capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become. You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you. You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn't ask for but can't escape. Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway. That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won't, is exactly you. Captain KirkYou lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you've always believed there's a third option nobody else has thought of yet. You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously. Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you've earned it. Kirk's genius isn't tactical — it's human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction. That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours. Princess LeiaYou are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you're fearless, but because giving up simply isn't something you're capable of. You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable. You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you've never looked back. Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion. That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you. Ellen RipleyYou are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone's hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters. You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself. Ripley's heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn't have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan. You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn't there. When it counts, you don't flinch. That's everything. Max RockatanskyYou have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril. You don't ask for help, don't need validation, and don't wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply. Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it's earned in silence and tested in action, not in words. Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting. That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 4 'Bad Sisters' (2022–2024) Image via Apple TV+ Based on the Belgian series Clan, Bad Sisters follows the five Garvey sisters: Eva (Sharon Horgan), Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), Bibi (Sarah Greene), and Becka (Eve Hewson). The sisters' parents died when they were young, so they are especially close, and they are extremely protective of one another. In the present timeline, Grace grieves the death of her abusive husband, Jean-Paul (Claes Bang), while the sisters try to hide their mysterious involvement in his demise. In the past timeline, Jean-Paul intentionally and maliciously ruins each of the sisters' lives. In the past, fed up with Jean-Paul's horrible treatment of the five of them, Grace's four sisters plan to murder him. None of them are killers, though, so they go through quite a bit of trial and error while trying to figure out what will work. They keep their plan a secret from Grace, but as Jean-Paul's actions get worse, the sisters become more desperate to pull off his murder. In the present, the specifics of Jean-Paul's death are kept secret, with the mystery hanging over the show's first season. Season 2 of Bad Sisters is also fantastic, revolving around a different central murder mystery. 5 'Shrinking' (2023–Present) Image via Apple TV Shrinking follows Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel), a therapist who's been suffering from debilitating grief since his wife, Tia (Lilan Bowden), was killed by a drunk driver. Since Tia's death, Jimmy has been struggling to function, and he has been neglecting his parenting duties to his teenage daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell). His job is starting to frustrate him as well, and he's having a hard time holding his tongue when he disagrees with his patients. Suddenly, Jimmy decides to switch things up with his patients. He starts to give them his honest opinions, coupled with harsh advice, and he goes above and beyond to help them get past their biggest issues. This includes inviting one patient, Sean (Luke Tennie), to live in his pool house. This new method causes problems for Jimmy at work, but it also opens up his life again, allowing him to rebuild his relationships with the closest people in his life. Shrinking has three heartfelt and absolutely hilarious seasons so far, and it is consistently excellent throughout. 6 'Mythic Quest' (2020–2025) Image via Apple TV Mythic Quest follows the team behind an extremely popular multiplayer role-playing video game called Mythic Quest. Leading the team are the game's creator, Ian Grimm (Rob Mac), and its lead engineer, Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao). Ian and Poppy are extremely close and codependent, and they also butt heads all the time, both professionally and personally. This sets the tone of the workplace at MQ, leading to messy dynamics and frequent bickering amongst the employees. Mythic Quest is an absolutely hilarious workplace comedy, but it is also a thoughtful series that carefully examines what it means to turn art into a career, particularly through its gut-wrenching departure episodes. The series has a sharp and delightfully strange sense of humor, as well as some of the most compelling and uniquely flawed TV characters of recent years. It was sadly canceled after just four seasons, but each one is truly fantastic. 7 'Severance' (2022–Present) Severance is a breathtaking science fiction series that takes place in a world where nearly everything is controlled in some capacity by a company called Lumon Industries. Lumon has invented the Severance procedure, an operation that splits the brains of certain employees in two, separating the memories of their outside selves from their work selves. Mark Scout (Adam Scott) works on the severed floor of Lumon Industries. He doesn't know what he does at work all day, just that his job is too important to risk exposing to even himself. Mark doesn't mind, because having a separate work self allows him to do his job despite the grief he's dealt with since his wife's death. Mark's world is shaken up when a man named Petey (Yul Vazquez) visits him and tells him that they know each other from work — and that Petey is slowly getting his memories back after leaving Lumon and getting a new procedure done. On the severed floor, in the Macrodata Refinement department, Mark S. is distraught after the sudden departure of his best friend. In Petey's place, Mark welcomes the floor's latest employee, Helly R. (Britt Lower). Severance is a truly flawless series, with two absolutely perfect seasons full of shocking plot twists and devastating gut-punches. Severance Release Date February 17, 2022 Network Apple TV Showrunner Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman