Thanks to an endless string of powerhouse hits, prestige watches, and offbeat swings unlike anything else out there, you’re likely to find your new favorite show on Amazon. Jeff Bezos already has all of our money, he might as well have all our time, right? Weeee!
In honor of the only place where we can both stream top-tier TV and buy 2-day delivery toilet paper, here are our favorite shows available on Prime Video or Amazon Freevee. Another pleasant afternoon of bingeing awaits!
Fallout
The year is 2296, and nuclear war has transformed the planet into an irradiated wasteland where mutated ghouls reign supreme. Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), however, has been lucky enough to avoid the brutality of this dog-eats-dog-eats-enormous-cockroach world. She grew up in a sequestered, underground vault community that preaches good neighborly values. So when she’s forced to go where no vaulter has ever been — the surface! — to rescue her father (Kyle MacLachlan), will she be able to navigate its ruthlessness? Or will her chipper can-do attitude make her easy pickings for the slaughter?
You don’t need to have played Fallout, the game, to love Fallout, the series; this is a postapocalyptic adventure for everyone. Its tone alone makes it work the watch, mixing 1950s, cheerful nostalgia with unapologetic gore. And lucky for us, the story also goes hard. You’ll be powerless to stop yourself from clicking “next episode” again and again to get to the bottom of this show’s jaw-dropping mysteries. That, and to see more of Walton Goggins' absolutely career-changing performance as the baddest ghoul of all time.
How to watch: Fallout is now streaming on Prime Video.
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy
Keke Palmer and Stephanie Hsu are Dr. Klak and Dr. Sleech, two talented, horny alien surgeons and best friends trying to have it all. Their biggest concerns are balancing their exes, their flings, and their sci-fi medical procedures — until Dr. Klak finds a brain-eating worm that could cure her of her anxiety. Will they use the dangerous creature to make a historic medical breakthrough? Or will they unleash an unstoppable, insatiable monster into the universe?
Created by Cirocco Dunlap, The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy feels incredibly fresh, with a unique animation style, lovable characters, and a modern sense of humor — all against a soothing pastel backdrop. A who’s-who-of-comedy voice cast doesn’t hurt, including Natasha Lyonne, Kieran Culkin, Maya Rudolph, Andrew Dismukes, Gary Anthony Williams, Lennon Parham, and, surprisingly, Sam Smith!
How to watch: The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy is now streaming on Prime Video.
The Boys
When we first meet Hugh (Jack Quaid), he’s generally a fan of his world’s many superheroes — until one of them with enhanced speed runs through his girlfriend, instantly bursting her into pieces on the street. Radicalized, Hugh finds a new purpose with Butcher (Karl Urban), leader of a group of "supe"-haters determined to hold heroes accountable — by any means necessary. And no supe warrants revenge more than Antony Starr’s iconic Homelander, an invincible superman-type who’s also an unhinged sociopath.
Based on the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys delights in shocking violence and cheeky nihilism. Heroes in The Boys universe are as jaded and flawed as the worst people you know in real life. But these people also have super-powered orgies. (OK, say less!) It’s fantastic TV. If you can’t get enough of the Boys universe, check out its spin-off college series, Gen V.
How to watch: The Boys is now streaming on Prime Video.
The Rings of Power
In Middle Earth, thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings, a young Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) battles her way across the continent in a dogged attempt to root out remnants of evil. Elsewhere, a hobbit-like group of nomads finds a lost man who possesses miraculous and dangerous power. And all the while, Sauron’s insidious influence casts a shadow across a seemingly peaceful land. This is the story of how the original rings of power were made, and how the events that eventually brought Frodo to the one ring were set into motion millennia before Bilbo’s 111th birthday party.
The Rings of Power is loosely based on events laid out in J.R.R.Tolkien works like The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, and The Lord of the Rings appendices. The team worked closely with Tolkien’s estate to make sure the narrative fit established lore — so naturally, a lot of men on the internet got pissed. Ignore them. The Rings of Power is an impressive, beautifully crafted tribute to the Lord of the Rings world fans know and love. It’s patient, it’s all-encompassing, and it faithfully captures the magic of the Peter Jackson trilogy. You don’t want to miss those final few episodes! This is one high budget that was put to good use.
How to watch: The Rings of Power is now streaming on Prime Video.
I'm a Virgo
No show from 2023 is as original, or as radical, as Boots Riley's I'm a Virgo. The Sorry to Bother You filmmaker brings us on a wild odyssey alongside 13-foot-tall teenager Cootie (an excellent Jharrel Jerome) as he explores the world outside his home in Oakland, California, for the very first time.
Cootie's journey brings him face to face with many wonders of our world, from the magic of subwoofers to the highs of first love. However, it also acquaints him with major systemic evils, including racism, police brutality, and labor exploitation. Trust Riley to deliver a strong anticapitalist message wrapped in surrealism. Bizarro, brilliant, and boasting some of the most distinctive visuals of the year, I'm a Virgo occupies a singular space on TV, one that everyone should check out.* — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: I'm a Virgo is now streaming on Prime Video.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the movie, is a super-sexy flick from 2005 where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt play married assassins. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the series, takes the same winning formula, plugs in Donald Glover and Maya Erskine, and stretches it out over eight thrilling episodes. It’s funny, it’s emotionally grounded, and it’s action-packed. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a hit!
John and Jane meet each other for the first time on the day they move in together as a married couple — and partner-assassins for a mysterious, shadowy organization. They vow to keep their interactions all business. It will be easier for the pair to carry out their missions without any emotions getting in the way. But even in a world where love can have dangerous consequences… it’s hard not to fall for your spouse.
How to watch: Mr. and Mrs. Smith is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Jury Duty
Ronald Gladden is a regular guy reporting to jury duty. What he doesn’t know is that everyone else in the room — the jurors, the judge, the lawyers, everyone — is an actor, including James Marsden as a smug, vapid, name-dropping version of himself. Jury Duty is both a comedy and a captivating social experiment. How does this normal dude react as the trial heats up and the people around him act stranger and stranger over the course of 17 very real days? What makes this elaborate hoax a success is that it never feels like the humor is found at Gladden’s expense. In fact, after learning the truth about his “candid camera” experience, Gladden has publicly said he had a great time. So feel no guilt about enjoying one of the most intricate pranks in TV history — it’s a hell of a watch!*
How to watch: Jury Duty is now streaming on Amazon Freevee.
Primo
Primo is the kind of coming-of-age ensemble comedy that dreams are made of — and it's the best new sitcom of 2023. Created by Shea Serrano and executive-produced by Michael Schur (The Office, Parks and Recreation), Primo is a loosely autobiographical series based on Serrano's San Antonio upbringing.
Standing in for Serrano is Rafa (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio), a high school junior whose five uncles and single mother Drea (Christina Vidal) are highly invested in his well-being, which leads to some hilarious mishaps. Primo deftly balances Rafa's more grounded school life and college dreams with his wild family life, which includes barbecues gone awry and the world's most competitive game night. Episode set-ups are often standard sitcom fare, but Primo is elevated by its sharp writing, hyper-specific characters, and a phenomenal ensemble that gels right off the bat. We may only be one season in, but there is no doubt in my mind that the Gonzales family already belongs in the TV family hall of fame.* — B.E.
How to watch: Primo is now streaming on Amazon Freevee.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
For a fluffy, mindlessly pleasant binge, Amazon Prime’s The Summer I Turned Pretty checks all the boxes. Isabel Conklin and her brother have been accompanying her mom, her mom’s best friend, Susannah (Rachel Blanchard), and Susannah’s two sons to their beach house every summer for as long as she can remember. For years, Isabel was a tagalong, an awkward preteen – until this summer, the one in which she turns 16, so she’s hot now. We’ve got brooding teens, secret family drama, a debutante ball, and plot points hinging on wearing the right crop top. A breezy, scenic teen romance, The Summer I Turned Pretty comes to us from young adult rom-com queen Jenny Han (writer of To All the Boys I Loved Before), so you know you’re going to love it.*
How to watch: The Summer I Turned Pretty is now streaming on Prime Video.
The Night Manager
With a cast featuring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander, David Harewood, and Elizabeth Debicki, 2016’s The Night Manager is not a hard sell. This award-winning British spy thriller based on the John le Carré novel is sophisticated, glamorous, and deeply compelling. It’s hard to go wrong with a le Carré adaptation, (see: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold), and The Night Manager is no exception. It’s exquisite.
Hiddleston is Jonathan Pine, a British veteran who manages the night shift at a luxurious Cairo hotel. During the Egyptian revolution of 2011, British Intelligence thinks Pine is perfectly positioned to help them take down dangerous arms dealer Richard Roper. But to gain Roper’s trust, Pine might have to become a criminal himself.
How to watch: The Night Manager is now streaming on Prime Video.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
In 1950s New York City, Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) loves to entertain her friends and family with her fast-talking, clever quips. So when she realizes her husband, who has been pursuing comedy, is actually mediocre, she gets drunk, finds herself on stage, and does the best impromptu tight five the underground comedy scene had seen in years. The next day, a manager (Alex Borstein) reaches out, and suddenly this housewife finds herself doing for real what her husband only pretended to do: be a stand-up.
Thanks to creator Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls), the jokes in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel come at you fast. Every episode is a whirlwind of nostalgia, sumptuous ‘50s costumes, and witty banter. It’s fun, it’s cheeky, and it’s a love letter to Jewish NYC — you just might have to put on the captions to keep up with the dialogue!
How to watch: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
The Wheel of Time
It must have been daunting to attempt to adapt Robert Jordan’s legendary, high fantasy fiction series with over 14 novels into a TV show, but 2021’s The Wheel of Time is up to the task. Though the first season is a little clunky as it finds its footing, the second season soars, bringing together clever plotting, fascinating magic, and weighty emotional grounding.
Egwene, Rand, Perrin, and Mat are four young friends living in the remote, peaceful hamlet of Two Rivers, far from the dangers and dramas of the major cities. But when a troop of evil beasts decimates their village, killing everyone they love, the four (along with a healer, Nynaeve) must go on the run. Their only protection is Moraine (Rosamund Pike), a mysterious woman who can channel immense magical power… and who believes their fates might be tied to a terrible prophecy.
How to watch: The Wheel of Time is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Upload
Who needs heaven when you’ve got virtual reality? That’s the question asked in Greg Daniels’ (The Office, Parks and Recreation) 2020 tech satire, Upload. Welcome to a world where dying humans forgo walking into the great beyond by uploading their consciousnesses into utopian computer programs. But when software coder Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell) gets into a self-driving car accident, he discovers digital heaven isn’t so heavenly after all — and it’s expensive! This funny, thought-provoking skewering of the tech industry is supported by a charismatic cast.
How to watch: Upload is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Invincible
Mark Grayson is a completely average teen — except that his dad is Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero on the planet. When Mark finally gets his powers, he can’t wait to follow in his father’s footsteps and protect the people of earth… but he doesn’t know his father isn’t telling him the whole truth about his legacy.
Clever, weighty, and completely captivating, Invincible is a fresh new spin on the superhero genre. The action sequences are exciting, the superpowers are cool, but the tone is emotionally-charged and deeply concerned with consequences — for both heroes and bystanders. These are real people trying to navigate high stakes circumstances, and we feel it, thanks in part to Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, and J. K. Simmons leading the stellar voice cast with gravitas.
How to watch: Invincible is now streaming on Prime Video.
Fleabag
If you have not yet watched Fleabag, run — do not walk — to get your eyes on this show as soon as possible. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s 2016 hit is hilarious, heart-wrenching, and everything in between. Waller-Bridge navigates romantic flings as well as complicated family relationships while coping with the loss of her closest friend. And most interestingly, the show breaks the fourth wall, with Waller-Bridge looking directly into the camera to comment on what she’s going through. In less capable hands, this could be reduced to a gimmick, but Waller-Bridge’s insights are piercing, irreverent, and stunningly human. There’s a reason this show launched Waller-Bridge into the upper echelons of Hollywood in no time at all. It’s just that good. Be sure to stay tuned for season two, where Andrew Scott’s Hot Priest steals this already unstealable show.
How to watch: Fleabag is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
The Underground Railroad
Like most of creator Barry Jenkins’ work (Moonlight), The Underground Railroad is both haunting and beautiful. Based on a Colson Whitehead novel, the series follows Cora (Thuso Mbedu from The Woman King) on a fearless journey to find freedom. In the real world, the underground railroad was a clandestine trail of safe houses that enslaved people used to escape the South. Here, it’s an actual underground railroad.
This bit of magical realism only expands from there, showing us an alternate history of the United States of America, one in which the oppression of Black people in many Southern states is amplified tenfold. Brutal, emotional, and a true work of art, The Underground Railroad will leave you astounded both by the power of the performances and the strength of the message.*
How to watch: The Underground Railroad is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Good Omens
David Tennant and Michael Sheen are positively magnetic as the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale, representatives for Hell and Heaven on Earth who’ve grown partial to their Earth-bound lives and aren’t quite ready for the antichrist to burn it all down yet, thank you very much! Based on the Neil Gaimain and Terry Pratchett novel of the same name, Good Omens is an irreverent comedy about unexpected friendships, joy in the little things, and most importantly, lying to your bosses to pretend like everything is going great with the upcoming Armageddon!
How to watch: Good Omens is now streaming on Prime Video.
The Expanse
Many of our classic sci-fi favorites depict a future where humans have space travel all figured out; they’ve lived among aliens for centuries; and their issues are with outside forces, not each other. But what happened before this space travel utopia, when humans could voyage off-world but lacked the technology to leave their own galaxy? Enter The Expanse: a gripping, sci-fi noir thriller that brings class warfare to the stars.
Hundreds of years in the future, humanity’s two main factions are an overpopulated Earth and a militaristic Mars, both of whom dismiss a widespread community of humans (called Belters) born on asteroid belt space stations. After years of economic oppression, Belters are starting to revolt — but something bigger is on the horizon. A mysterious substance is killing anyone who comes into contact with it. Will humans come together to face this colossal threat, or will it only divide them further? Fans of science fiction and epic power struggles will love this stellar adaptation of James S. A. Corey’s Hugo Award-winning novels.
How to watch: The Expanse is now streaming on Prime Video.
Jack Ryan
Jack Ryan, Tom Clancy’s fictional CIA analyst-turned world saver, has been played by the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine in movies since 1990. But in 2018, he got his first TV treatment with John Krasinski at the helm. It’s everything you expect from a Tom Clancy adaptation: gripping geopolitical suspense, high stakes international intrigue, and exciting action. In season one, Ryan uncovers an impending Islamist threat by tracking suspicious bank transfers — and he’s the only one who can stop the danger. Confident, entertaining, and smart, Jack Ryan is another winner in a long run of successful Ryan entries.
How to watch: Jack Ryan is now streaming on Prime Video.
Dead Ringers
Dead Ringers may have the same name and central conceit as the 1988 David Cronenberg film, but this miniseries is no retread. For starters, creator Alice Birch (The Wonder, Conversations with Friends) gender-swaps the dual starring roles of twin gynecologists Beverly and Elliot Mantle, with a mesmerizing Rachel Weisz taking over from the original's Jeremy Irons. This recasting is anything but cosmetic: Being women themselves renders their work more personal and allows Dead Ringers to further explore their relationship to pleasure, sex, fertility, and the female body in a way the original couldn't.
The Mantles share everything, from their medical practice to their lovers to their dreams of opening a birthing center and research clinic. However, their close-knit, one-of-a-kind relationship begins to fray as Beverly begins a long-term relationship of her own, and as Elliot's research begins to push past ethical boundaries. In Cronenbergian fashion, Dead Ringers is full of squeam-inducing body horror, although the show skews more towards medical gore. However, it also mines horror from the dehumanizing and racist origins of obstetrics and fertility science. Thanks to choices like these, Dead Ringers sets a new course far away from the storyline of the original, both building on it and standing apart in its own, brilliant way. * — B.E.
How to watch: Dead Ringers is now streaming on Prime Video.
Undone
An animated existential crisis, Undone follows Alma Winograd-Diaz, a young woman whose near-death experience in a car crash gives her a new ability to travel through time and investigate her own past. Created by Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Amazon’s first adult-animated series is both a family drama and fantastical metaphysical journey. As Alma’s relationship with time changes, so does her relationship with her family. It sounds trippy, and it is — especially with its rotoscoped animation — but it’s also, somehow, deeply relatable. Undone will hook you from the start.
How to watch: Undone is now streaming on Prime Video.
The English
When we first meet Emily Blunt’s Lady Cornelia Locke, she’s wearing a bright pink, frilly 1890s frock, a stark contrast to the searing blue sky and arid yellow dirt of the remote outpost in the American West where her story begins. She does not belong in this ruthless, lawless place. But she traveled all the way from England for revenge on the man responsible for her son’s death — and she will stop at nothing to get it. Luckily, she meets Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer), a Pawnee man and former cavalry scout for the Union army who has his own score to settle. Together, the unlikely pair travels through hostile territory, unraveling their painful pasts and finding solace in the strength of each other.
The English is a stunning, emotional, and brutal Western that defies expectations. You will not be able to guess where it’s going, or where it came from — but you will be utterly hypnotized by the power of Blunt and Spencer’s performances.*
How to watch: The English is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
UPDATE: May. 22, 2024, 4:38 p.m. EDT This article has been updated to reflect the latest streaming options.
