This is part of a series, offered in time for the Northern hemisphere’s summer of 2023. I thought I’d roll through the various streaming services that I have, and list some of the TV shows I like there. The idea is to give guidance for a quick subscription – if you’re going to get the free trial, maybe add a month or two, then get out, what should you watch? I haven’t seen everything, of course, nor do I wish to, and I’m an individual with particular tastes and bents, so this isn’t “the best of” any platform: it’s simply a list of the shows I’d recommend.
Amazon is the streaming service that many people forget they even have. It’s also one of the least impressive streamers at telling us what it has, putting about as much work into letting us know about its excellent store of British co-productions, for example, as it does into letting us know about its excellent stores of Bluetooth speakers, vinyl spatulas, or books about gardening. But for a good selection of the former, listed alphabetically:
As We See It (2022- ) follows a careworker (Sosie Bacon) and the group of three twenty-somethings on the autism spectrum who are living together (Rick Glassman, Sue Ann Pien, Albert Rutecki) with whom she works. It’s from Friday Night Lights’ Jason Katims. It’s not quite in my upper echelon of half-hour dramedies (see Hulu for that), but it’s a careful mix of funny and caring. The three characters on the spectrum are all handled by actors on the spectrum, as is much of the writing by writers on the spectrum, no less, and for the most part the show avoids treacle. At eight eps of 30 mins, you can burn through it.
The Boys (2019- ) takes place in a world in which superheroes have been created, commercialized, and given far too much power by a nefarious corporation. The show has its hiccups, namely a proclivity for women to need saving, and I really don’t like Karl Urban’s character or acting. But in an era in which every second film is a superhero story, The Boys’ satire of superhero power gone wrong is a welcome response and shadow. Antony Starr’s Homelander is a standout: think Superman with all. the. psychosis.
Catastrophe’s (2015-2019) Sharon Horgan has been busy in the last few years, but this is still her best work to date, both as actress/comedienne and writer, paired with Rob Delaney. An excellent transatlantic comedy about a couple who meet via a fling and decide to try being together when she gets pregnant. It gets pretty deep and serious as the show goes along, but it’s also one of the fastest paced, brutally honest comedies around, often hilarious.
Fleabag (2016-2019) is Amazon’s other brilliant British half-hour dramedy. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is superb as the titular character suffering from the death of her best friend, and trying to find her footing. Formally inventive (Fleabag talks to us, even during sex) and smart, it’s also a pretty uncompromising look at depression. But as with Catastrophe, there are few better things than a half-hour British show, since if you like it, you can dash through it at record speed.
Good Omens (2019- ) is a lot of fun. Adapting Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s novel about the rise of the anti-Christ and opposing angels (the excellent Michael Sheen and David Tennant) who become BFFs over hundreds of years, this show is not at all the dark brooding piece you’d imagine from such a premise, but is instead so light on its quirky feet. It’s very witty, and part of a fun wave of shows that pre-fanfic themselves.
A League of Their Own (2022- ) adapts the famed movie about the 1940s’ American Girls Professional Baseball League. It starts out on shaky feet but really finds itself as it goes along (with Episode Six, “Stealing Home,” the show’s best self). By the end it’s a tale about queer women (and a trans man) in the 1940s, and I appreciate how it finds space between being utopian and overly grim. Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson centers it, but D’Arcy Carden shines in particular.
The Lord of the Rings of: The Rings of Power (2022- ) put me to sleep in the first episode. But I went back, pushed my way through some of the nasty early characterization cobwebs (spun as thick as Shelob herself might), and ended up enjoying it. We’re back in the distant pre-War of the Rings era, as Sauron is fashioning the rings and amassing power. For any Tolkien/LotR fan, this is a must, but as noted, be prepared for the stinker of an opening, and for occasional remnants of said stink.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-2023) glimmers and sparkles with humor, as it imagines a late 50s / early 60s New York housewife (Rachael Brosnahan) who pursues a career in stand-up comedy. Stylized in Amy Sherman-Palladino manner, it’s very witty, though I’ll admit to dropping off after Season 2, by which point the governing dynamics just seemed to be spinning around in circles on themselves (as with many shows, yes, but that’s often when I tire).
The Power (2023- ) is the most recent show on this list, adapted from Naomi Alderman’s sci-fi novel in which teen girls develop the ability to create electricity, allowing them power over men that clearly evolution felt they finally, finally deserved. I grimace at its framing of Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Romania, and yawn at the Brit scenes, so this is a show with a bunch of problems, but Halle Bush, Toni Collette and company do a good job of bringing this feminist show and rumination to life. An all-women soundtrack is a nice addition.
Small Axe (2020) may not belong on this list, since I’m looking at shows/series, and it’s debatable whether this is a series of five movies or television-ish. Meh: you work that out. But work it out while watching these five superb entries from Steve McQueen exploring the lives of Black Brits from the 1960s to the 1980s. The change in tone from one to the other is often stark, and I liked them all, especially admiring the deft moves between trauma and joy.
Transparent (2014-2019) is in many ways a/the show that made Amazon Prime known as a purveyor of television, and its following of a trans woman’s (Jeffrey Tambor) transition later in life, and her family’s own explorations of gender, sexuality, and identity is indeed excellent. I often find the adult children insufferable, making the show harder to watch, even if I get what’s happening intellectually … but it’s still rare, important, and often beautiful at what it does. Kudos to Joey Soloway on creating a show with very few analogues.
The Underground Railroad (2021) is an amazing adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel that imagines the titular service as real not metaphoric, and that charts Cora’s (Thuso Mbedu) journey along the railway and through American slavery and “emancipation.” The alphabet places this last on this list, but it’s searing and brilliant, deserving higher billing. That first episode is especially rough to watch, but that’s because the show is uncompromising in showing the absolute psychosis that lay behind slavery and its progeny. Filmed amazingly and told beautifully, Barry Jenkins’ tale is riveting even amidst the pain, and Mbedu offers a commanding performance. Indeed, if you’re just going to watch one Amazon Prime show, make it this one.
Late addition: Just after posting this, I realized season 1 of From (2022- ) is available for free on Amazon (though you’ll need to pay for season 2, or get a free trial to MGM+ [is that even a thing?] since it’s not an “Amazon Original”). I really enjoyed this under-the-radar show about a mysterious town where random road-trippers get trapped forever, and where monsters come out at night. It has more than a few parallels with Lost, including Harold Perrineau in the cast. A fun mix of horror, puzzle box, and drama.
