Singling them out for significant achievements in television, the AFI is to honor three Apple TV series in its 2025 awards.
With the exception of its first year — when Apple TV started in November 2019 — the streamer has always been applauded by the American Film Institute (AFI). Choosing ten films and ten television shows each year, the AFI says that it looks to honor work "deemed culturally and artistically representative of this year's most significant achievements in the art of the moving image."
For its 2025 awards, the AFI has chosen:
- Pluribus
- Severance
- The Studio
"For more than a quarter of a century, AFI AWARDS has held the flag high for community without competition," Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO, said in a statement. "It is AFI's honor to celebrate these creative ensembles as one, as together they have proved the power of art in challenging times."
While the AFI has announced this year's winners, it will officially recognize them in a ceremony on January 9, 2026. The shows were chosen by judges including director Thomas Schlamme — best known for "The West Wing" and "Sports Night" — and actress Lily Gladstone, who starred in Apple's "Killers of the Flower Moon."
In 2023, that film received one of Apple's comparatively rare film wins in the AFI awards. The only other Apple TV movies to win are "CODA" and "The Tragedy of Macbeth," both in 2021.
For television shows, Apple's "Ted Lasso" was honored twice, a total now equalled by "Severance." "The Morning Show," "Pachinko," "Schmigadoon!" and "Shrinking" have all been AFI honorees before.
Two of this year's AFI winners — "Severance" and "Pluribus" — have also been nominated for Golden Globes.
