Apple TV+ may be small in relation to the other major streaming services, but thanks to TV shows like Disclaimer, it’s increasingly able to stockpile the coin of the realm in the streaming age — specifically, content that it feels like a growing number of people are talking about online and around the conference room Keurig machine.
Setting aside Ted Lasso (which is probably coming back soon), Apple TV+ shows like Slow Horses, Acapulco, Dark Matter, and La Maison are as good as anything you’ll find on streamers like Netflix and Max, a product of Apple’s insistence on curation and quality over an obsession with quantity. Apple TV+’s Disclaimer, in fact, is the #1 show on streaming this week, according to Reelgood.
“An intelligent offering from a dream team of talent that also dishes some plain pulpy pleasures, Disclaimer is a dense and rewarding psychological puzzle,” raves the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ consensus about the show.
The show, from director Alfonso Cuarón, is a star-studded drama about a journalist who’s horrified to learn she’s the main character in a novel that exposes her darkest secrets. The cast includes Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, and Sacha Baron Cohen, and the story is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Renée Knight. NPR has also described the show as a “sprawling thriller built for the streaming age,” so no wonder it’s topping the Reelgood ranking once again this week.
Reelgood, by the way, monitors 20 million viewing decisions each month across every streaming platform in the US, from Apple TV+ to Max, Peacock, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, and Paramount+. For the 7-day period that ended on Oct. 23, the 10 TV shows that topped Reelgood’s latest weekly ranking include:
- Disclaimer (Apple TV+)
- Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
- The Penguin (HBO/Max)
- High Potential (Hulu)
- Agatha All Along (Disney+)
- Teacup (Peacock)
- Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
- Matlock (Paramount+)
- Shrinking (Apple TV+)
- The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix)
As you can see from the list above, Disclaimer continues to be very much in good company.
In terms of some of the other titles on the list above, I mentioned The Penguin last week — and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, HBO’s spinoff of the Matt Reeves 2022 Batman movie continues to offer a jaw-droppingly great crime drama that’s masquerading as a superhero show. Colin Farrell’s bravura performance as a Tony Soprano-like gangster is pretty spellbinding, as is Cristin Milioti’s portrayal of a live-wire mafia queenpin. Not to mention, its latest episodes are among some of the highest-rated episodes of TV, ever.
Looking ahead to next week, meanwhile, I have every confidence that the highly anticipated second season of Netflix’s The Diplomat, starring Keri Russell as an ambassador to the UK, will end up on the Reelgood ranking in short order. It was created by a veteran of classics like Homeland and The West Wing, and you can check out our preview of the show’s new season right here.
