These sci-fi shows make Apple TV+ better, smarter and more fun. Image: Cult of Mac
Looking for your next science fiction binge? Apple TV+ offers some excellent sci-fi series to keep your eyes popping and (more importantly) your brain humming.
From mythic procedurals to New Testament space operas, Apple TV+ gives viewers a number of exciting science fiction series worthy of a watch. Some seem hilariously literal, while others prove truly fantastical. No matter your tastes, there’s something for every sci-fi fan.
Here are our picks for the best science fiction shows on Apple TV+.
★★☆☆☆
Memories make powerful motivators this week on Extrapolations. Photo: Apple TV+
Extrapolations, the too-ambitious-in-all-the-wrong-ways Apple TV+ science fiction show “about” global climate change, revisits an old friend this week for a look at the courier job from hell.
The show’s focus this time around is not on the environment but rather on the personal toll of living in a future you can’t control or understand. The episode, entitled “2066: Lola,” is a laborious and overfamiliar story that is, for no good reason, longer than almost every other episode of Extrapolations.
★★★★☆
Nobody's really going to the moon ... are they? Photo: Apple TV+
The first season of Hello Tomorrow!, the Apple TV+ show about men selling lunar dreams and lies, comes to a close this week in high style.
Jack needs to tie up some loose ends, and he has no plan for what happens when his clients finally get to the moon. His son Joey must figure out who to honor, his mother or his father. Eddie has butterfingers and Shirley has to pay for it. And someone is, at long last, awake.
The season finale, entitled “What Could Be Better?,” is a great conclusion to a great season.
In Silo, if the lies don't kill you, the truth will. Photo: Apple TV+
Silo premieres in May, and Apple TV+ just released the full trailer for the upcoming drama series based on a bestselling trilogy of dystopian novels.
In the series, a few thousand people are left on earth hiding in a mile-deep silo. But what if everything they’ve ever been told about the outside world is a lie?
★★☆☆☆
Nothing could stop Boris Becker's rocket ride to the top of tennis. Photo: Apple TV+
New Apple TV+ docuseries Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker centers on a famous tennis player embroiled in a scandal. Directed by prolific but utterly predictable documentarian Alex Gibney, the two-part series charts the rise and fall of the youngest Wimbledon champion in history.
Debuting today on Apple TV+, the straight-ahead documentary goes from Boris Becker’s historic wins to his similarly historic losses on the world stage thanks to dicey financial decisions. And it does so in the most formulaic fashion possible. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but it’s no ace, either.
Will Patricia Arquette's second show on Apple TV+ be as big a hit as Severance? Photo: Apple TV+
High Desert will join the collection of comedies on Apple TV+ when it premieres in May. This won’t be light fare, as it follows an addict who decides to become a private investigator.
The upcoming series stars Patricia Arquette, winner of several Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy awards.
★★★☆☆
Change is definitely in the air on The Big Door Prize. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+’s high-concept existential comedy The Big Door Prize tackles the big questions this week. A small town has been invaded by something called the Morpho machine, a device that prints out cards based on people’s identities and tells them what they’re meant to be in life.
Some people love the Morpho machine and the big changes it triggers. Others, like our hero Dusty and a local priest, have issues with it. A strong showing from The Big Door Prize cast helps this week’s episode, entitled, “Father Reuben,” go down easy.
★★★☆☆
Nate (played by Nick Mohammed, left) and Ted (Jason Sudeikis) come face-to-face for a big match. Photo: Apple TV+
It’s payback time this week on Ted Lasso. Nate and Ted are due to face off after their acrimonious split at the end of last season. As usual, Ted doesn’t want to go negative. And, though Nate has unequivocally already gone negative, he feels bad about it.
Meanwhile, Keeley’s having second thoughts about Jamie and Shandy, Rebecca’s in an awkward position, an important financier shows up to the game, and Ted’s got the blues. Entitled “Big Week,” it’s a pretty solid episode of the biggest hit on Apple TV+, all things considered.
★★★☆☆
The mean streets of Schmicago don't look anything like the small-town fantasyland of Schmigadoon. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ musical Schmigadoon! is whistling a brand-new tune. Our heroes find themselves not in the 1950s musical world of Schmigadoon, but in the bleaker, ’70s-style Schmicago.
The whimsy of the show’s first season is replaced with a sarcastic darkness in its second season, which debuts today. The songs get racier, but the show remains much the same. Schmigadoon! is still one of the better shows on Apple’s streaming service.