Are you really making the most out of your Amazon Prime subscription? Sure, you’ve got paper towels and cat litter coming in like clockwork. But if you’re not regularly combing through the service’s streaming catalog, then you’re missing out on hundreds of hours of killer TV. Since getting into the original-content game, Prime Video has churned out some of the best series in streaming—award-winners like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, plus lesser known gems like Patriot. And then there’s all of the fantastic series on the platform from other networks—FX, Comedy Central, BBC One, you name it. So without further ado, here are the 22 best TV shows to stream right now on Prime.
This list is in alphabetical order. It was last updated on May 7, 2022. It will update monthly.
Stars: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, Holly Taylor, Kiedrich Sellati, Annet Mahendru, Costa Ronin, Alison Wright
Number of seasons included with subscription: 6
The Americans is one of the best TV shows of all time. The end. Okay, in case that isn’t enough: Joe Wiseberg’s Cold War-era set thriller is the pulsating story of Philip (Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Russell), two KGB officers who pose as an American married couple. It’s a gut-wrenching prestige drama that puts Philip and Elizabeth up against their FBI neighbor, Stan (Emmerich), and a host of pivotal enemies over six intense seasons. As Erik Adams perfectly sums up in his review of the series finale : “The Americans ends as it lived—tense, affecting, and one of the greats.”
Stars: Karl Urban, Elisabeth Shue, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Chace Crawford
Number of seasons included with subscription: 2
Let’s be honest: If superpowers were real, then American capitalism would turn the people who have them into egomaniacal celebrities with god complexes faster than you can say, “So…is the city paying for that?” Based on Garth Ennis’ comics of the same, The Boys imagines a group of vigilantes intent on exposing so-called superheroes in a world where corporate overlords control them. It’s like Watchmen, only way more fun and with another season (due out June 3) on the way.
Stars: Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, Anthony Stewart Head
Number of seasons included with subscription: 7
Our apologies to True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, and What We Do In The Shadows—but no vampiric TV show will ever be quite as iconic as Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Sure, creator Joss Whedon imploded his career . But that’s no reason to punish yourself or this stellar cast by writing off the show altogether. Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as the titular Buffy, a young woman who discovers she’s destined to seek and slay demons in the small town of Sunnyvale. At least, she’s got friends (and an ancient prophecy) backing her up.
Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Joanne Forggatt, Phyllis Logan, Jessica Brown Findlay, Rob James-Collier, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol
Number of seasons included with subscription: 6
Created by Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey is synonymous with excellent historical drama for a reason. Set in early 20th-century England at a fictional estate in Yorkshire, this family epic follows the aristocratic Crawleys through the changing realities of a world ravaged by global conflict. Understated and slow, but never boring, Downton Abbey offers long-haul character development that remains some of the best the genre has ever witnessed on the small screen.
Stars: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sian Clifford, Andrew Scott, Bill Paterson, Brett Gelman, Olivia Colman, Angus Imrie
Number of seasons on Prime Video: 2
Based on Waller-Bridge’s one-woman show, British comedy Fleabag is equal parts acerbic and heart-wrenching. The first season is a comedic success, but the second season fully manages to sweep audiences off their feet with a love story from hell. Hot Priest wouldn’t approve of that phrasing, but come on, the romance was true emotional torture—in a great way. The show nabbed multiple Emmy wins in 2019, and remains one of the easiest binges on Prime.
Stars: Matthew Holness, Matt Berry, Richard Ayoade, Alice Lowe
Number of seasons included with subscription: 1
“I’m one of the few people you’ll meet who’s written more books than they’ve read.” So says the titular star of this brilliant, hilarious one-season-and-done cult curiosity, in which a bad horror writer (Matthew Holness) looks back on his bad horror TV series from the ’80s, one that up until this fictional making-of doc had only aired in Peru. In his deep dive into the show , Erik Adams called it “the unlikely, six-episode intersection of such iconic Britcoms as The Office, The IT Crowd, and Father Ted—with bits of I’m Alan Partridge and Da Ali G Show thrown in for good measure.”
Stars: Michael Sheen, David Tennant
Number of seasons included with subscription: 1
Created by Neil Gaiman—and adapted from his and Terry Pratchett’s beloved 1990 novel of the same name—Good Omens is a fantastical biblical farce that never lets up. When the Antichrist arrives on Earth, the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and the demon Crowley (David Tennant) band together to protect the semi-mortal lives they’ve come to know and love. Stupidly funny and unendingly re-watchable, this limited series was a gift on its own. Now, it’s getting an expansion with season two expected early 2023 .
Stars: Hugh Laurie, Robert Sean Leonard, Lisa Edelstein, Jesse Spencer, Omar Epps, Jennifer Morrison, Olivia Wilde, Peter Jacobson, Kal Penn
Number of seasons included with subscription: 8
We’ll admit: Gregory House is a terrible doctor whose flippant mistreatment of patients was always unacceptable. We’ll also admit: He’s one of funniest medical providers in TV history (second only to 30 Rock’s Dr. Leo Spaceman). In this long-running hospital dramedy, Hugh Laurie stars as the titular House M.D., a smarmy diagnostician whose lack of bedside manner would lose him his license if he weren’t also a scientific genius. Come for the promise of the killer one-liners; stay because of the super soapy drama.
Stars: Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, J.K. Simmons, Gillian Jacobs, Zazie Beetz, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Zachary Quinto
Number of seasons included with subscription: 1
Invincible is a bloody good time. The adult-animated drama, based on comics of the same name, follows 17-year-old Mark Grayson’s transformation into a superhero under the tutelage of his father, Omni-Man. The first episode packs a shocking, twisted cliffhanger that sets up the rest of Invinicible’s thrilling arc. The show has already been renewed for two more seasons. As William Hughes wrote in his review : “Against all odds—and with guidance from comic creator Robert Kirkman, and under the stewardship of showrunner Simon Racioppa—Invincible manages to make something potentially fascinating out of what should be a disastrous recipe for whiplash.”
Stars: Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Ty Burrell, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Melanie Lynskey, Malcolm Jamal-Warner, Eric Edelstein
Number of seasons included with subscription: 5
Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key have been comedy work wives since MadTV, and they even show up together in the first season of Fargo. Their Emmy-winning Comedy Central sketch comedy remains an iconic gift. For five seasons, the duo covered societal topics with a myriad of skits with memorable characters, from Peele’s take on President Obama to Key’s angry teacher Mr. Garvey.
Stars: Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein, Tony Shalhoub, Marin Hinkle, Michael Zegen, Kevin Pollak, Caroline Aaron, Luke Kirby, Jane Lynch
Number of seasons included with subscription: 4
Amy Sherman-Palladino brings her colorful Gilmore Girls-esque writing, fast conversations, and sharp humor to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The show follows Midge Maisel, a 1960s housewife-turned-standup-comic. Brosnahan, Borstein, and Shalhoub deliver remarkable performances in this Emmy-winning series, which will end with an upcoming fifth season.
Stars: Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Rasika Dugal, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Divyenndu, Vijay Varma, Vikrant Massey
Think of Mirzapur as a rowdier Succession, with way more violence and entertaining Hindi-language crass words. Set in rural India, the drama follows an iron-fisted crime lord, Kaleen Bhaiyya (Tripathi), who wields immense political power in the small titular town. Multiple people vie for his inheritance, including his sinister heir and two of Kaleen’s new employees. Mirzapur is an intense and fast-paced thriller, one of many hailing from Prime Video India (Paatal Lok is another great option).
Stars: Rami Malek, Christian Slater, Portia Doubleday, Carly Chaikin, Grace Gummer, Martin Wallström, Michael Cristofer
Sam Esmail’s riveting thriller follows Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity hacker who struggles with clinical depression and dissociative identity disorder. He’s recruited by an anarchist who calls himself—you guessed it—Mr. Robot to destroy debt records of a giant conglomerate. Dennis Perkins noted in his review of the pilot : “It’s something of a backhanded compliment to say that Mr. Robot is entertainingly derivative. But it’s the show’s over-reliance on aping a handful of familiar predecessors that, in addition to a compelling lead, keeps its pilot episode zipping along.”
Stars: Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Gavaris, Dylan Bruce, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Kristian Bruun, Evelyne Brochu, Kevin Hanchard, Ari Millen
Created by Graeme Manson and John Fawcett, this sci-fi drama is first and foremost a spectacular showcase of Tatiana Maslany’s acting skills. Without missing a beat, she plays multiple clones, making each of them so distinctive that it’s easy to forget one actor inhabits them all (often onscreen at the same time). Orphan Black spins a complicated but rewarding web, so much so that AMC has ordered a new spin-off for 2023.
Stars: Michael Dorman, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus, Kathleen Munroe, Aliette Opheim, Chris Conrad, Terry O’Quinn, Debra Winger
Number of seasons included with subscription: 2
For what is, on paper, a spy thriller, Patriot is weird—that’s high praise—as well as laugh-out-loud funny, occasionally sweet, and completely original. Michael Dorman stars as the show’s ever-in-existential-crises covert operator, and he leads a fantastic cast that includes Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus, Kathleen Munroe, Terry O’Quinn, Debra Winger, and Chris Conrad (the brother of show creator Steven Conrad, and maybe the show’s secret weapon). If you’re a music fan who likes the good stuff, you’re in luck: “Train Song” by Vashti Bunyan soundtracks the home-video intro in season one; there’s also a cover of a Bill Fay cut by Jeff Tweedy (like the Conrads, a Chicagoan); and the folky, Bill Callahan-esque originals Dorman’s character plays throughout the show are always amusing. Watch this show.
Stars: Jeffrey Tambor, Gaby Hoffmann, Jay Duplass, Amy Landecker, Judith Light, Kathryn Hahn
Number of seasons included with subscription: 4, plus the film Transparent: Musicale Finale
One of the best L.A. shows, period—okay, so it mostly captures a very specific slice of that city, but still—Transparent follows the Pfeffermans as Maura (Jeffrey Tambor) comes out and her children and ex-wife cope with a string of complications. It’s an ambitious show, one that takes big swings—see it’s so-so musical-film sendoff—that mostly connect, creating a complex, modern dramatic tapestry about aging, identity, Jewishness, sex, abuse, and privilege—all heightened by some wonderful performances.
Stars: Thuso Mbedu, Aaron Pierre, Chase W. Dillon, Joel Edgerton, William Jackson Harper, Amber Gray, Chukwudi Iwuji, Lily Rabe
Number of seasons included with subscription: 1
Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk) delivers a defining work of historical drama and magical realism in The Underground Railroad. Thuso Mbedu leads the cast as Cora Randall, an enslaved Black woman who, with the help of abolitionists, attempts to escape Georgia for a life of freedom in the North. It’s a searing, sensational adventure to behold. As Stephen Robinson wrote in his review for The A.V. Club : “The Underground Railroad isn’t an easy watch, but like Cora’s testimony, it’s a necessary step forward.” [Alison Foreman]
Stars: Robbie Amell, Andy Allo, Allegra Edwards, Zainab Johnson, Kevin Bigley, Owen Daniels, Paulo Costanzo, Josh Banday, Andrea Rosen
Number of seasons included with subscription: 2
Greg Daniels takes on the afterlife in Upload. Robbie Amell stars as a deceased programmer living on in virtual heaven in a half-hour sci-fi comedy that combines the sobering scares of Black Mirror with the warm sensibilities of The Good Place. It’s a generally pleasant watch that still delivers the drama. Admittedly, this one takes a little while to get going, but the shorter second season hits a sweet spot you won’t want to miss.
Stars: Olivia Cooke, Claudia Jessie, Tom Bateman, Johnny Flynn, Charlie Rowe
Number of seasons included with subscription: 1
Vanity Fair is based on William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1848 novel of the same name, a read as inexplicably under-appreciated by modern audiences as its exquisite TV adaptation. Olivia Cooke stars as Becky Sharp, a firecracker wit whose scheming ways see her climb up (and slip down) the London social ladder in a delicious drama akin to Bridgerton. Fittingly, Claudia Jessie (a.k.a. Eloise Bridgerton) plays Becky’s best friend Amelia.
Stars: Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, Alex Jennings, Patricia Hodge, Monica Dolan
Number of seasons included with subscription: 1
This three-parter has a lot going for it despite its short runtime: Intoxicating direction by Stephen Frears (The Grifters, Philomena ), an engaging true-life tabloid story—it follows Jeremy Thorpe (Hugh Grant), the leader of the Liberal Party who’s embroiled in a scandal when his former lover, Norman Scott (Ben Whishaw), accuses him of conspiracy to commit murder—and two commanding leading turns. One of those made our list of the best TV performances of 2018 .
Stars: Travis Fimmel, Katheryn Winnick, Clive Standen
Number of seasons included with subscription: 6
If you liked Robert Eggers’ The Northman, then you are going to love Vikings. Across six seasons, writer-creator Michael Hirst pulls liberally from Norse mythology to weave an engrossing tale of vengeance, honor, and destiny that’s as riveting as any episode of Game Of Thrones. When you’re not holding your breath between clashes of steel, you’ll fall into Vikings’ exuberant romanticism.
Stars: Blake Anderson, Adam DeVine, Anders Holm
Number of seasons included with subscription: 7
Part The Office and part Party Down, this half-hour situational comedy follows a trio of dude friends who work at a telemarketing company by day and share a house in Rancho Cucamonga by night. Not all of the comedy here has aged, uh, gracefully, but the jokes that still work are doing some serious overtime. [Alison Foreman]