Amazon Prime Video boasts an extensive catalogue of TV shows and movies, with genres to suit every taste.
If you have been looking to add something new to your watchlist, here are eight shows that you should definitely be following on Amazon Prime Video.
1) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
What would the average 1958 housewife do when she finds out that her husband has left her?
Well, in the case of Miriam “Midge” Maisel, stand-up comedy was the answer!
Midge accidentally discovers that she has quite the knack for stand-up, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel follows Midge’s journey as she pursues comedy as a side gig. Of course, Midge is also busy with her two kids, moving back into her parents’ home, and her day job as a cosmetics employee at a department store, but this all provides her with entertaining material that she can use in her acts.
Although it has only been running since 2017, the show has already won a couple of awards:
- Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Muscial or Comedy (2017)
- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (2018)
Considering that the creator of the show was also the creator of the extremely successful Gilmore Girls, the popularity of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is hardly surprising!
While the show itself has so much merit, Amazon really went all out when it came to promoting The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. They teamed up with various outlets around the city, cutting prices down to what they would have been in the 50’s. From 30 cent hot dogs in Hollywood to 51 cent movie tickets, to 30 cent gas that ended up causing so much traffic, Amazon stood behind this show right from the start, helping it to become a huge success.
There are currently two seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel that you can catch up on, with the third season set to be broadcast later in 2019.
2) Veep
Veep fans will be disappointed that 2019 saw Veep air its final episode, but, considering it had a seven season run, this show did pretty well.
What is Veep about?
It follows Selina Meyer, who is played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Meyer is the vice president of the USA, and this political satire show follows Meyer, as well as those closest to her, as they navigate the twists and turns of the world of politics.
Meyer’s personal life is also showcased on screen, consisting of her rocky relationships with her husband, her daughter, and other members of her family.
This is another show that has won numerous awards, including:
- 7 nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (it won the award for seasons 4, 5 and 6)
- Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Comedy Series (winning for seasons 2, 4 and 6)
- Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy (for season 3)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus has also won multiple awards for her role in the show, and is joined by several of her co-stars.
Although this show was first developed by ABC, they soon dropped it, leaving HBO to pick it up and take it to new heights.
3) Bosch
Just like many of the other great television shows and movies out there, Bosch began its life as a series of novels by Michael Connelly. The first season of the show is heavily inspired by three of those novels in particular:
- City of Bones
- Echo Park
- The Concrete Blonde
What is Bosch actually about?
It is a show about a detective called Harry Bosch, who is based in Los Angeles.
You are probably thinking…
There are so many detective shows out there! What makes Bosch worth following?
There are a few reasons why you would want to watch this show, such as:
- For its fantastic storytelling, including plenty of unexpected plot twists
- For its complex character development, with each character being thoughtfully well-developed
- For its exceptional acting performances, which manage to really draw you into each scene
The pilot episode for Bosch was actually released online alongside another episode, with Amazon asking viewers to vote and provide feedback on which show they would like to see developed further. Bosch was an instant hit, making it a no-brainer that this should be the show that Amazon Prime Video should continue on with.
There are currently five seasons of the show to catch up on, and Amazon Prime Video has already renewed Bosch for a sixth season.
4) The Expanse
Are you a fan of sci-fi?
If so, you have probably already heard of The Expanse, which aired its very first episode in 2015.
This show is set in the future – a few hundred years in the future, to be more precise.
What’s it about?
It follows a detective called Josephus Miller, who is played by Thomas Jane. Miller lives on Ceres, on the asteroid belt, with the entire solar system having now been colonized. Miller, along with his co-stars, find themselves right in the middle of a conspiracy that is threatening the survival of all of humanity, and it is up to them to help save the day.
The plot may not seem very attention-grabbing at first, but it follows a political narrative that is both intriguing and exciting. Critics agree with this, with the show having already won a couple of awards, including:
- A Hugo Award for the Best Dramatic Presentation
- 3 Saturn Award nominations for the Best Science Fiction Television Series
The first three seasons of The Expanse aired on the Syfy network, but this was then cancelled, much to the disappointment of fans, in 2018.
However, fans did not have to wait long to see the show back on their screen, since Amazon Prime Video picked it up shortly after. The fourth season is set to air in December of 2019, and there is also a fifth season currently in development.
5) Goliath
Have you heard of David E. Kelly before?
He has created a number of courtroom dramas in the past, including:
- Ally McBeal
- The Practice
- Boston Legal
Well, he can now add Goliath to his list of successes, with this legal drama proving to be extremely popular.
It was originally commissioned by Amazon Studios, with the first of its initial eight episodes airing in 2016. The show now has two seasons under its belt, with the third set to be broadcast later in 2019.
What exactly is Goliath about?
It follows Billy McBridge, who is played by Billy Bob Thornton, as a lawyer that has not had the best of luck in life. He constantly tries to seek justice with his job, struggling with the way in which the law tends to favor those who are wealthy and powerful.
When it comes to the reviews of Goliath, opinions can be mixed, but they are usually generally positive. Although the show itself has not yet won any awards, Billy Bob Thornton, along with co-star Mark Duplass, have had nominations and wins for their roles in the show.
6) Transparent
A good comedy drama usually has the potential to go quite far, and this is exactly what Amazon Prime Video was hoping for with Transparent.
This is a show with a very relevant plot line – it centers around a family in Los Angeles who have just found out that their father, whose name on the show is Mort, is actually a trans woman who goes by the name of Maura.
While the topic of gender identity is complex enough already, Transparent expands on this even further by also including religious themes.
How?
Well, several of the main characters are Jewish, meaning that Jewish themes regularly run through each episode. The creator of the show, who is Jewish herself, also has a Rabbi as a consultant to ensure that everything is kept accurate.
Back to the theme of gender identity…
Jill Soloway, the show’s creator, decided to try to hire transgender people as much as possible to work on the show, calling this a transfirmative action program. From writers to co-producers to consultants, numerous transgender people contributed to this show’s success, making it even more authentic.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end…
Spoiler alert:
Jeffrey Tambor, the actor who plays Mort, started to receive sexual harassment allegations against him, and was fired in 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparent_(TV_series)
Season five, which will be airing in the second half of 2019, will be the show’s last season, and the final episode will see Mort being killed.
How is he killed?
That’s something we won’t find out until the end…
7) Fresh Off the Boat
A popular American sitcom show, Fresh Off the Boat is another series on Amazon Prime Video that was originally inspired by a book.
This time, the book was by Eddie Huang, and was also called Fresh Off the Boat. Just like the show, the book told the story of a Taiwanese-American family who lived in 1990’s Florida. The dynamics between each family member, from the parents to the three kids, along with their neighbors and friends, makes for some entertaining material.
If you have ever seen the show Everybody Hates Chris, then Fresh Off the Boat is one you will probably be familiar with, as their styles are relatively similar.
This is a show that was quite the game-changer when it came to showcasing different ethnicities on screen. Ever since All American Girl, which aired for just a single season in 1994, Fresh Off the Boat was the first US television sitcom to star an Asian-American family.
The show is clever and humorous, and although it is set a few decades ago, the storylines do always tend to be pretty relevant.
This seems to be the opinion shared by the show’s general wider audience, with Fresh Off the Boat receiving plenty of praise all around. The show itself has been nominated for a couple of awards, but many of the stars have gone on to win awards of their own because of their work on the show.
How many seasons are waiting to be binged on?
There are currently five seasons out, and the show has been renewed for a sixth season.
8) The Americans
Ok, so The Americans may now be off the air, but you can catch up on all six of its seasons on Amazon Prime Video, and this is something definitely worth doing.
This is a show that received an extraordinary amount of positive feedback – it won over 40 awards and received even more nominations, including:
- Best Show on Television, as voted by numerous publications
- TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama
- Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series
It wasn’t just the acting that was recognized, the writing was also praised by numerous publications. The series was nominated for, and won, a few different writing awards, and also managed to bag itself a very rare Peabody Award for the second time.
This incredible success was largely due to the show’s unique and fascinating storyline…
So, for those of you who haven’t seen the show, The Americans is set in a suburb of Virginia in the 1980’s, during the Cold War. It follows a family who are seemingly all-American, except for the fact that the parents are actually Soviet KGB officers.
As you can tell from the plot, this is a show with so many twists, turns and suspenseful moments, with this being one that will really keep you on the edge of your seat. Once you start watching The Americans, you will likely be glued to the screen until the very end, and the show’s final episode will definitely not disappoint. In fact, many have called it one of the best TV show finales of all time.
Looking for a new show to become hooked on? Have a watch through these eight Amazon Prime Video shows and you will no doubt find exactly what you are looking for!
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