10 Best Apple TV Shows Of 2026 (So Far) – TVLine

If you’re an Apple TV subscriber, chances are you’re constantly telling your friends that it’s one of the best streamers out there for quality TV programming. The streaming service has been home to some big hits in recent years — from “Severance” and “Ted Lasso” to “Shrinking” and “Slow Horses.” Apple TV has also become the home of numerous epic sci-fi series, using the company’s deep pockets to create big-budget spectacles.

The streamer has kept its winning streak going into 2026, with splashy new series and continuations of pre-existing favorites. Although the year’s not over yet, we’re looking at the best series Apple TV has offered us throughout 2026. The menu is pleasingly varied, featuring thrillers, crime dramas, space adventures, comedies, and wildly inventive shows that throw genre distinctions out the window.

Keep scrolling to get a look at our picks for the best Apple TV shows of 2026 (so far), and drop us a comment with your favorites of the year.

“Lucky” is an action-packed chase thriller that will have your heart beating overtime. Based on Marissa Stapley’s 2021 book of the same name, the series stars Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular character, a talented thief and conwoman. When we first meet Lucky, she’s in Las Vegas, celebrating the success of a 10-million-dollar heist she pulled off with her husband, Cary (Drew Starkey). When she wakes up in the morning, her head is pounding, and her husband, along with the money, are nowhere to be found. With the FBI, led by Agent Billie Rand (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) and Agent Eli Gates (Mo McRae), hot on her trail, Lucky is no longer living up to her name.

The show is fast-paced and will keep you on the edge of your seat as you watch Lucky escape from seemingly impossible situations time and time again. But it still finds time to slow down amidst the chaos, slowly revealing Lucky’s backstory and how she came to be the thief that she is. It mostly boils down to her father, John (Timothy Olyphant), an incarcerated conman, who taught her the tricks of the trade. Also of note is Lucky and John’s relationship with Priscilla (Annette Bening), a fearsome mob boss who has a vendetta against the family.

Led by a fantastic performance from Taylor-Joy and some brilliant supporting work from Olyphant and Bening, “Lucky” is a slickly constructed thriller filled with spell-binding fight sequences, gorgeous cinematography, and a propulsive pace.

“Star City” is an ingenious spin-off of the excellent series “For All Mankind,” using the events of that show as a jumping-off point while still creating an identity of its own. “Star City” takes place in a world where the Soviets beat the U.S. to the moon in the space race, but it doesn’t simply rehash the events of its predecessor. Instead, the series functions like a political thriller and winds up one of the best shows of 2026. As the first man lands on the moon, the KGB is determined to weed out the Soviet who’s sharing secrets with the Americans. Meanwhile, the Chief Designer (Rhys Ifans) of the Soviet space program has been told to focus all his efforts on the moon, but is planning a secret mission to Venus.

Though the Soviet Union at this time is depicted as a patriarchal, oppressive environment, it’s the women in the show that (perhaps ironically) shine. Irina Morozova (Agnes O’Casey) is tasked with surveilling a cosmonaut and his wife. Her boss is the demanding Lyudmilla Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin), whom she longs to impress. Anastasia Belikova (Alice Englert) is an awkward, anxiety-ridden cosmonaut forced to marry the impulsive Sasha Polivanov (Solly McLeod) for appearances. The show constructs a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere in which the characters are always looking over their shoulders, resulting in a fascinating series of character studies and an invigorating political mystery.

A great A24 show based on Rufi Thorpe’s novel of the same name, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” is one of 2026’s standout TV offerings. Elle Fanning (one of only a few actors to be nominated for an Emmy and an Oscar in the same year) plays Margo, a bright college student who drops out of school after becoming pregnant with her professor’s (Michael Angarano) child. She decides to have the baby, despite the fact that her living situation is not ideal. Two of her roommates move out, and in their place, her ex-wrestler father Jinx (Nick Offerman) moves in. Strapped for cash, Margo begins posting on OnlyFans, using the mysterious username HungryGhost.

Though “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” is filled with unusual characters and surprising shenanigans, it’s not quirky in a cute way. The show is messy because Margo’s life is messy, and staying afloat in late-stage capitalism often feels like being the butt of some cosmic joke. The cast is phenomenal. Fanning makes Margo into a three-dimensional human, and Offerman strikes the perfect notes as her redemption-seeking father. Michelle Pfeiffer is amazing as Margo’s mother, playing an aging woman used to relying on her looks. The rest of the cast includes Marcia Gay Harden, Greg Kinnear, and the great Nicole Kidman, who also serves as an executive producer. The show never judges its characters for their survival strategies, and it’s a refreshingly honest look at sex work, motherhood, and growing up.

The very existence of “Widow’s Bay” feels like lightning in a bottle. A brilliant writer (Katie Dippold) and director (Hiro Murai) come together in a meeting of the minds, casting a magnificent ensemble and striking the perfect, off-kilter tone — somewhere between slapstick comedy and Stephen King-esque horror. The result? One of the biggest TV shows of the year.

Matthew Rhys leads the show as Tom Loftis, the mayor of Widow’s Bay, a small island off the coast of New England. While trying to improve the island’s reputation in time for tourist season, Tom begins encountering strange phenomena and occurrences which may or may not be connected to the town’s long-standing curse. (Spoiler alert: they are.) With the help of his oddball assistant, Patricia (Kate O’Flynn), and a local fisherman, Wyck (Stephen Root), Tom tries to break the curse before it destroys the island for good.

The show is laugh-out-loud funny in parts, and cover-your-eyes scary in other moments. This mishmash of styles results in a riveting watch. The town absolutely feels like a real place, and you wholeheartedly believe its residents have lived there for years. Every member of the supporting cast — including Dale Dickey, Jeff Hiller, and the amazing K Callan – is an essential part of the “Widow’s Bay” recipe, which serves up a delicious feast of genre-bending delights.

Season 2 of “Silo” was a risky proposition, separating (or siloing, if you will) Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) from her community and trapping her in a neighboring silo for most of the season. In Season 3, Juliette returns to Silo 18, where the new normal is far from ordinary. Juliette has no memory of her time outside the silo, and the recent rebellion is still fresh in the air. Meanwhile, Season 3 introduces a parallel timeline some hundreds of years before Juliette’s time, which eventually leads to the creation of the silos. In this timeline, we meet Congressman Daniel Keene (Ashley Zukerman), his Navy pilot sister (Jessica Brown Findlay), an intrepid journalist (Jessica Henwick), and a U.S. Senator played by Laura Innes.

The Before Times portion of Season 3 is just as engaging as the silo parts, and even though we know where society winds up, it’s thrilling to finally begin discovering the why and how of it all. This season is a marked improvement over the last, as the plot once again feels urgent, and Juliette’s transformation from a memoryless pawn to the stubborn fighter she once was is a gratifying journey. The cast is operating on all cylinders here, and every character is captivating, even as we balk at some of the decisions they make. Season 3 gave us plenty to chew on until Season 4, which premieres in July of next year.

We “Orphan Black” fans know that Tatiana Maslany is one of our greatest living actors, so it’s a thrill to watch her deliver another tense, elastic performance in “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed.” One of the most underrated shows of 2026, this Apple TV series stars Maslany as Paula, a soccer mom engaged in a “relationship” with Trevor (Brandon Flynn), a cam boy whom she pays by the hour. Locked in a custody battle with her ex-husband (Jake Johnson), her sessions with Trevor are her only solace. When Paula witnesses Trevor being attacked and kidnapped, she takes it upon herself to solve the mystery.

Along for the ride are Paula’s fact-checking co-workers (Kiarra Hamagami Goldberg and Charlie Hall), and a deadpan cop played brilliantly by Dolly de Leon. Murray Bartlett plays a man at the center of this mystery, and his tense dynamic with Paula propels the series forward. While it initially comes off as a dark comedy (and is indeed funny), “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” morphs into a thrilling mystery, with shocking revelations dropped like bombs in every episode. With energetic camerawork, a powerful, bass-heavy soundtrack, and ferocious performances, the series is a vivid piece of storytelling that marches full-speed ahead.

According to co-creator Bill Lawrence, “Shrinking” was pitched as a three-season story, with each season focusing on a different theme: Grief, forgiveness, and moving forward. Though Apple TV has now announced that Season 4 will tell a new story, Season 3 serves as a conclusion to the original narrative. “Shrinking” stars Jason Segel as Jimmy, a widowed therapist managing the grief of losing his wife. He’s supported by a loving community that includes his colleagues Gaby and Paul (Jessica Williams and Harrison Ford), and his friend and former patient, Sean (Luke Tennie).

The show’s third season centered around the concept of moving forward. Jimmy’s daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell), prepares to leave for college, and Jimmy has to deal with letting her go. Gaby re-evaluates her career and deepens her relationship with Derrick (Damon Wayans Jr.), while Paul deals with his worsening symptoms of Parkinson’s. Jimmy’s best friend Brian (Michael Urie), and his husband Charlie (Devin Kawaoka), prepare to adopt a child.

Season 3 maintains its satisfying sentimentality without becoming saccharine, and the sense of catharsis it offers is, well, cathartic. This season also sees the inclusion of several prominent guest stars, most notably Michael J. Fox, who came out of retirement to play a Parkinson’s patient who delivers a memorable catchphrase: “F*** Parkinson’s.” Ford delivers some career-best work here, and the show’s depiction of found family and healing is deeply profound. 

Just two seasons in, “Criminal Record” is already one of the best British crime dramas we’ve seen. Season 1 introduced veteran detective Daniel Hegarty (Peter Capaldi) and ambitious, rising star June Lenker (Cush Jumbo). When Lenker suspects a man Hegarty sent to prison for murder is actually innocent, tensions arise between the two, and the depth of Hegarty’s corruption is revealed. Come Season 2, Lenker is shaken after witnessing the murder of a Muslim teenager at a rally, and her investigation leads her to escaped convict Billy Fielding (Luther Ford). Now working in intelligence, Hegarty is trying to take down Thompson and has been surveilling Fielding in the process, compelling Lenker to work with her nemesis once again.

“Criminal Record” succeeds largely on account of its fascinating characters, who are wonderfully well-rounded and all deal with complicated inner lives that often clash with their professional obligations. The second season’s plot, involving a potential bombing, is more tense than the first, and the dynamic between Lenker and Hegarty shifts as she becomes more determined than ever to make things right. Capaldi’s brooding intensity is on display in full force here, while Jumbo does a superb job portraying Lenker’s moral quandaries.

“Your Friends & Neighbors” Season 2 leans into the fun and absurdity of it all. When we first met Jon Hamm’s Coop, he was fired from his lucrative hedge fund job by a greedy boss. Strapped for cash and determined to maintain his lavish lifestyle, he starts stealing from his wealthy neighbors. This works until Coop is framed for murder. He was exonerated at the end of the first season, but he’s still working as a thief in Season 2, even though he was offered his old job back.

Coop has stepped up his game, working with housekeeper Elena (Aimee Carrero), who needs the money more than he does. Coop finds that he likes stealing from his neighbors, and their obscene wealth and infuriating ignorance makes it easy to cheer for their misfortune — even though he is technically one of them. Season 2 gets a much-needed energy boost thanks to the arrival of James Marsden, who plays Owen Ashe, a charming billionaire with an insidious dark side. Coop’s two exes, Sam (Olivia Munn) and Mel (Amanda Peet), also return as they are forced to reevaluate their places in this enclave.

“Friends & Neighbors” gets bigger and bolder in its second season. It’s great to watch Coop take pleasure in his thievery, throwing aside his gloomy attitude from the previous season. Marsden is a brilliant addition to the cast, slyly hiding his sinister nature beneath a veneer of gregarious charisma.

“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” is one of the best sci-fi shows on Apple TV – and that’s saying something. The series picks up after the events of the 2014’s “Godzilla.” Cate Randa (Anna Sawai) learns that her father, Hiroshi (Takehiro Hira), has been researching the Titans. As Cate delves into this jaw-dropping world, she gets to know her half-brother, Kentaro (Ren Watabe), a hacker named May (Kiersey Clemons), and Col. Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell). The modern-day storyline parallels a 1950s timeline featuring a younger Lee (Wyatt Russell), Dr. Billy Randa (Anders Holm), and Cate’s grandmother, Dr. Keiko Miura (Mari Yamamoto).

In Season 2, Cate attempts to rescue Lee from the Axis Mundi, an interdimensional rift from which Keiko emerged, having not aged in 50 years. The season also sees the arrival of King Kong, amping up the Titan battles even further. The present-day and 20th-century timelines are more closely connected this time, as well, making the narrative easier to follow, and it’s fun to see an ageless Keiko interact with her full-grown son (and grandchildren). The monster CGI is better than ever, delivering cinematic spectacle for the small screen. The second season replicates the show’s secret to success, pairing compelling character development with exciting MonsterVerse action.