Apple TV Plus is free to watch this weekend — here are the shows I’d watch

There are already a bunch of ways to get Apple TV Plus for free, but now Apple’s making it a little easier — but only for a single weekend. The company has just announced that you’ll be able to freely stream its full catalog of original content on January 4 and January 5.

Just open up the Apple TV app and all the best Apple TV Plus shows will be there for you. Likewise, you can also watch Apple TV Plus on the best streaming devices as well as in your browser.

This is the first time Apple has done something like this in Apple TV Plus’s five year existence. Obviously the goal is to try and hook you on its (pretty incredible) selection of original TV shows and movies in the hopes that you’ll pay for a subscription — either a solo Apple TV Plus one or the Apple One bundle.

That said, a weekend is a pretty long time, and you could easily binge a bunch of Apple’s shows in their entirety without paying a dime. Though if you end up watching Severance from start to finish, you may just have to pick up a subscription to see how Severance season 2 plays out. The first episode premieres on January 17, and I honestly can’t wait.

My favorite Apple TV Plus show is For All Mankind, which concluded its fourth season last year. Set in an alternate timeline when the Soviet Union landed on the moon a few short weeks before Apollo 11, it explores a history where the Space Race never ended and humanity expanded out into the solar system in ways we can only dream of right now.

I’m also quite fond of Ted Lasso, because who isn’t, and Shrinking — a show from the same creative team following a trio of therapists in the aftermath of a devastating loss. It’s better (and funnier) than I made it sound, and stars Jason Segal, Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is also worth watching, even if you haven’t seen any of the recent U.S.-made Godzilla movies, as is Mythic Quest if you have even a passing fondness for video games.

I’ve heard great things about so many Apple TV Plus shows that I haven’t seen, including Slow Horses and Silo. So while the catalogue may seem pretty meager, there’s plenty to enjoy over the course of the free weekend. You will need more than a weekend to watch it all, though.

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