The best Amazon original series available now
Navigating the Amazon Prime Video television series library can be intimidating, particularly when it comes to finding the good stuff. To make your search a little easier, we’ve put together a list of our favorite original projects available on the streaming platform as of September 2020.
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The shows on our list are all Amazon originals — produced in-house by Amazon Studios in much the same way Netflix produces its Netflix originals — and there are a lot of them now that Amazon has been ratcheting up production in recent years.
Best Amazon original series for September 2020
- Absentia
- Bosch
- The Boys
- Catastrophe
- Comrade Detective
- The Expanse
- Fleabag
- Goliath
- Good Omens
- The Grand Tour
- Homecoming
- Hunters
- The Man in the High Castle
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Mozart in the Jungle
- New Yorker Presents
- One Mississippi
- Patriot
- Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
- Red Oaks
- The Tick
- Transparent
- Upload
- Undone
- ZeroZeroZero
Absentia
Stana Katic stars as an FBI agent who was declared dead in absentia, only to reappear six years later battered and clinging to life. All this time, the FBI believed she’d been killed by the serial killer whom she’d been hunting at the time of her disappearance. Now, the agent sets out to reclaim her family and identity and to resume her life after a harrowing, mysterious absence. However, her return also implicates her in a string of murders, forcing her to prove her innocence while regaining her life.
Bosch
Based upon a series of novels by Michael Connelly, Bosch is one of the best crime thrillers out there, faithfully reproducing the source material without falling prey to the same shortcomings that plague many adaptations. Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch (Deadwood actor Titus Welliver) is a morally upright man who isn’t afraid to bend the rules to bring justice to those who deserve it. Sound corny? Well, somehow, it’s not. Amazon’s vision of a grim, unromantic Los Angeles plays perfectly into Bosch’s story, which is simultaneously rote crime TV and enthralling drama. The series’s slow pace is sublime, and characters — even small ones — are written thoughtfully, avoiding the tired tropes of the genre (mostly). If you like cop shows, this is one of the best.
The Boys
There are plenty of superhero movies and TV shows out there, but none of them are quite like The Boys, which might offer the darkest, most depraved, and dysfunctional view of super-powered heroes and villains we’ve seen so far. Based on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic book series of the same name, The Boys follows a group of non-powered vigilantes who take it upon themselves to mete out justice to super-powered heroes who abuse their abilities and take advantage of the trust the public has placed in them. As grim and shockingly violent as it is clever, the series also offers a powerful deconstruction of traditional superhero stories and presents a world in which superpowers, corporate greed, and media consolidation have bled together to create a particularly frightening form of corruption. The audience sees it all through the eyes of Hughie, an average guy who is brutally changed by a chance encounter with a superhero.
Catastrophe
Amazon has the exclusive American streaming rights to this British sitcom starring Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan as a mismatched couple who meet in London and, after a windswept week of passion, experience the ultimate catastrophe: Pregnancy. Catastrophe reverse engineers the rom-com, forcing an ad exec from Boston and an Irish teacher living in London to become parents very shortly after they ceased being strangers. Delaney and Horan have outstanding chemistry as the constantly-bickering, culture-clashed couple who are nonetheless committed to making it work for the baby. It’s a refreshingly honest, funny look at relationships, marriage, and parenthood focusing on two very flawed, yet strangely compatible, soon-to-be parents.
Comrade Detective
Easily the most absurd entry on our list, Comrade Detective is like a buddy-cop movie, except those buddies are Romanian and set during the late Cold War. The entire show is filmed in Romanian (with Romanian actors) before being dubbed over in English by big-name stars including Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nick Offerman, and more. Most of the gags in Comrade Detective are typical jokes about communism and the USSR, except they’re reverse-engineered to be “about” the capitalist pigs of America. Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell when the show is being serious and when it’s trying to make you laugh, and those end up being the best (and most thought-provoking) parts.
The Expanse
Although The Expanse began as a SYFY original series, Amazon saved the show and renewed it for two additional seasons. That’s a tremendous gift for genre fans, because The Expanse has emerged as one of the best shows on TV. The series adapts the sci-fi novels of James S. A. Corey, which take place in the far future after humanity has colonized the solar system. Steven Strait’s James Holden and his fellow survivors stumble onto a conspiracy to use an alien Protomolecule to transform humanity into something new. Thomas Jane co-stars as Josephus Miller, a detective chasing the plot from another angle. But it’s often Shohreh Aghdashloo who steals the show as Chrisjen Avasarala, the only woman in Earth’s government who recognizes that the real threat may come from within. Four seasons are currently on Amazon, and we’re eagerly awaiting the fifth season!
Fleabag
This British sitcom is created and written by star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who plays a young London woman who hurtles through life fueled by sex, jokes, awkward moments, and plenty of drama. The series was adapted from Waller-Bridge’s one-woman show, and the show recently concluded its second (and likely final) season on Amazon. The winner of multiple TV awards and nominations over the course of its first two seasons, including a pair of Primetime Emmy Awards for Waller-Bridge and the series itself, Fleabag managed to top its widely praised first season with an even more critically acclaimed sophomore season that put it among the best-reviewed TV series of all time.
Goliath
Billy Bob Thornton portrays hard-luck lawyer Billy McBride in this series that follows his path to redemption after leaving the powerful law firm he co-founded with a reclusive partner and hitting rock-bottom. Although it features an impressive supporting cast that includes William Hurt, Maria Bello, Olivia Thirlby, Molly Parker, and Mark Duplass, the series is led by Thornton’s performance as the former hotshot attorney who now struggles against a legal system weighted against his clients instead of favoring them. The role won Thornton a Golden Globe Award as the year’s best actor in a drama series at the 2017 ceremony.
Good Omens
Amazon Studios co-produced this six-part miniseries, based on the fantasy novel of the same name by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, along with BBC Studios. The series follows an angel and a demon played by Michael Sheen (Masters of Sex) and David Tennant (Doctor Who), respectively, whose comfortable lives on Earth are threatened by the impending apocalypse. The pair must team up to prevent the ascension of the Antichrist and a war between heaven and hell. The show’s impressive cast is filled out by Jon Hamm, Michael McKean, Miranda Richardson, Adria Arjona, Nick Offerman, and Jack Whitehall. Like the book that inspired it, the series is packed with quirky, irreverent humor that filters both human history and biblical mythology through its clever lens.
The Grand Tour
If you liked Top Gear and you’ve never seen The Grand Tour … oh boy. The full crew — Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, and executive producer Andy Wilman — migrated to Amazon after Clarkson was booted from the BBC show following some untoward allegations, and it feels like they never left. The Grand Tour actually takes Top Gear to another level, with more extravagant production value and more ridiculous vehicles than ever before.
As with its predecessor, Grand Tour expertly blends legitimate auto journalism with general buffoonery, as the hosts regularly take gleeful potshots at one another. The show travels across the world for numerous specialty episodes, including one involving charitable efforts in Mozambique and one in Dubai featuring sand buggies. The show is basically just Top Gear 2.0 — but if you like cars, you need to watch.
Homecoming
Based on the podcast of the same name created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, Homecoming is a psychological thriller about a secret government program called Homecoming, a facility that helps soldiers transition back to civilian life. In season one, Julia Roberts stars as Heidi Bergman, a caseworker who left Homecoming to take care of her mother in the small town where she grew up. However, when the Department of Defense starts asking why she left, Heidi begins to realize the story she has been telling herself is completely different from what actually happened. As Homecoming bounces between timelines, we see just how deep the conspiracy between private enterprise and government brainwashing goes. Season two is out in May with a new cast centered around Janelle Monáe.
Hunters
Al Pacino hunting Nazis? What’s not to love?! Hunters is inspired by real-life groups of American Nazi hunters who have tracked down defected Nazis over the decades. The story itself is set in 1977 New York City as Meyer Offerman (Pacino) builds a ragtag team designed to derail a brewing plot to create a Fourth Reich in the United States. As the team discovers hundreds of high-ranking Nazi officials who have assimilated into American life, they take drastic, gory measures to thwart the Nazis’ new genocidal plans. Hunters has drawn criticism for its occasionally tone-deaf writing and misrepresentation of some historical details but if you’re in for some campy action, you could do a lot worse.
The Man in the High Castle
What would have happened if the Axis powers emerged victorious from World War II? That’s the question posed by The Man In The High Castle, a dramatic, highly stylized adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s 1962 novel of the same name. Set in the early 1960s (novelly, it’s a dystopian past this time around), the Third Reich and the Japanese empire hold split control over the continental United States. When a dangerous propaganda film makes its way into the hands of revolutionary groups, a clandestine conflict begins over the truth of the war as an aging Adolf Hitler prepares to relinquish control of the Reich and several prominent party members vie for a chance at the throne. The pace is slow, but the acting, especially from Rufus Sewell (Victoria) as the icy Obergruppenführer John Smith, is worth your patience.
In 1958 New York City, Jewish housewife Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) finds out her husband — a businessman who does stand-up comedy on the side — is stealing his jokes from big-time comic Bob Newhart and, worse, having an affair. To cope with the upheaval, Midge begins to tell jokes of her own, and finds she has something of a knack for it. In the vein of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a comedy that doesn’t allow itself to be weighed down by its more serious moments, resulting in a joyous, fun tone.
Similarly, the series tactfully handles issues of gender and religion in a period when people weren’t quite as enlightened or politically correct as (most people) are today. Brosnahan’s character work is outstanding, painting a picture of a woman who uses her pain to strengthen her resolve and bolster her act.
Mozart in the Jungle
Gael García Bernal stars as an eccentric, wunderkind orchestra conductor in one of Amazon’s first originals, created by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Paul Weitz. Lola Kirke stars as an oboist and the conductor’s protégé. It’s neither a steamy, passionate drama nor a high-stakes thriller. Instead, Mozart in the Jungle is just a fun, low-key show about being human. There’s ambition, triumph, failure, connection, disconnection, and a slew of ordinary things, played out in the world of extraordinary musicians. Plus, Malcolm McDowell and Bernadette Peters are in it, so you know it’s fun.
New Yorker Presents
You don’t need a subscription to The New Yorker — just watch this short anthology series on Amazon. The New Yorker Presents is an odd collection of interviews, news investigations, and scripted comedy shorts that hold little relation to one another but are all worth watching in their own way. Want to learn about the effects of pesticides on amphibian ecosystems? You came to the right place. Each episode is host to several different segments, which vary wildly in tone and subject matter. That said, you never feel as though you’re wasting time or watching something uninteresting. And don’t worry: There are no political cartoons.
One Mississippi
One Mississippi might be the most melancholy comedy series ever made. When L.A. radio host Tig Bavaro (Tig Notaro) returns to her Mississippi hometown after her elderly mother is taken off life support, she moves back in with her brother and stepfather to try and sort everything out. What follows is a bittersweet culture clash, as progressive, big-city Tig struggles to adapt to the antiquated traditions in Bay St. Lucille. Notaro is wonderful, the kind of comic whose jokes come simply via observation. Despite Amazon’s cancellation of the series after two seasons (apparently as part of a move toward “bigger, wider-audience series“), critics heaped praise on One Mississippi for its authentic tone and unique brand of humor. The semi-autobiographical show is one of the most genuine you’ll find, depicting its characters with both comedy and care.
Patriot
A blend of dark comedy and drama, this series from writer, director, and executive producer Steven Conrad follows a reluctant spy who’s forced to take a position as a mid-level employee at an industrial piping manufacturer to gather intelligence on Iran’s nuclear program. As he gets drawn deeper into the dangerous assignment, he finds himself taking greater risks to protect his secret. Michael Dorman stars in the series as intelligence officer John Tavner, with Terry O’Quinn portraying his esteemed father and senior officer. The impressive cast is filled out by Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus, Kathleen Munroe, Aliette Opheim, Chris Conrad, and Debra Winger. While the first season received generally positive reviews and a nomination as the year’s best comedy series from Critics Choice Television Awards voters, the second season raised the bar, earning widespread acclaim after its November 2018 debut.
Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
An anthology sci-fi series akin to Netflix’s Black Mirror, the first 10-episode season of Electric Dreams offers a set of stand-alone stories that filter humanity’s technological future through a dark, often unsettling lens. Each of the episodes is inspired by the works of prolific sci-fi author Philip K. Dick, whose stories previously served as source material for Blade Runner and Minority Report, among other acclaimed films.
Although the series isn’t a fully original Amazon Studios production, Amazon Prime Video owns the U.S. rights to the series, which has a surprisingly well-known cast of familiar faces in front of the camera, and an equally impressive team behind it. Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) is one of several high-profile cast members to appear in episodes, along with Hidden Figures actress Janelle Monae, Terrence Howard, Steve Buscemi, and Anna Paquin.
Red Oaks
Red Oaks is a surprisingly fun ode to classic 1980s coming-of-age comedies that doesn’t lean on lazy callbacks or costume gags, instead crafting a genuinely affecting tale of love, loss, and growth. College kid David Myers (Craig Roberts) signs on to work at an upstate New York country club in the summer, where he works as a tennis instructor under the charming Nash (Ennis Esmer, always stealing scenes). David inconveniently finds himself falling for the beautiful daughter of the club president (Paul Reiser, of course) while navigating his parents’ messy relationship, and a relationship of his own. The series doles out hilarity and wholesomeness in equal measure, with excellent comic acting by both known commodities (Richard Kind, ’80s icon Jennifer Grey as the parents) and diamonds in the rough (Oliver Cooper). The first season is the best, but it’s all worth your time.
Sneaky Pete
Sneaky Pete is one of Amazon Studios’ lesser-known productions, but the three seasons released so far have all earned tremendously positive reviews. The premise is classic Hollywood, as con artist Marius (Giovanni Ribisi) gets out of prison and adopts his late cellmate’s identity to escape from a terrifying gangster (Bryan Cranston). Predictably, Marius finds himself in over his head trying to navigate the life that Pete left behind years ago, including an overbearing grandmother (Margo Martindale) and a crotchety grandfather (Peter Gerety). Ribisi’s roles are typically smaller parts, but he nails the lead here, and overall the show takes a fun tone without dipping too far into “comedy” territory.
The Tick
The Tick began his (fictional) existence as a sort of tongue-in-cheek superhero and mascot for a New England chain of comic book stores. Amazon’s take (the third Tick TV series, but who’s counting?) follows lowly Arthur, a typical office worker with little ambition and few goals. Suddenly, Arthur meets The Tick — perhaps a real superhero, perhaps a figment of his imagination — who begins to uncover the hero hidden within Arthur. The show is quite funny, powered largely by Peter Serafinowicz’s dopey performance as the title character.
Transparent
Not only is Transparent an incredible show, but it is also perhaps the best double entendre in TV history (trans-parent … get it?). In a widely acclaimed turn (he’s won 13 awards off 22 nominations so far), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) portrays Morton Pfefferman, a retired college professor who opts to live his truth as a transgender woman — Maura — thus forcing Maura’s family to adapt to their father’s newly revealed identity. The series is an honest, emotional look at the difficulties that plague transgender people as they attempt to justify their identities to both close friends and complete strangers. Creator Jill Soloway found inspiration for Transparent after her own father came out as transgender, lending the show a feeling of authenticity you can’t help but appreciate. Just after being renewed for a fifth season, the series fell into limbo due to multiple sexual harassment allegations levied against Tambor, who was subsequently fired from the show. The first four seasons are available on Amazon, along with the show’s feature-length musical finale.
Undone
Undone is a rarity among adult-oriented animated series, because it’s more of a drama and a thriller than a comedy. It also utilizes Rotoscoping animation to provide the series’ mind-bending visuals. Rosa Salazar stars in the series as Alma, a directionless young woman who almost loses her life in a car crash. However, Alma soon discovers that the crash seemingly unlocked her ability to see her dead father, Jacob (Bob Odenkirk). According to Jacob, Alma has the ability to bend time and space to her will, and he wants her to go back in time to prevent his murder. While Alma can seemingly do everything that Jacob promised, the truth about her abilities and her sanity is still tantalizingly ambiguous. But there’s a second season on the horizon with more answers.
Upload
In a not-so-distant future, humans near death have the option to upload their consciousness to luxurious virtual reality afterlives. When Nathan (Robbie Amell) is in a car accident, he can choose to undergo a risky operation and risk real death or go to the Lakeview digital afterlife instead. He chooses the latter, where he meets Nora (Andy Allo), his still-alive customer service representative. As Nathan becomes acclimated to a personalized, customizable afterlife (loaded with ads and in-app purchases), Nora navigates the personal and financial struggles of her real world. The boundaries blur as the two characters build a relationship that spans planes.
ZeroZeroZero
ZeroZeroZero might be the most ambitious TV series you’ve never heard of. This massive eight-episode miniseries was shot on three continents, even more countries, and encapsulates three fairly distinct stories. Why? Because this is the story of the world’s cocaine supply chain, from manufacturers in Italy to sellers in Mexico to the brokers and buyers around the world. It’s reminiscent of Netflix’s Narcos but far broader in scope, attempting to tell a technical, yet still dramatic, tale about how enormous the world’s drug machine truly is. It makes the War on Drugs seem positively stupid. With great performances from the likes of Gabriel Byrne, Andrea Riseborough, and Dane DeHaan, it’s surprising how under the radar ZeroZeroZero is.
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