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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
