The best TV dramas on Amazon Prime
The Americans, House, The Night Manager, Billions and other binge-worthy TV dramas on Amazon Prime Video
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Streaming libraries expand and contract. Algorithms are imperfect. Those damn thumbnail images are always changing. But you know what you can always rely on? The expert opinions and knowledgeable commentary of The A.V. Club. That’s why we’re scouring both the menus of the most popular services and our own archives to bring you these guides to the best viewing options, broken down by streamer, medium, and genre. Want to know why we’re so keen on a particular show? Click the links for some in-depth coverage from The A.V. Club’s past. And be sure to check back often, because we’ll be adding more recommendations as shows come and go.
The following are our recommendations for the best television dramatic series currently streaming for Amazon Prime Video customers—minus science-fiction, horror, and fantasy shows (we’re saving those for a later list) and not including anything that comes with a Prime Video Channel subscription (otherwise, the picks would be overwhelmed with vintage cartoons and MTV reruns). Don’t have Prime? For more on Amazon Prime, check out the best genre shows and comedy shows. Here are our guides to the best shows on Netflix and Hulu. Not into Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon? Here are shows you can stream for free, with limited commercial interruption.
21 Comments
I always see “The Night Manager” as Hiddleston’s Bond demo. Maybe even Hiddleston’s childishly enthousiastic Bond demo. Actually, I wish Bond movies would cast a different actor each time, if only to quench my ‘what if’ curiosities.That being said, I wonder if any of these listed series are actually as good as “The Americans”.
Patriot should be on this list.
YES. I love Patriot, and for some reason I don’t know anyone else who watches it.
Patriot has dramatic elements, but leans far more into uncomfortable comedy.
Counterpart is my pick for criminally overlooked dramas available on Amazon. Damn thing was downright prescient to our current situations, but what carries it is the Cold War style spycraft story and the characters.
Uh, no. Guess again on this. It starts out mildly intriguing but by the third season you’ll be ready to scream at the TV: “GET ON WITH IT!”Gillian Anderson – much love, but not everything she does is Dana Scully. Yep, her character here fucks. Whoopee. Her British accent is so low key and whispery that it isn’t believable. There’s an emotionless quality that sucks the life out of many scenes. Then comes the unbearable, uselessly detailed police and medical procedural dialogue that is written strictly to show that someone did a lot of research into how dull both of these things actually are. They do manage to translate that boredom directly onto the screen, so kudos I guess. If you enjoy hearing multiple fifteen to twenty minute segments of mind-numbing medical numbers and ultra cautious Irish police investigations, maybe you’ll love it. My fast forward button got a workout.The killer makes so many mistakes it’s hard to believe he made it past the first murder and portraying him as sympathetic at all because he’s good looking is, actually, rather disgusting.But I’ve always wanted to know precisely what’s involved in removing a spleen, in great, great detail and how much of each medication to provide before, during and after the procedure. Riveting.
The quoted write-up was written after just the 1st season was available. That said-It was the only season worth watching. The second season reversed course immediately on where the previous finale had left off. Anderson’s detective developing a fixation with the killer was off-putting because he was an…impossibly attractive murderer?Season 3…Well, I didn’t bother with Season 3 because the story should have been done by that point. Hell, had they wrapped it up at the end of season 1 and moved onto a different case that would have kept my interest.
Now you’ve got me curious to watch this – how could a British person’s British accent be unbelievable?
When an American actress does a bad version of it?
Counterpart is on Prime and its a fantastic (if VERY complicated) show that deserved more of a following and more than two seasons. So much future world-building squandered. 🙁
Mr Robot Supplanted The Wire as my favorite show of all time. I love it so much. The Anderson kids FOREVER.
Wow, US Amazon Prime sounds way better than Australian Amazon Prime…
I think you forgot 1/17
Where’s Deep Space Nine? That’s what I’ve been watching on Amazon lately, because I’ve never see the entire series…
I’ve been thinking about rewatching it, and, if I do, whether I’ll go back and reread Handlen’s “TV Club Classic” reviews from a few years ago. If you haven’t read any of them, there’s one gimmick commenter in particular that might make it worthwhile.
You can’t watch the Fall for free on Prime. It just prompts you to start a free trial of some British-specific streaming service.
OK, going to throw something out if you want to be adventurous. It is available on Amazon Prime US.“The Family Man” is in some ways a grittier version of the “True Lies” concept set in India. I will say that there are a few parts of the show where I was wondering about the setup (some of the set ups were sloppy), but the best parts are the family dynamics and the personal stories which give the show a different perspective other than black or white. Give it a try. (Turn on subtitles; Amazon also has option for English dubbing–yes, dubbed with an Indian accent!)
Isn’t The Fall on Netflix?
I think my favorite thing about these money-grubbing slideshows is when they crib from writers who left the site years ago, who presumably don’t get even a penny from this “new” content
On this list The Americans is absolutely at the top for me. But my current favorite Amazon Prime drama is “Them”, so much better than I expected it to be, can’t wait for season 2.
I’ve been binging my way through The Americans for the first time, midway through the 5th season. I mostly love it but binging through a series sure can highlight the weak spots.
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