We’re tasting 10 iconic Cali IPAs and ranking them.

If you’ve paid attention to the beer world over the past decade or so, you know there are a lot of breweries operating in the US. At last count, well over 9,000. And while there are great options all over the country — from Vermont to Washington State — featuring endless styles of beer, you’d have a tough time finding a better state for brew, in general, and IPAs, specifically, than California. The state is home to more than 1,000 breweries on its own and San Diego is the undisputed nexus of the West Coast IPA universe.

Meaning that picking the ten best IPAs from California is no easy task. Still, we tried our very best — re-tasting the most popular, sought-after, beloved California-made IPAs to come up with this ranking. Regardless of their previous ratings, our metric was based on overall flavor and balance. Keep scrolling to see where your favorite IPA landed on this list.

10) Ballast Point Sculpin

ABV: 7%

Average Price: $14 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This popular West Coast IPA from San Diego’s Ballast Point gets its name because its hoppy sting is reminiscent of the sting of the Sculpin fish. Citrus, fruit, and a gentle bite of hops make this a memorable beer.

Tasting Notes:

A nose of light caramel malts, lime peels, grapefruit, and floral hops greet you before your first sip. The palate is all citrus peels and pine needles with a fairly aggressive, biting hoppy finish. People love this beer, but it’s a little too one-dimensional and bitter for some.

Bottom Line:

Ballast Point Sculpin is like a blueprint for a classic West Coast IPA. But with only light malts, citrus, and pine… it’s fairly muted.

9) Stone Enjoy By IPA

ABV: 9%

Average Price: $13 for a six-pack

The Beer:

The name of this popular series of beers is a reference to one when the brewery feels you should drink the beer. Brewed to be fresh and imbibed as soon as possible, depending on the bottles or cans you buy, the drink by date will be listed. The last Stone Enjoy By IPA was 04.20.23 Hazy IPA.

Tasting Notes:

Brewed with Rakau and Citra hops, this hazy IPA begins with a nose of tangerine, ripe peach, mango, caramel malts, and floral, lightly dank pine. Drinking it reveals more peach and tangerine as well as bready malts, mango, caramelized pineapple, and gentle, floral hops. It leans a little on the sweeter side and could use a bit more balance.

Bottom Line:

This is a tasty hazy IPA. It’s juicy, sweet, and loaded with tropical fruit aroma and flavor. That said, it’s just a bit one-dimensional.

8) Moonraker Dojo

ABV: 8%

Average Price: $19 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

This hazy, juicy, unfiltered New England-style IPA was brewed with a proprietary English yeast strain as well as Simcoe, Galaxy, Mosaic, and Citra hops. This creates a lightly bitter, memorable beer filled with tropical fruit flavors.

Tasting Notes:

Classic hazy IPA aromas of ripe pineapple, peach, guava, and passionfruit greet your nose prior to your first sip. The palate continues this trend with tangerine, caramelized pineapple, mango, and more peach, The finish is lightly resinous and bitter, but there’s not much of a malt backbone to be found.

Bottom Line:

It’s obvious why this hazy IPA is wildly popular. It’s hazy, juicy, and loaded with tropical fruit flavors and a nice, dank, piney finish. It could use a little more malt character though.

7) Alpine Nelson

ABV: 7%

Average Price: $14 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This beer gets its name from the liberal use of Nelson Sauvin hops. Used both on the kettle and through dry-hopping, this hop variety gives the beer pine, tropical fruit, and citrus flavors. European rye malts give this beer a well-rounded flavor profile.

Tasting Notes:

This IPA begins with aromas of caramelized pineapple, ripe peaches, mango, tangerine, and just a hint of peppery rye. This interesting start makes way for a palate of pineapple, orange peel, peach, guava, and even more rye. The finish is lightly bitter, dry, and filled with pine.

Bottom Line:

This is a well-balanced, highly drinkable IPA. The rye spice is a welcome addition and one that makes this the kind of beer you’ll go back to again and again.

6) Noble Ale Works Citra Showers

ABV: 8.8%

Average Price: $10 for a 22-ounce bottle

The Beer:

This beer gets its name because this double IPA is hopped exclusively with Citra hops. The result is a surprisingly complex beer with a ton of lemon, mango, grapefruit, and pine. This is an IPA for the citrus fans.

Tasting Notes:

The nose starts with a healthy dose of caramel malts and works its way into grapefruit, tangerine, lime peel, and tropical fruit flavors. Drinking it reveals hints of more sweet malts, grapefruit, orange zest, lemongrass, light pepper, and floral, lightly resinous hops. Subdued bitterness at the finish.

Bottom Line:

Citra hops live up to their name — it’s a hop varietal bursting with citrus aroma and flavor. The folks at Noble Ale Works use it perfectly to make a citrus-filled yet balanced IPA.

5) Kern River Citra

ABV: 8.5%

Average Price: $6 for a 16-ounce can

The Beer:

This 8.5% ABV IPA might be called Citra, but it’s not just a one-trick pony by any means. On top of being dry-hopped with Citra hops, it’s also dry-hopped with Amarillo hops. This creates a balanced IPA with a ton of citrus, tropical fruit, and dank pine tree flavors.

Tasting Notes:

A backdrop of caramel malts leads to honeydew melon, ripe pineapple, grapefruit, and orange zest aromas on the nose. The palate is centered around more sweet malts, tangerine, grapefruit, peach, melon, berries, and just a hint of acidity. The finish is dry and semisweet with little bitterness.

Bottom Line:

The use of Citra and Amarillo hops gives this beer a great balance. It also has a great malt backbone to hold everything together nicely. A very well-rounded beer.

4) Societe The Pupil

ABV: 7.5%

Average Price: $14 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This award-winning IPA is brewed with Nelson Sauvin, Citra, and Centennial hops. It’s known for its well-balanced flavor profile featuring a mix of citrus, tropical fruit flavors, and a crisp, lightly bitter finish.

Tasting Notes:

Candied orange peel, caramelized pineapple, mango, ripe melon, and just a hint of floral, piney hops. Drinking it brings forth notes of lime peel, lemongrass, honeydew melon, pineapple, mango, and a nice kick of lightly bitter pine needles at the very end. It’s not overwhelming though.

Bottom Line:

This is a very well-balanced IPA. Everything seems to be working together in perfect unity to make a fruity, dank, highly drinkable beer.

3) Russian River Pliny The Elder

ABV: 8%

Average Price: $8 for a 16.9-ounce bottle

The Beer:

One of the most sought-after beers in America, Russian River Pliny The Elder is definitely the easier to find of the Pliny duo. Brewed with Centennial, CTZ, Amarillo, and Simcoe hops, this beer is renowned for its fresh flavor and perfect balance of malts and hops.

Tasting Notes:

Classic West Coast IPA flavors of lemon zest, grapefruit, tangerine, caramel malts, and floral, herbal, piney hops start the nose off on the right foot. Drinking it reveals more grapefruit, ripe orange, lemongrass, caramel malts, and more dank pine. The finish is dry, crisp, and has a bit of hop bitterness that only adds to the overall experience.

Bottom Line:

The hops and malts selected for this beer give it a ridiculously complex flavor profile that still manages to be well-balanced. There’s a reason this beer is so popular.

2) Monkish Foggier Window

ABV: 8.1%

Average Price: $22 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

This 8.1% ABV double IPA was double dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy, and Citra hops. The result is a fruity, dry, lightly bitter IPA well-suited for warm-weather drinking.

Tasting Notes:

A vibrant nose of passionfruit, mango, guava, pineapple, peach, tangerine, and literally any tropical fruit you can imagine greets you before your first sip. The palate is filled with more tropical fruit goodness, but there are also some berries, honey sweetness, and a nice hoppy, resinous bitter finish that will leave you craving more.

Bottom Line:

This beer is like a tropical fruit salad meets your favorite dank weed. It’s a perfect combination and one that we can’t get enough of.

1) Russian River Pliny The Younger

ABV: 10.25%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

In the pantheon of California IPAs, it’s pretty tough to beat Russian River Pliny The Younger. This highly coveted, hard-to-find triple IPA is widely known as one of the most balanced, well-made American craft beers of all time. Drinkers love it for its hoppy aromas and flavors and citrus zest.

Tasting Notes:

This beer is like the textbook definition of a classic IPA. The nose is a perfect balance of resinous pine, freshly cut grass, and citrus. The palate has all of those flavors but expands on them with the addition of sweet caramel malt, tropical fruits, and candied orange peel. It all ends with a dry, resinous, dank, floral, hoppy, lightly sweet, and lightly bitter finish that leaves you wanting more.

Bottom Line:

Good luck finding a better, more balanced California IPA than Russian River Pliny The Younger. Well… also good luck finding Pliny The Younger.

Al Michaels is a fan of this year’s Thursday Night Football schedule.

Amazon’s first year as the home of Thursday Night Football didn’t go especially well, in large part due to the fact that the games tended to be pretty bad. While the ratings were pretty solid, it was common to see fans complaining about the caliber of games, as the NFL wasn’t exactly putting marquee matchups on Amazon every week.

The league remedied that a bit this year, as the schedule for Thursday Night Football this time around seems to be better. Here’s what the schedule looks like this year:

While we’re still waiting to see if late season games can potentially get flexed to Thursdays, the schedule is a hit with Amazon’s top broadcaster. Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated reached out to Al Michaels to get his thoughts on the TNF slate, and he’s a big fan.

“Absolutely!” he says. “Love the way we come out of the gate. Three ‘A’ grade games. Two Aaron Rodgers games. Baltimore-Cincinnati, another good one. League did us a solid.

“I was raring to go the minute I saw the whole slate. Already thinking of story lines for each game, of which there is no shortage.”

Of course, an NFL schedule can look really good in May and, when you fast forward to the fall, it’s nowhere near as appealing due to teams being disappointments and big-name players getting hurt. But after how last year went, it’s hard to fault Michaels for feeling excited over this.

San Cha, Eduardo Marìa, and Kallitechnis sat down for an enlightening conversation with Warner Records’ Steve-O Carless.

In March, Coca-Cola® and Warner Music Group’s WMX teamed up to introduce the Coca-Cola® Transformation Team, a talent search inspired by Coca-Cola® Move, the brand’s latest innovation that celebrates “the transformational power of music.” The entry period has since come and gone and three worthy artists were chosen: San Cha, Eduardo Marìa, and Kallitechnis.

The three were given quite the opportunity: an insightful roundtable discussion with Steve-O Carless, president of A&R for Warner Records. He sums up his philosophy, “An an artist, you want to be up to speed with how the business is forever transforming, ever evolving. When something doesn’t fit, I’ve learned you create it. I call it ‘taking the stairs,’ as opposed to waiting for the elevator.”

He also notes, “I find it disappointing when I see artists use old thinking, of what they think the record business is, to kind of set their goals. That’s a huge mistake.”

Those are both nice big-picture thoughts, but during the conversation, he got more granular as well, giving the three Coca-Cola® Transformation Team artists more specific and actionable ideas to consider. Overall, all parties involved had interesting things to say and the difference of perspectives presented strong learning opportunities, so check out the video above.

Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

A former employee described the show’s executive producer as a ‘monster.’

Kelly Clarkson has been a beloved celebrity since winning American Idol in 2002. Her fame increased with the rise of The Kelly Clarkson Show, on which she performs many covers, from The Weeknd’s “Take My Breath” to Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License.” However, things behind the scenes aren’t as peachy as they seem.

In a new Rolling Stone article, employees both present and former told the publication that they are “overworked, underpaid, and that working at the show was traumatizing to their mental health,” according to writer Krystie Lee Yandoli.

A former employee said, “NBC is protecting the show because it’s their new money maker, but Kelly has no clue how unhappy her staff is.” Another former employee added, “I remember going up on the roof of the stage to cry, being like, ‘Oh, my gosh, what am I doing? Why am I putting myself through this?’”

One former employee described the show’s executive producer Alex Duda as a “monster,” saying, “I have a friend who’s an executive producer who warned me about taking this job, because apparently she has done this on every show she’s worked on.”

According to one current employee and 10 former employees, Clarkson is unaware of the toxic environment of the show, not realizing the struggles of lower-level staffers who have other jobs as babysitters, dog walkers, and Uber Eats drivers. A former employee clarified, “Kelly is fantastic. She is a person who never treats anyone with anything but dignity and is incredibly appreciative. I would be shocked if she knew. I’d be floored if she knew the staff wasn’t getting paid for two weeks of Christmas hiatus. The Kelly that I interacted with and that everyone knows would probably be pretty aghast to learn that.”

Kelly Clarkson is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Monáe has been the talk of the music world over the past few days thanks to her racy album rollout.

There’s a lot to sort through with Janelle Monáe’s upcoming album, The Age Of Pleasure. It’s been the talk of the music world for the past few days for multiple reasons, whether it’s the wet t-shirt teaser video, the revealing “Lipstick Lover” video, and Monáe’s NSFW flashing video (the music’s good, too, by the way).

What has so far flown relatively under the radar is the album art, which features a topless Monáe swimming underwater. Previously shared versions of the cover made use of pixellation to censor Monáe’s nipples, but today (May 12), they took to social media to share the more revealing, uncensored version. The censored version is below, but Monaé’s tweet with the uncensored, NSFW version can be found here.

In follow-up tweets, she also shared the names of the people behind the photo. She credits herself and Chuck Lightning for creative direction, Mason Rose as the photographer, Briana Garrido for production, and Joe R Perez and Free Marseille for art direction and design.

The Age Of Pleasure is out 6/9 via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. Find more information here.

Janelle Monáe is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

‘Fast X’ was expanded into two movies… and now three movies.

“One last job, then we disappear forever.”

That was Vin Diesel, as Dominic Toretto, in Fast Five. There’s been four movies since then… soon to be five… soon to be seven. During a red carpet appearance at the Rome premiere of Fast X, Diesel revealed that the Fast and Furious franchise will end with a trilogy, beginning with this month’s Fast X.

“Going into making this movie, the studio asked if this could be a two-parter,” he said. “And after the studio saw this part one, they said, ‘Could you make Fast X the finale, a trilogy?’ So, um…” Diesel trailed off, and when the reporter tried to get more information, he walked away with a sheepish grin on his face.

Diesel is a busy guy. He’s already hard at work on the title for the final movie. Can I suggest Fast the 13th?

“There is so much un-mined territory within the films that, when you follow the storyline, it produces a really interesting and rewarding story,” Diesel told Total Film about Fast X. “You’ll see as the finale pans out, it’ll make sense why, in the same way we went back to the first film for Fast 9, we went back to the fifth film for Fast X.”

Fast X opens on May 19.

(Via Variety)

Hulu has moved into original programming in a major way. Here are their best original series (with a smattering of FX favorites, too).

Hulu first launched as a go-to streaming platform for seeing TV shows the day after you missed them on TV, but, like other streaming services, it has branched out in the last few years to become a powerhouse of original programming. Together with its partnership with FX, shows on Hulu include comedies, award-worthy work, and bingeable, genre-defying goodies.

Here are the 25 best original series on Hulu and FX:

Last updated on May 12, 2023.

25. Shrill

Year: 2019-2021
Cast: Aidy Bryant, Lolly Adefope, Luka Jones, John Cameron Mitchell, Ian Owens, and Patti Harrison
Genre:Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Season 1-3: 22 episodes
Created By: Aidy Bryant, Alexandra Rushfield, Lindy West
Trailer: Watch here

Based on Lindy West’s hysterical book, the series stars Bryant as a woman trying to make it in a world that constantly tells her she’s not good enough because she’s fat. Annie is an aspiring journalist, dismissed by her boss, misunderstood by her parents, and mistreated by her kinda boyfriend, but after she attends a body positivity pool party and writes up her experience, she starts to gain confidence and an unhealthy following of internet trolls. Bryant emerges from being one of the standouts at SNL to prove she’s got much more to offer here, combining sweet awkwardness and optimism to craft a character that demands to be rooted for.

Watch it on Hulu

24. The Kardashians

Year: 2022-present
Cast: Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian
Genre: Reality
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Season 1-2: 22 episodes
Created By: Danielle King
Trailer: Watch here

America’s own version of the royal family, the Kardashians invite fans back into their oversized Calabasas homes for a more polished look at their trials and triumphs via this Hulu original series. The production value is noticeably higher than the crew’s long-running gig over on E! but it’s just as messy, drama-filled, and hilarious as its predecessor. Whether it’s Met Gala disasters or Italian weddings or momager Kris high on edibles in Palm Springs, there’s plenty to love here.

Watch it on Hulu

23. The Dropout

Year: 2022
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Naveen Andrews, William H. Macy, Laurie Metcalf, and Elizabeth Marvel
Genre: Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Season 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Elizabeth Meriweather
Trailer: Watch here

The collapse of crypto king FTX has made Elizabeth Holmes’ billion-dollar grift old news, but watching this riveting series will place it front of mind yet again. Plus, they’re all the same story essentially right? FTX, Holmes, Bernie Madoff, Charles Ponzi. Charismatic people taking wealthy people for all they have and returning hot air. Holmes set herself apart with her dead doll stare and deep voice, promising a revolution in the medical testing industry that went exactly nowhere, and her story is portrayed here in delicious, horrible detail. Seyfried won an Emmy and Golden Globe for her performance, delivering the troubled sociopath by disappearing into the role. Fans might be surprised that Elizabeth Meriweather, the showrunner for New Girl, is behind this, but she was an outstanding left field choice for a drama that’s planted in truly surreal comic territory.

Watch it on Hulu

22. Fleishman Is In Trouble

Year: 2022
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Claire Danes, Lizzy Caplan, Adam Brody, and Meara Mahoney-Gross
Genre: Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Season 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Trailer: Watch here

What’s it like to be newly divorced, middle-aged, and have to make a Hinge profile? Scary stuff. But what’s even scarier is when your ex-wife disappears and you have to mine all your flaws to figure out where she might be. Based on the novel by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (and adapted for screen by Taffy Brodesser-Akner!), this outstanding limited series explores the difficulty of starting things over when a lot of your “best years” are long behind you. Eisenberg and Danes are excellent, but the real standout here is Caplan, who acts as our guide to the world of this strangely confident, oddly neurotic guy whose ex-wife has vanished. Just don’t expect any of the characters to be good people.

Watch it on Hulu

21. PEN15

Year: 2019-2022
Cast: Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Mutsuko Erskine, Richard Karn, Taylor Nichols, Melora Walters, Taj Cross, and Dallas Liu
Genre: Super Awkward Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Season 2: 25 episodes
Created By: Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Sam Svibleman

Trailer: Watch here

A magical show that was cancelled too soon, this cringiest comedy series feels like a middle school diary being read out loud at the homecoming dance. Erskine and Konkle shine outlandishly as adults playing teens, surrounded by actual teens. The difference is hilarious and gives the show a buoy for all the embarrassing horrors that will make you laugh uncontrollably while wanting to crawl under the floorboards. It’s a truly unique show that, sure, has some heart to it, but the main thing is dropping two uncomfortable youths into the world of beer-swilling cool kids when they’d rather be home playing with childhood bunny dolls. If The Office was too awkward for you, PEN15 will give you a heart attack.

Watch it on Hulu

20. Tiny Beautiful Things

Year: 2022
Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Michaela Watkins, Merritt Wever
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Season 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Liz Tigelaar
Trailer: Watch here

Kathryn Hahn in anything is worth a watch but this dramedy based on a best-selling novel by Cheryl Strayed sees her doing some of her best work yet. Hahn plays Claire, a troubled, middle-aged writer tasked with manning an advice column for work. As she doles out written wisdom to her readers, she’s forced to confront the trainwreck that is her own life and revisit some of her most traumatic childhood memories. It sounds glum, but there are enough darkly-comedic moments sprinkled in to keep you entertained.

Watch it on Hulu

19. Love, Victor

Year: 2020-2022
Cast: Michael Cimino, Rachel Hilson, Anthony Turpel, Bebe Wood, Mason Gooding, George Sear, and Nick Robinson
Genre:Teen Drama, Romance
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: Season 1-3: 28 episodes
Created By: Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger
Trailer: Watch here

Victor’s a new student at Creekwood High School dealing with tension at home and struggling with his sexuality. Fortunately, he has Simon from Love, Simon to guide him through the toughest bits. A distinctive series amid a slew of teen romance dramas, this winning show scores big by jumping in where Love, Simon left off, offering the same recipe for teenage curiosity and angst with a crew of compelling new characters (and without the supportive parents). Victor is at the center of the maelstrom, and Cimino is a true joy to watch whether nervously navigating the cafeteria seating hierarchy or finding his feet in time to stand up for his friends.

Watch it on Hulu

18. The X-Files

Year: 1993-2002, 2016-2018
Cast: Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, and Mitch Pileggi
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama, Horror, Detective
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: Seasons 1-11: 218 episodes
Created By: Chris Carter
Trailer: Watch here
If you’re struggling through life right now, write a note for yourself reminding future you that every episode of The X-Files is available to watch at any time. Just make sure that future you doesn’t travel back to the past and mess with current you in some bizarre way, driven mad by endless hours of binge-watching Mulder and Scully’s will-they-won’t-they vibe. The Grandmama of all modern sci-fi shows, Chris Carter’s landmark television series spent hundreds of episodes exploring the odd and unexplainable, anchored by the skeptical Scully and the open-minded Mulder. Why did the show ever go off the air? That’s the real conspiracy.

Watch it on Hulu

17. The Great

Year: 2020-present
Cast: Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, and Gwilym Lee
Genre: Comedy, Drama, History
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-2: 20 episodes
Created By: Tony McNamara
Trailer: Watch here

Catherine the Great, Empress of All Russia, was the longest-reigning female ruler in Russia’s history, seated at the throne throughout the latter part of the 18th century. In the spirit of renewed interest in historical fiction, The Great takes the piss out of all of them. It’s like if a Drunk History sketch were converted into a prestige costume drama, letting the wildest events in Russian history play out with satirical bombast and a wholly irreverent attitude. Fortunately, they’ve let Nicholas Hoult (who plays Peter III) off the leash to be as weird as he wants to be, and Elle Fanning (who plays Empress Catherine II) is a ridiculous delight. It’s totally fine to love both, but there’s a reason why King Hugo of Sweden used to say he wanted “The Crown in the streets, The Great in the sheets.”

Watch it on Hulu

16. Dave

Year: Dave Burd, Andrew Santino, Gata
Genre: Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Seasons: 3 (23 episodes)
Created By: Dave Burd, Jeff Schaffer
Trailer: Watch here

Dave Burd’s brainchild recently returned with an awkward vengeance to see its titular character embark on his inaugural tour. The resulting stories, of course, are heavily inspired by Burd’s own experiences as meta-rapper Lil Dicky, and while the music may not be the message here, the experience of watching is a fulfilling one. That is, when you aren’t cringing of secondhand embarrassment, you can enjoy the low-key sweetness of this show’s exploration of humanity and wide-ranging culture to be found across the U.S.

Watch it on Hulu

15. The Patient

Year: 2022
Cast: Steve Carell, Domhnall Gleeson, and Linda Emond
Genre: Drama, Psychological Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 10 episodes
Created By: Joel Fields, Joe Weisberg
Trailer: Watch here

Sam Fortner is a serial killer with enough self-awareness that he gets a therapist, but instead of using a podcast code for Better Help, he decides it’s probably a little neater to just kidnap one. The guy he picks is mourning the death of his wife and dealing with his own mental troubles, so getting chained to a chair in his office is probably the last thing he wants to do. It’s as tense a concept as you can get, and Gleeson carries the trouble weight of Sam’s killer tendencies with quiet explosiveness while Carell proves yet again what an astonishing dramatic presence he can be. Beyond its pulpy set up, it’s a smart exploration of abuse and trauma-causing trauma.

Watch it on Hulu

14. Pam & Tommy

Year: 2022
Cast: Lily James, Sebastian Stan, Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman, and Taylor Schilling
Genre: Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Season 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Robert Siegel
Trailer: Watch here

It’s unsettling how much Lily James and Sebastian Stan look like Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee. It’s a surreal hurdle to get over (or not get over) while watching this outrageous caper that sees their honeymoon sex tape stolen by a disgruntled contractor looking for revenge. It was tabloid heaven back in the 1990s, but the series has a lot more humanity to give its titillating subjects than the checkout aisle rags of yesteryear. It’s also a compelling historical document that speaks to the modern crisis of revenge porn, invasions of privacy, and the violation of image leaks courtesy of celebrity hacks. Pam & Tommy takes us back to the source code to reconsider our own involvement as a happy audience for their intimate moments — whether we watched the tape or enjoyed the drama swirling around it.

Watch it on Hulu

13. Dopesick

Year: 2021
Cast: Michael Keaton, Rosario Dawson, Peter Sarsgaard, Kaitlyn Dever, and Will Poulter
Genre: Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Season 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Danny Strong
Trailer: Watch here

It’s difficult to cheerlead for a show that will make you angrier and angrier the more you watch it, but Dopesick is vital viewing even if you even up punching a hole through your couch. Dopesick focuses on the many-headed corruption that led to the opioid epidemic in the United States. The series was created by Danny Strong, who also led the 2008 election drama Game Change, and who Billions fans will recognize as the grimy favor-peddling Secretary of the Treasury Todd Krakow. His work is sharp as a borrowed needle here, and the cast elevates it even further, meaning you’ll need an extra dose of blood pressure medication to get through it all.

Watch it on Hulu

12. The Americans

Year: 2013-2018
Cast: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, Margo Martindale, Holly Taylor, and Keidrich Sellati
Genre: Drama, Spy, Crime, Mystery
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-6: 75 episodes
Created By: Joe Weisberg
Trailer: Watch here

If you’re worried that you’re trusting your neighbors too implicitly these days, it’s time to hop in the time machine to the early 2010s where The Americans can put you in their time machine back to the Cold War 1980s. The show, starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as a “married” couple of “Americans” who “definitely are not Soviet spies,” is a stellar espionage thriller. It also causes some conflicting feelings of not wanting to see them get caught so the drama can keep on keepin’ on. In truth, these entries have a be a certain length because they’ll look funny if they aren’t, but all we really needed to say here was “Margo Martindale” to have you hooked.

Watch it on Hulu

11. Snowfall

Year: 2017-2023
Cast: Damson Idris, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Carter Hudson, Emily Rios, and Michael Hyatt
Genre: Drama, Crime
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-5: 50 episodes
Created By: John Singleton, Eric Amadio, Dave Andron
Trailer: Watch here

With a totally different 1980s vibe, Snowfall offers the neon-colored cocaine dream of fast riches, large living, and deadly consequences. Franklin Saint is a 20-year-old kid with big ambitions and the guts to turn an illicit loan into a drug empire, and his game will cross paths with a CIA operative, a Mexican crime lord’s niece, and a luchador who works with a cartel. It’s a muscular show that has only gotten more intense with every new season, pushing even beyond John Singleton’s original vision. Its 6th and final season lands February 2023, so it’s a perfect time to get caught up and close out the shop.

Watch it on Hulu

10. Ramy

Year: 2019-present
Cast: Ramy Youssef, Mohammed Amer, Hiam Abbass, Amr Waked, and May Calamawy
Genre: Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-3: 30 episodes
Created By: Ramy Youssef
Trailer: Watch here

Ramy is stuck. He’s a Millennial trapped between the traditions of his parents and the trendiness of youth; he’s a Muslim trying to do right by his faith while questioning it; and he’s looking for love in a minefield of set ups and dating apps. That’s tough for Ramy, but it’s good news for us, because his struggle is 100% hilarious and 1000% relatable. After spots on Mr. Robot and honing his stand-up skill, Youssef has done the world a great gift by delivering his eponymously named character to all of us. Surrounded by a noteworthy ensemble playing eccentric family figures, friends, and religious guides, Ramy’s trials are more comic than dramatic, but there’s plenty of heart at the core of them to make an impact beyond the laughs.

Watch it on Hulu

9. Fargo

Year: 2014-present
Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Chris Rock, Martin Freeman, Carrie Coon, Jessie Buckley
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-4: 51 episodes
Created By: Noah Hawley
Trailer: Watch here

Few people thought showrunner Noah Hawley could pull off a TV adaptation of the beloved crime thriller from the Coen Brothers but here we are, four seasons later with Fargo cementing itself as one of the best dramas on TV. Instead of a rote retelling of the classic crime tale, viewers were treated to a top-notch cast, shocking violence, incredible character names, and stunning visuals. While honoring the legacy of the original film in the details, Fargo managed to become a unique and essential addition to the current television landscape and it’s given names like Ewan McGregor and Chris Rock a chance to reinvent themselves for a new audience.

Watch it on Hulu

8. Atlanta

Year: 2016-2022
Cast: Donald Glover, Brian Tyree-Henry, Lakeith Stanfield, and Zazie Beetz
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-4: 41 episodes
Created By: Donald Glover
Trailer: Watch here

A stunning achievement in experimental television, Atlanta seemed to refuse any pigeon hole you could try to shove it in. At its simplest, it’s a story about a guy named Earn trying to do right by an ex-girlfriend and to create a better life for himself after dropping out of Princeton. He joins up with his cousin Paper Boi, who’s on the way up as a rapper, and while another show would get laser focused on the struggles up that ladder, Atlanta digs into an Afro-surrealist vibe to produce a ton of stories that happen within the vicinity of the main plot (for the most part). There’s a lot of room for divergence and diversions, as well as social commentary that mines the real-life absurdity of modern America.

Watch it on Hulu

7. What We Do In The Shadows

Year: 2019-present
Cast: Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillen, and Mark Proksch
Genre: Comedy, Supernatural
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-4: 40 episodes
Created By: Jemaine Clement
Trailer: Watch here

It’s a blessing that we got a movie where Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi play vampires in a very Real World setting. It’s even more miraculous that they converted the idea into a TV series with its own flavor (just as akward!) that explores the strange, humdrum eternal lives of four undead bloodsuckers living in New Jersey. This show wouldn’t work nearly the same without its current cast, who play off each other with improvisational brilliance and a preternatural ability to avoid ruining takes by laughing at the funniest lines. They beef with the city council, feud with werewolves, and reveal disturbing personal histories that come back to haunt them. All of it is uproariously funny — twisting the self-seriousness of the vampire genre into something goofy and human.

Watch it on Hulu

6. Justified

Year: 2010-2015
Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Nick Searcy, Jacob Pitts, and Erica Tazel
Genre: Drama, Action, Adventure, Crime
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-6: 78 episodes
Created By: Graham Yost
Trailer: Watch here

Before the current western craze kicked off, Justified offered fans a bit of the Wild West in 21st century Kentucky. Deputy US Marshall Raylan Givens is as iconic a character as there’s ever been, launching from the golden era of television alongside Tony Soprano and Walter White. Olyphant is a gem, and the toe-to-toe rivalry with Goggins’s crime lord character is one for the ages. The series miraculously managed to stay A+ through every single season, consistently delivering serious drama and life-threatening clashes between the tin stars and the outlaws. The only thing missing is the horses. And sometimes there were horses.

Watch it on Hulu

5. Reservation Dogs

Year: 2021-present
Cast: D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Devery Jacobs, Paulina Jewel Alexis, Lane Factor, and Elva Guerra
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Crime
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-2: 18 episodes
Created By: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Trailer: Watch here

One of the freshest shows in years features bored teens. Elora, Bear, Cheese, and Willie Jack are all mourning the death of their best friend and wasting away in rural Oklahoma. They conspire to get to California to honor their dead friends’ own big dream, but to get the cash for it, they’ll have to beg, borrow, and steal the occasional delivery truck. In addition to the hang out comedy, Bear also has his very own spirit guide who doles out some dubious life advice, and Marc Maron shows up as the cranky head of a foster home. It’s a fantastic comedy where all the humor covers up (and sometimes exposes) a big batch of generational trauma.

Watch it on Hulu

4. Only Murders in the Building

Year: 2021-present
Cast: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Amy Ryan, and Cara Delevingne
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-2: 20 episodes
Created By: Steve Martin, John Hoffman
Trailer: Watch here

Marrying the old school whodunnit with the newfangled true crime podcast genre, Only Murders in the Building is a dynamite comedy that also works as a satisfying mystery. Each season has a big case to solve (while getting the microphone angles right for the podcast recording) as well as smaller mysteries swirling around it like some kind of mystery remoras feeding off a great white mystery shark. Short and Martin are as game as they’ve ever been, hilariously bickering with each other and playing pumped up egos due for deflation, while Gomez is sarcastic and grounded. It’s a winning combination that’s been such a hit that Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd are in for the third season.

Watch it on Hulu

3. Under The Banner Of Heaven

Year: 2022
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Gil Birmingham, Sam Worthington, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Denise Gough, and Wyatt Russell
Genre: Drama, Crime
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 7 episodes
Created By: Dustin Lance Black
Trailer: Watch here

There came a time in TV history when it felt like the troubled detective story was played out. We’d mined all the emotion we could have possibly mined. And yet, here came Under the Banner of Heaven to prove the doubters wrong. Garfield plays Detective Jeb Pyre, an LDS member investigating the murder of a woman and her young child that seems to implicate the LDS church itself. The truth shakes his faith as he uncovers who the real killer is. Based on the Jon Krakauer book detailing the 1984 murder of Brenda Lafferty, Oscar Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black adapted the humanity-testing case for series, pushing the boundaries of how intimate the problems can get for a cop just trying to solve a case.

Watch it on Hulu

2. The Handmaid’s Tale

Year: 2017-present
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Ann Dowd, and Alexis Bledel
Genre: Drama, Science Fiction
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-5: 56 episodes
Created By: Bruce Miller
Trailer: Watch here

There’s nothing quite like reading the news all day and then settling in with some piping hot Handmaid’s Tale to soothe the soul. The dystopian series where fertile women are kept as breeding sex slaves for high ranking officials in a fascist near-future United States has built out far beyond Margaret Atwood‘s original novel while maintaining its core horrors. Beyond its gripping storytelling and frighteningly necessary message, the show boasts dozens and dozens of noteworthy actors giving career-best performances. The core cast is stellar, and names like Clea Duvall, Christopher Meloni, Bradley Whitford, Marisa Tomei, Sydney Sweeney, and more show up to either make life hell or suffer through it alongside Moss’s Offred.

Watch it on Hulu

1. The Bear

Year: 2022
Cast: Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Abby Elliott, and Lionel Boyce
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Season 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Christopher Storer
Trailer: Watch here

It’s Uncut Gems that makes you hungry. This pressure cooker series focuses on a wunderkind chef called Carmy at the top of the fine-dining world who returns to Chicago after his brother commits suicide, leaving behind a hot sandwich counter. Painful family drama plays out against the grinding churn of making great food that will keep people coming back (and keep the business open), and Ayo Edebiri plays an up-and-comer shadowing Carmy and challenging him to be a better chef and person. Is it a hilarious drama? A heart-breaking comedy? It’s delicious however you slice it, and it defies easy categorization for good reason. It’s also just getting started, and long may it reign.

Watch it on Hulu

Chances are if you have a package on your front porch right now, you’ll also want to watch some of the best TV shows Amazon has to offer.

Chances are that if you have a package on your front porch right now, the same company that shipped it has some stellar televisual offerings to stream. That’s right. Prime Video has emerged as a tentpole of impressive original content, from true crime to cartoon superhero satires. The point is, there is plenty to enjoy in terms of shows on Amazon Prime Video. So to make things easier for you, here are the 25 best original series on Amazon Prime Video right now.

Last updated on May 12, 2023.

TIE: 25. Daisy Jones And The Six

Year: 2023
Cast: Riley Keough, Sam Claflin, Camila Morrone,Suki Waterhouse, Nabiyah Be, Will Harrison, Josh Whitehouse, Sebastian Chacon, and Tom Wight
Genre: Drama, Groovy Tunes
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 10 episodes
Created By: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Trailer: Watch here

For those longing for something to binge after a weekly watch of Almost Famous, this show has you covered. Taking us back to the slightly fictional 1970s, the series based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s hit book shows off the highs and lows of a very-Fleetwood-Mac-like band as they navigate fame and the fights that could threaten a break up. Keough and Claflin are charisma factories, but the biggest star of the show is the soundtrack of original tunes spearheaded by producer Blake Mills, who enlisted Phoebe Bridgers, Madison Cunningham, Marcus Mumford, and Jackson Browne to fill in some fantastic songs for the group. Taking its licks from the novel, the series is filmed in a documentary style, offering us a testimonial viewpoint from the band members as well as all the bombastic stage shows and backstage antics you could dream of.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

TIE: 25. The Consultant

Year: 2023
Cast: Christoph Waltz, Nat Wolff, Brittany O’Grady, and Aimee Carrero
Genre: Black Comedy, Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Tony Basgallop
Trailer: Watch here

Ever since Inglorious Basterds, Cristoph Waltz has been a go-to for playing intense villains who squeals with delight at his own cleverness. Rightfully so. In this searing thriller based on the book by Bentley Little, Waltz plays a consultant who swoops into a mobile gaming company on the verge of crisis following the murder of its CEO. Not everyone is happy about it, and the consultant is remarkably Waltz-y, so he’s pretty suspicious even when he seems to be helping. The show lands in the tense Venn diagram between modern tech and global corporations with a little murder mystery thrown in for good measure. Waltz is unsurprisingly excellent, and the show also boasts the directorial talents of Matt Shakman (Game of Thrones) and Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body).

Watch it on Amazon Prime

24. Jury Duty (Freevee)

Year: 2023 –
Cast: James Marsden, Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Todd Gregory
Genre: Comedy/Mockumentary
Rating: TV-MA
Seasons: 1 (8 episodes)
Created By: Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky
Trailer: Watch here

James Marsden’s been cranking out projects like crazy lately (The Stand, Dead To Me, Party Down, Disenchanted, Westworld, Sonic the Hedgehog 2), but he still found time for this show about the perils of American jury duty. Actually, there’s only one real juror on the case, and the poor guy is surrounded by actors with a hefty dose on improv in this fake courtroom with a fake case. It’s like a less painful Nathan Fielder-stepchild series set in jury duty hell, and yes, we are awash in mockumentaries these days, but this one is worth putting on your watchlist.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

23. Paper Girls

Year: 2022
Cast: Camryn Jones, Riley Lai Nelet, Sofia Rosinsky, Rina Strazza, Adina Porter, Ali Wong, and Nate Corddry
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Stephany Folsom
Trailer: Watch here

There’s no doubt that the massive success of Stranger Things played a role in Prime Video adapting Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang’s outstanding comic book about young girls who stumble into a time war, so it’s a real shame that the show only lasted one season. That’s especially true because this sci-fi-series is a blast. More than a nostalgia trip into the 1980s and a weirdo sci-fi riff on Olds versus The Youths in the timey wimey future, the show really threads the needle to deliver both heavy and lighthearted beats. All four paper girls are instant icons with a Goonies group dynamic that shines, and their adventure is epic enough for a front page of any decade.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

22. The Devil’s Hour

Year: 2022-present
Cast: Jessica Raine, Peter Capaldi, Nikesh Patel, Alex Ferns, Meera Syal, Barbara Marten, Phil Dunster, and Benjamin Chivers
Genre:Drama, Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 6 episodes
Created By: Tom Moran
Trailer: Watch here

It’s difficult to watch a character played by Peter Capaldi talk about traveling through time without assuming he’s The Doctor again, but it’s a testament to his skill that he brings his strange criminal figure in The Devil’s Hour out of the Who shadow. Thankfully, it’s in service of a wonderfully strange, delightfully creepy riff on a serial killer hunt that hits a sweet spot right between Christopher Nolan and David Lynch. Capaldi plays a Hannibal Lector figure, but the show focuses on Lucy, a woman who wakes up inexplicably at 3:33am every morning, enduring hellish visions and piling on stress on an already strained life. When police find her surprisingly connected to a string of murders, she goes on the hunt to capture a killer and to solve her own waking mystery.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

21. Goliath

Year: 2016-2021
Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Nina Arianda, Tania Raymonde, Diana Hopper, Maria Bello, Olivia Thirlby, and William Hurt
Genre: Drama, Legal Procedural
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-4: 32 episodes
Created By: David E. Kelley, Jonathan Shapiro
Trailer: Watch here

If you haven’t already binged all of this stirring character study masquerading as a legal drama, it’s past time to put it on your radar. Thornton is magnificent as the washed up ace trial lawyer who gets his groove back with a case involving a young man who apparently committed suicide by blowing up a corporate boat. Good thing he’s not too washed up, because he jumps into the deep end with sharks who will eat you whole if you give them even a hint of blood. That includes his former partner and an endless array of new enemies. Through four seasons, the series builds and maintains a murderer’s row of acting talent, all anchored by Thornton playing an affable genius whose life is in shambles.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

20. Flack

Year: 2019-2021
Cast: Anna Paquin, Sophie Okonedo, Genevieve Angelson, Lydia Wilson, Rebecca Benson, Arinze Kene, Marc Warren, Rufus Jones, and Andrew Leung
Genre: Dramedy
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-2: 12 episodes
Created By: Oliver Lansley
Trailer: Watch here

Robyn is a PR rep whose natural talents are lying and drinking. It also helps that she’s a moral black hole because she has to pull every questionable trick in the book to save her celebrity clients from moronic decisions, rebrand their entire personas, and otherwise protect them from a public that wants to devour them. As if House were a publicist, Paquin is excellent in the lead role here, but the real star is the litany of outlandish behavior and sticky situations she and her colleagues have to deal with (and cover up).

Watch it on Amazon Prime

19. Bosch

Year: 2014-2021
Cast: Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, Lance Reddick, Annie Wersching, Sarah Clarke, Madison Lintz, Mimi Rogers, and Jeri Ryan
Genre: Police Procedural, Detective Noir, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-7: 68 episodes
Created By: Eric Overmyer
Trailer: Watch here

Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch is a staple of 1990s and early 2000s detective fiction. It’s actually bizarre that it took this long to get a TV series made from them, but Prime Video cracked the code by hiring Welliver to play the Vietnam veteran, LAPD detective with an appropriately dark backstory. They’re ideal noir stories that don’t forget that mystery fuels the engine, and there are enough episodes to fill a lost holiday weekend. Plus, there’s also Bosch: Legacy, which continues to tale, and, if you’re still hungry for more, Mickey Haller (aka The Lincoln Lawyer) is Bosch’s half-brother, so you can keep binging and keep it in the family.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

18. Swarm

Year: 2023
Cast: Dominique Fishback, Chloe Bailey, Nirine S. Brown, Karen Rodriguez, Damson Idris, Rory Culkin, and Kate Lyn Sheil
Genre:Black Comedy, Psychological Horror, Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 7 episodes
Created By: Janine Nabers, Donald Glover
Trailer: Watch here

When does fandom turn into obsession? Janine Nabers and Donald Glover’s rabid satire goes for the throat with the story of a young woman who takes her love of a Beyonce-esque pop superstar well past what’s healthy. The result is a lot of blood and some legit bangers. It’s a pitch black series bathed often in neon with Dominique Fishback proving to be a force of nature who should immediately be given any role she asks for. She’s impossible to look away from, owning the horrorscape from beginning to end and giving Dre a humanity that might have otherwise been lost in favor of a mustache-twirler with no heart. She’s all heart, which means she needs a mop and access to great cleaning supplies to cover up everything she does in service to her pop queen.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

17. Outer Range

Year: 2022-present
Cast: Josh Brolin, Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor, Tom Pelphrey, Tamara Podemski, Lewis Pullman, Will Patton, and Kristen Connolly
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Neo Western, Mystery
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Brian Watkins
Trailer: Watch here

Royal Abbott has a lot on his plate. His daughter-in-law has gone missing, a drifter has shown up on his land, they’ve got a feud brewing with a rival family trying to take his ranch, and there’s a super weird black void just hanging out in his pasture. In case you were wondering, the black void is where the sci-fi comes in. This is a lovely, strange gem of a show, and Brolin is the perfect pater familias to give it an air of western legitimacy alongside all the universe-bending existential squirreliness. He is a Man In Black after all — in both meanings of the phrase. Somehow, a show that’s like The X-Files and Yellowstone made a foal together works brilliantly.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

16. The Legend Of Vox Machina

Year: 2022-present
Cast: Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Matthew Mercer, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, and Travis Willingham
Genre: Adult Animation, Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Role Playing Vibes
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-2: 24 episodes
Created By: Brandon Auman, Critical Role
Trailer: Watch here

The beloved Dungeons and Dragons campaigning podcast (and vodcast) Critical Role is the kind of program you could get lost in because some campaigns involve over 300 hours of content. The Legend of Vox Machina represents what can happen when veteran RPGers who also happen to be veteran voice actors tighten up those encounters into a thrilling, ridiculous romp through fantasy territory. There’s the half-elf Ranger, the human gunslinger, the gnome Cleric, the half-elf Rogue, the half-elf Druid, the scene-stealing barbarian, and the gnome bard. All of them band together for an epic quest marked equally by high adventure and dick jokes

Watch it on Amazon Prime

15. Small Axe

Year: 2020
Cast: Letitia Wright, John Boyega, Malachi Kirby, Shaun Parkes, Rochenda Sandall, Alex Jennings, Jack Lowden, and Michael Ward
Genre: Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 5 episodes
Created By: Steve McQueen, Courttia Newland, Alastair Siddons
Trailer: Watch here

Steve McQueen‘s outstanding longform series features an array of stories meant to share several angles of the Black experience in Britain. They span decades, sharing the intimate lives and work of a Trinidadian restauranteur, a Black police officer seeking reforms, two young lovers who meet at a house party, an imprisoned novelist, and a group of students transferred out of mainstream schools so the system could forget about them. Beyond the on-point cast, McQueen goes 5 for 5 on masterpiece-level episodes, crafting scenes of immense joy and profound pain throughout this explosive menu of stories.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

14. Hanna

Year: 2019-2021
Cast: Esme Creed-Miles, Mireille Enos, Joel Kinnaman, Noah Taylor, Dermot Mulroney, and Ray Liotta
Genre: Drama, Action
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-3: 22 episodes
Created By: David Farr
Trailer: Watch here

A spinoff of the Joe Wright-Directed film, the TV show seeks to retell and deepen the story of a young girl infused with super soldier DNA who trains to be an assassin by her ex-CIA “dad.” You know it’s going to be a thrilling ride when someone orders that all the babies in the experimental genetics program be destroyed. On top of the head-spinning malice, the series serves up the promise of the original movie’s action sequences by refusing to pull its punches. Its tight, Bourne-style fighting as well as intricate spycraft woven into a deeply personal tale of a child who had absolutely no shot at a normal life.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

13. Transparent

Year: 2014-2019
Cast: Jeffrey Tambor, Amy Landecker, Jay Duplass, Gaby Hoffmann, Judith Light, and Kathryn Hahn
Genre:Comedy, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-5: 41 episodes
Created By: Joey Soloway
Trailer: Watch here

Soloway’s Emmy-winning series was a stepping stone to the current era of trans and non-binary representation in film and television. It’s also a fantastic family dramedy. The catalyst for the show is Maura coming out to her three adult children as being trans, and while the series explores that in depth, it also delves into all sorts of topics in the wide weird world of being related, and Maura isn’t the only one seeking to live an authentic experience. It’s been at the center of its share of controversy, including the question of casting a straight cis man as a trans woman, but it’s still a fantastic, humane show that blossomed and grew over its 5 seasons, charting a path for more diversity in storytelling and, indirectly, acting representation.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

12. ZeroZeroZero

Year: 2020
Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Dane DeHaan, Noe Hernandez, and Gabriel Byrne
Genre: Drama, Crime
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Stefano Sollima, Leonardo Fasoli, Mauricio Katz
Trailer: Watch here

This Italian series is like watching How It’s Made but for cocaine. The clever conceit sees the plot launch with the sale of a large shipment of cocaine and follows said shipment through the totally smooth (sarcasm voice!) process of getting to the buyer. It’s an international crime family affair, featuring the Italian mafia, the cocaine suppliers in Mexico, and an American shipping company based in New Orleans. It truly takes a village. Unfortunately for the buyer, squabbling within his own ranks waylays the shipment to Morocco and things start to get pretty messy. It’s a sharp, aggressive show with enough prestige to premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

11. Jack Ryan

Year: 2018-present
Cast: John Krasinski, Wendell Pierce, Abbie Cornish, Ali Suliman, Dina Shihabi, Noomi Rapace, and Michael Pena
Genre: Drama, Spy Thriller, Political Thriller, Action
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-3: 24 episodes
Created By: Carlton Cuse, Graham Roland
Trailer: Watch here

There have been many incarnations of Tom Clancy‘s Jack Ryan, the bookishly reluctant field operator who keeps having to solve who blew up what and who tried to assassinate whom. The Ryanverse is vast, as names like Ben Affleck and Chris Pine have taken on the role, and Krasinski has found a home in it, delivering a take on the character that should remind viewers that he was the boyishly handsome lead of The Office and in the running at one point to play Captain America. The thrills of the show put Ryan up against terrorist organizations, corrupt government officials, and a Soviet-obsessed plot to detonate a tactical nuke. The stakes are sky high, and Krasinksi carries off the character by not always keeping his cool.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

10. The Underground Railroad

Year: 2021
Cast: Thuso Mbedu, Joel Edgerton, Peter Mullan, Chase W. Dillon, Mychal-Bella Bowman, and Sheila Atim
Genre: Historical Fiction, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 10 episodes
Created By: Barry Jenkins
Trailer: Watch here

Based on the glorious Colson Whitehead novel, this series infuses tales of escaping from slavery with magical realism, making the underground railroad we learned about in history classes (outside Florida) a literal underground railroad. Mbedu plays Cora, an enslaved woman who jumps aboard to reach freedom in the North, stopping along the way in various major Southern cities while being chased by a slave catcher hungry for the bounty and a personal vendetta. It’s a serious subject, handled with unsurprising aplomb by Barry Jenkins, who finds all the right moments of humanity laced within a nightmare scenario featuring a wondrous subterranean train.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

9. A Very British Scandal

Year: 2021
Cast: Claire Foy, Paul Bettany, Julia Davis, Richard McCabe, and Sophia Myles
Genre: Historical Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-2: 6 episodes
Created By: Sarah Phelps
Trailer: Watch here

Following on the heels of A Very English Scandal, which told the story of a sex scandal that brought down 1970s Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, A Very British Scandal focuses on the chaotic divorce case between Margaret and Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyle and Chief of Clan Campbell. What? They warned you that it was VERY BRITISH. Claire Foy and Paul Bettany play the warring couple who seem to have no bottom to the accusations they let fly at each other. But more than just their relationship, the media itself is on trial here, showcasing its obsession with tabloid sensationalism.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

8. Dead Ringers

Year: 2023 –
Cast: Rachel Weisz, Rachel Weisz
Genre: Horror/Psychological Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
Seasons: 1 (6 episodes)
Created By: Alice Birch
Trailer: Watch here

Based upon the same-named David Cronenberg movie, this project delivers the same brand of body horror. Rachel Weisz stars (while subbing in for the Jeremy Irons counterpart of the film) as two twin gynecologists pretending to be god in a fertility clinic. The show puts a feminist twist on the iconic original story, and the one soul/two bodies concept grows increasingly fraught as the series wears on. Let’s just say that professional and personal interests collide, and make sure that you stick around for the credits.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

7. Invincible

Year: 2021-present
Cast: Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, and J.K. Simmons
Genre: Superhero, Adult Animation, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 8 episodes
Created By: Robert Kirkman
Trailer: Watch here

Being a teenager can be super awkward, especially if your father is the most physically powerful being on the planet (and in the solar system, possibly) and zips in spandex saving people all the time. Based on Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley, and Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s comic series, and buoyed by Steven Yeun‘s superpowered charm, the animated series is an absolute blast. It’s an optimistic Watchmen, carrying a difficult message about responsibility and burden laid on those with powers (as well the bloody consequences). It’s the perfect show when you’ve got an MCU or DCU hangover.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

6. Good Omens

Year: 2019-present
Cast: Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Nick Offerman, Jon Hamm, Frances McDormand, Miranda Richardson, Michael McKean, Jack Whitehall, Adria Arjona, and Benedict Cumberbatch
Genre: Fantasy Comedy, Satire
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1: 6 episodes
Created By: Neil Gaiman
Trailer: Watch here

There’s no doubt that adapting Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman‘s novel about the potential end times was a complex task of finding right bits of the sprawling, century-hopping narrative to focus in on. Fortunately, the series based on the best-selling novel had at least one ace up its sleeve: Gaiman. He probably knew a thing or two about the book. The result is a shaggy dog story led by David Tennant and Michael Sheen about an Antichrist baby swap, a sparring demon and angel (who should just make out already), and a witch trying to stave off the four horseman of the apocalypse alongside a nebbish descendant of a famous witchfinder. Also, Heaven is weirdly in the throes of late-stage capitalism, and it’s unclear whether the earth is worth saving.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

5. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Year: 2017-present
Cast: Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein, Michael Zegen, Marin Hinkle, Tony Shalhoub, Kevin Pollak, Caroline Aaron, Jane Lynch, Luke Kirby, and Stephanie Hsu
Genre: Period Comedy, Drama
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-4: 34 episodes
Created By: Amy Sherman-Palladino
Trailer: Watch here

After Gilmore Girls and Bunheads, Amy Sherman-Palladino set her sights on a fictional 1950s stand-up comic who dared to take the stage while being a woman. This winning show, perfect for everyone who listens to their podcasts at 1.5x speed, features unmatched wit and charm as Mrs. Midge Maisel deals with divorce, public indecency arrests, and some serious will-they-won’t-they tension with Lenny Bruce. It’s got the schlemiel and the schlimazel, and fans of Everything Everywhere All At Once who burn straight through the delightful first three seasons will be further delighted when Stephanie Hsu shows up in season 4.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

4. The English

Year: 2022
Cast: Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer
Genre: Western
Rating: TV-MA
Seasons: 1 (6 episodes)
Created By: Hugo Blick
Trailer: Watch here

Emily Blunt can kick butt even in the most difficult of circumstances. In this case, she does so while saddled in an array of ridiculous dresses while traveling through the wild frontier alongside a former Pawnee scout, played by Chaske Spencer. As Cornelia and Eli, they make a well-matched team in this parable takes aim at destiny and power and how America can turn people inside out. Cartoonish villains abound, along with a final twist that fortunately isn’t a sucker punch, although it still hits hard and will leave you in contemplative mode after the final credits roll. It’s a masterful entry into a sea of recent Western efforts, and amazingly, this is also a tribute to the art of lighting. Boy, did we ever need that.

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3. Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power

Year: 2022-present
Cast: Morfydd Clark, Lenny Henry, Dylan Smith, Markella Kavenagh, Robert Aramayo, Benjamin Walker, Ismael Cruz Cordova, and Nazanin Boniadi
Genre: High Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: Seasons 1: 8 episodes
Created By: J.D. Payne, Patrick McKay
Trailer: Watch here

Costing approximately eleventy billion dollars, this prequel to The Lord of the Rings franchise sought to bring its cinematic scope to your living room screen. By all accounts, they’ve done it, crafting jaw-dropping visions of Middle-earth as a playground for some familiar characters (who don’t seem to age a day!) as well as a large cast of new ones. It’s main focus is on the forging of the four rings of power coinciding with the rise of Sauron before he was just a floating flame eyeball, but interpersonal romance and conflict abounds between the elves, humans, Harfoots, and other fantastical beings.

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2. Fleabag

Year: 2016-2019
Cast: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sian Clifford, Andrew Scott, Olivia Colman, Bill Paterson, Brett Gelman, and Jenny Rainsford
Genre: Black Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-2: 12 episodes
Created By: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Trailer: Watch here

Making a perfect episode of television is incredibly difficult. Making 12 perfect episodes in a row is near impossible, but Phoebe Waller-Bridge somehow managed it with her peerless chronicle of single desperation, sibling jealousy, and clear mental unwellness. She plays a young woman struggling with her family and dealing with the guilt over the death of her best friend. She’s also trying to date through her loneliness with people she’s dubbed Arsehole Guy and Bus Rodent. Clearly, she’s not making many good life choices, which is fantastically entertaining. She’s one of the pettiest characters in the pantheon, and the series is black comic genius.

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1. The Boys

Year: 2019-present
Cast: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Aya Cash, Jensen Ackles, Nathan Mitchell, and Elisabeth Shue
Genre: Superhero Satire, Black Comedy, Action, Adventure
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Seasons 1-3: 24 episodes
Created By: Eric Kripke
Trailer: Watch here

Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s angry satirical comic emerged from the George W. Bush era, but it remains fiercely topical, and the live-action adaptation is a smirking slap to the face that’s ideal for our time of complete superhero domination at the box office and on small screens everywhere. Sure, it’s a send-up of superheroes, but it also has a lot of deeply uncomfortable things to say about our current political and social situations, epitomized by the very stable genius of the jingoistic Homelander. That character will no doubt emerge as an icon of our age, but more than trenchant chomps at the system, the show is also absurdly fun. There’s nothing like making bold statements while having a ball.

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Buffalo Trace just dropped and experimental peated bourbon. We’re reviewing the whiskey mash-up to see if you should give it a try.

Buffalo Trace is one of the most beloved distilleries in America. It’s also one of the most award-winning. Iconic names like Colonel E.H. Taylor, Blanton’s, Elmer T. Lee, Stagg, and Pappy Van Winkle all help that love (and hype) spread throughout the whiskey-drinking world. But as with any distillery worth its salt, there’s so much more than big names and awards to BT. Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley has been tinkering with an Experimental Collection of spirits for years now and he just dropped a brand new one.

Below, I’ll be reviewing the 26th edition of Wheatley’s Experimental Collection — a peated bourbon. Peated whiskey is traditionally a very Scottish thing but people have been playing around with peated malted barley in bourbon a little bit recently. Kings County Distillery and J. Riddle both have peated bourbons and even WhistlePig is getting in on the smoke game with their SmokeStock Whiskey.

Still, this is a very niche style of bourbon that’s in its infancy. That makes it fascinating to try. Check my review below.

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Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection Straight Bourbon Whiskey Made With Peated Malt

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $46 (.375ml bottle or half bottle)

The Whiskey:

This whiskey is made from an experimental mash bill of high-rye bourbon that replaces the classic malted barley with peated malted barley. That’s barley that’s kilned (dried to stop germination) with peat as a heat source, which imbues smoke (phenols if you want to get all sciencey about it) into the barley grains. The whiskey was distilled and barreled back in November 2012 in only six barrels. Those barrels were stored on low floors of warehouses C and D for 10 years. Over that time, 65% of that whiskey evaporated.

Finally, the whiskey was batched and proofed down before bottling before a run through a chill filter.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a mild sense of old cigar smoke in a leathery old library with a layer of vanilla pods, dark chocolate-covered marzipan, and rich and butter toffee next to deeply stewed stone fruits with a dash of woody spice.

Palate: The palate is silken and lush with a sense of gomme syrup (it’s almost velvety) that gives way to brown butter vanilla malt over salted toffee and smoky campfire burnt marshmallow with a faint whisper of smoked prune and cherry.

Finish: The end leans into the campfire smokiness as the vanilla, fruit, and marzipan fade out, leaving you with a sense of burnt sugars and vanilla tobacco pouches next to a lingering sense of burning sage, cinnamon bark, and allspice leaves that just inch into ashy bitterness.

Bottom Line:

The end of this really starts getting ashy and that can be a big turn-off for some people. I dig it in that it takes classic Kentucky bourbon and adds a whole new dimension in a subtle way that gently builds to boldness. The profile eases you into the peated smokiness.

Still, this is a really unique bourbon and feels like you really need a baseline to enjoy it. If you already dig the peat monsters of Islay and the sugar bombs of Kentucky, then this is so going to be your jam. If you’re coming in cold, this could be a very hard experience to get your head around.

Ranking:

88/100 — this is a solid B+. Overall, I enjoyed it but it also feels like there’s more to draw from this idea — it deserves further exploration.

Availability:

This is a whole hornet’s nest of an issue. This is highly allocated. Even the press release states that it’ll be available in “extremely limited quantities.” That means that the likelihood of you finding this at MSRP and not marked up to the hilt is “extremely” low to nil. Right now, retailers, bars, and restaurants are receiving their allocation. My best advice is to hit your favorite and best whiskey bar to see if they snagged one and try it there. Otherwise, you’re going to have to be a very good customer of a very good liquor store to score one of these.

And if that’s not the case, you’re going to have to pay a lot to buy one (think anything from $500 to $1,000 per bottle).

The ‘Lipstick Lover’ singer is having a ball letting it all hang out, and Isbell doesn’t understand where the hate’s coming from.

It’s Janelle Monáe’s world, and we all live in it. Jason Isbell is just glad to be along for the ride. After several clips of Monáe flashing their bare breast to the crowd went viral (as did her “Lipstick Lover” visual), social media was flooded with varying opinions. While some begged for more, others weren’t pleased with the musician. However, Isbell is confused by the backlash over Monáe’s NSFW video.

He tweeted, “Wait, there are people who don’t like Janelle’s video? Seriously I don’t know wtf you people want if it isn’t that,” adding, “There are some things we all just agree it’s awesome so we can go about our business. Like gold, diamonds, Outkast, and this video.”

Isbell isn’t the only musician impressed by the video. Cardi B uploaded (and quickly deleted) a sexual meme to give her stamp of approval.

Over the last few weeks, the musician has let it all hang out as they count down the days to the release of their forthcoming album, The Age Of Pleasure. But, eventually, the musician decided to lean into their freedom of expression nixing their designer duds at the 2023 Met Gala for a string bikini which she then wore as she danced atop a New York bar.

Monáe doesn’t care about the backlash, writing on Twitter, “Titties out for the next 15 years.” The entertainer has had quite the about-face since the “Float” singer threatened to withhold future releases after a fan joked about the Monáe former conservative black-and-white wardrobe.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.