Apple TV is currently one of the most competitive streaming services publishing high-quality content. Whether it’s a movie or TV show, Apple TV executives and producers are enjoying a great run at the moment, since some of the best shows on streaming are their originals, and competition is stiff.
When we say that a show is perfect from start to finish, we usually associate that phrase with a finished TV series. Still, we can include some unfinished series that have been running for a while and still feel perfect within the context they were released in. Whether it’s a finished series, a miniseries, or an ongoing show, here are the Apple TV shows that are perfect from start to finish.
1
‘Mythic Quest’ (2020–2025)
Mythic Quest has ended after four seasons and five years; it’s one of the Apple TV originals that was quite underrated but still garnered a great audience due to its kind of niche but relatable premise. Mythic Quest was co-written by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s creators, Rob Mac and Charlie Day; Mac also stars as the lead of the series. The show is funny and charming, if not sometimes whimsical and goofy. It also depicts the video game industry with some realism and empathy, but it’s a classic workplace comedy.
Mythic Quest follows the developers of an MMORPG video game called Mythic Quest; it shows their daily lives at the office as they develop Mythic Quest and its expansions, which they hope will be a hit. People like to say we’re lacking in good TV comedies, but if we look at Apple TV’s roster, we can see plenty of great and underseen hidden gems in the genre; one of them is definitely Mythic Quest. If you want a funny, heartwarming series with a relatable and likable cast, this show is perfect.
2
‘Schmigadoon!’ (2021–2023)
Many people think Schmigadoon! is one of the best Apple TV original series. The show ended in 2023 after two seasons, but fans still list it among their favorites and consider it a high-quality show with a lot of redeemable qualities. Schmigadoon! is perfect for fans of musicals and musical comedy, and if you enjoyed Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Schmigadoon! is its distant, maybe even funnier cousin. The first season parodies the 1947 musical Brigadoon, while Season 2 parodies the musical Chicago and is subtitled Schmicago.
Schmigadoon! follows a couple from New York, Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan-Michael Key), who take a trip to try to patch up their failing relationship and stumble onto a magical town called Schmigadoon. They soon realize that everybody in Schmigadoon expresses themselves through song. It’s like if The Sound of Music was millennial, in very simple terms. Key and Strong are great leads, and they have exceptional chemistry; they’re joined by some other comedians and Broadway stars, like Fred Armisen, Kristin Chenoweth, Ariana DeBose, and Aaron Tveit. Schmigadoon! may be an unconventional choice, but it’s pretty much perfect from start to finish and very successfully does not overstay its welcome.
3
‘Shrinking’ (2023–)
We’re used to seeing Harrison Ford in action roles, and he is, after all, one of the greatest action heroes of the 20th century. But there might be one thing Ford’s fans have been waiting for, and that’s for his sense of humor to come out in a role. We get to see more of that in the ongoing Apple TV comedy Shrinking, whose existing two seasons are pretty brilliant content. Ford is joined by some popular comedians, like Jason Segel and Jessica Williams, and the show is critically acclaimed and often up for awards.
Shrinking follows psychiatrist Jimmy Laird (Segel), who, failing to deal with his wife’s sudden passing, starts telling his patients everything he thinks. He also decides to become more involved in their lives, and while this is an ethical violation, this decision begins impacting his relationship with fellow therapists Paul (Ford) and Gabby (Williams). Shrinking is heartwarming, darkly funny, and a uniquely motivational show that examines grief and humanity in a gentle and warm manner. Season 3 will come out in January 2026.
4
‘See’ (2019–2022)
See is a finished show, and it’s one of Apple TV’s first series, next to The Morning Show and For All Mankind, which are still ongoing. It’s heavily underrated, potentially because it was not overly advertised, but being the streamer’s earliest series is a great thing because it was an indication of things to come. Steven Knight, known mostly for Peaky Blinders, created and wrote See, while Jason Momoa was its compelling leading star, next to Alfre Woodard in a recurring role.
See is set in a very distant future, when all of humanity has lost the ability of sight. People are divided into tribes in towns, and the hero of the story is Baba Voss (Momoa), a tribal warrior and leader. Baba meets a runaway woman, Maghra (Hera Hilmar), and they soon fall in love and have twins; their twins are born with the ability to see, which is a rare gift usually considered prophetic. See is one of those shows that gets better with each season, and it might take a while to warm up at first, but by the end it becomes a truly epic saga with a lot of great moments and brilliant cinematography.
5
‘Black Bird’ (2022)
As the only miniseries on the list, Black Bird has great shoes to fill. Luckily for it, this show is one of the greatest Apple TV series and one that is not just very rewatchable but also easy to binge-watch and get immersed in. Black Bird is a dramatized version of true events and is classified as a crime thriller. It was based on the experiences of Jimmy Keene, a convict who was asked by the FBI to elicit a murder confession out of a suspected dangerous serial killer, Larry Hall. Black Bird is compelling and thrilling, and you’ll truly love it from the first to the last episode; it’s one of the best thrillers of the past decade.
Black Bird opens with Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) getting arrested for dealing. After confessing for a plea deal, the judge uncovers other crimes and sentences Jimmy to ten years, effectively cancelling his plea deal. He is then approached by FBI agents, who promise to remove his punishment if he befriends a suspected serial killer, Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), who is at a hospital for the criminally insane. The entire process of Jimmy warming up to Larry is very intense and sometimes difficult to watch, and both Egerton and Hauser are exceptional performers, but Hauser stuns as Hall; he even won several awards for his performance. Black Bird is basically a perfect show.
6
‘Ted Lasso’ (2020–)
Let’s start this off with the question: are you happy Ted Lasso is returning for a fourth season? A lot of us were pretty convinced that three seasons were the end—all; so was the show’s creator, Jason Sudeikis. But the will of the people, or more likely the studio, has prevailed, and Ted Lasso will return for season four, starting a brand-new story with the same characters. From this perspective, we can consider Ted Lasso to be somewhat of a finished series and one that is truly perfect throughout its whole run.
Ted Lasso follows the titular character, Ted Lasso (Sudeikis), an American college football coach who moves with his assistant, Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), to London to coach the soccer team AFC Richmond. Lasso ends up at Richmond because the team’s new owner, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), gets the team through a divorce from her husband. Knowing how much her husband loves Richmond, she hires Lasso to be the team’s ruin, basically. However, Lasso’s optimistic and unconventional approach to training not only makes them successful but also turns some enemies into friends and uncovers the humanity in all of them. Ted Lasso is a warm, fun, and tender series.
7
‘Slow Horses’ (2022–)
Slow Horses isn’t so slow after all, as it has had five seasons since it started in 2022. Its fifth season just ended, but the show’s already been renewed for a sixth and seventh season. There’s no sign of stopping for Slow Horses, and with seven seasons secured, it’s one of the streamer’s longest-running shows. Slow Horses is simply one of the best shows you could afford to invest time in; it’s a dark comedy and a spy thriller at the same time, and after you watch one episode, you’ll realize it’s the perfect combination.
Slow Horses was based on the Slough House novel series by Mick Herron. It follows the rejected agents of MI5 who work in an agency-adjacent department called Slough House. The agents of Slough House are called “slow horses” and are there because they have somehow made themselves unwanted at HQ. In charge of Slough House is Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), a foul-mouthed, lazy genius, who is one of the most experienced and famous MI5 agents from Cold War times. Each season brings a new storyline, but some of them are connected to previous seasons, so it’s important to watch from start to finish to fully grasp who these people are.
8
‘Severance’ (2022–)
Severance is another series that’s also still ongoing, and hopefully for a long time. As mentioned, sci-fi is a highly beloved genre that will never stop having fans, but it could stop having good ideas because a lot have been exhausted over time. Still, bet you didn’t expect to watch an existential sci-fi series that understands how dystopian office work can really be, cranking everything up a notch and giving it a more terrifying premise. Severance is a perfect show, and its storyline improves in each episode, making the show perfect from start to (current) finish.
Severance follows the employees of a corporation called Lumon Industries. Lumon installs chips into employees’ brains to separate their consciousness between their workplace and private lives. There might be a number of reasons people would opt to work here, and the protagonist, Mark (Adam Scott), decides to be “severed” because of his inability to deal with the tragic loss of his wife. However, being “severed” is a lot more complex, raising questions of ethics, identity, and memory. Season 2 is a little more artistic and meditative compared to Season 1, but both are perfect. Season 1 ends on a very intense cliffhanger, and if you start the show now, you won’t experience the three-year gap a lot of us did; the story will be freshly connected in your mind. As we wait for Season 3, it’s very easy to claim Severance is probably the best Apple TV has right now.
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