The Best TV Series on Amazon Prime Video

What are the best TV series on Amazon Prime Video? The 19 titles below star the likes of Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Amy Poehler, Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Martin Freeman, Kirsten Dunst, Ewan McGregor, Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Jeff Daniels, Tahar Rahim, Rachel Brosnahan, Nick Offerman, Joel Edgerton, Nigel Hawthorne, Julianna Margulies, Jonas Nay, and Jaideep Ahlawat. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Ramy Youssef, and Simon Pegg are co-creators and stars on their respective series. And the rest of them are made by Bruce Miller, Amy Sherman-Palladino, David Farr, Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, Sudip Sharma, Barry Jenkins, Noah Hawley, Alex Gibney, Steven Moffat, Robert and Michelle King, and Edgar Wright.

Of course, this list cannot possibly cover everything. And that’s why we have separate recommendations for some select genres that you should also check out.

The Best Drama and Comedy-Drama Series on Amazon Prime Video

1. Coupling (2000 – 2004)

   Steven Moffat’s early 2000s sitcom about six friends — three men and three women — discussing dating, sexual adventures, and all kinds of mishaps went beyond gender stereotypes and kept the laughs coming thanks to eccentric characteristics and plots. Consistently great throughout.

2. Deutschland 83, 86, and 89 (2015 – 2020)

   Set in 1983 and 1986 either side of the Iron Curtain, an exploration of life in both West and East Germany through the viewpoint of an undercover spy, who navigates love, family, and secrets. Third season, titled Deutschland 89, not available in India yet. An Amazon original.

3. The Expanse (2015 – Present)

   Hundreds of years in the future, a mankind that has colonised the Solar System is at the brink of a war and it’s up to a crew of different origins — Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt — to expose the greatest conspiracy of all. An Amazon original. A slow start before hitting its peak in season four.

4. Fargo (2014 – Present)

   The Coen brothers’ acclaimed film of the same name is the inspiration for this black comedy/crime anthology series from Noah Hawley, featuring quirky characters across different eras dealing with deception, intrigue and murder amidst the cold of the American Midwest. The first three seasons — led by Martin Freeman, Kirsten Dunst, and Ewan McGregor — are the highlights.

   

5. Fleabag (2016 – 2019)

   Phoebe Waller-Bridge created and starred in this comedy-drama out of her one-woman play, about a young, sexually-liberated, dry-witted irritable woman who navigates modern life in London while coming to terms with a recent tragedy. Winner of several Emmys, with Waller-Bridge picking up best series, actress, and writing. An Amazon original, possibly its best.

6. The Good Wife (2009 – 2016)

   After a humiliating sex and corruption scandal puts her husband behind bars, his wife — a former state’s attorney — must return to work to provide for her family, while battling the unwanted spotlight. Known for its unique legal cases, terrific performances, and delivering consistently on all fronts throughout its long seven-season cable run.

7. The Handmaid’s Tale (2017 – Present)

   Elisabeth Moss stars in the lead of this prescient and unflinching adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian classic novel, set in a world where a totalitarian military dictatorship has overthrown the US government and subjugates women in the name of declining fertility rates. Two great seasons followed by a dip in the third, and a major fall in the fourth.

8. Killing Eve (2018 – Present)

   An off-the-books MI6 agent (Sandra Oh) and a psychopathic skilled assassin (Jodie Comer) are dangerously mutually obsessed with each other in this black comedy-drama based on Luke Jennings’ Villanelle novel series. Both Oh and Comer have won multiple best actress awards, but the show’s writing has been unable to keep up with them as it has progressed.

9. The Looming Tower (2018)

   Lawrence Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name is adapted into a ten-part miniseries, exploring how the clash and rivalry between the FBI and CIA in the early 2000s may have inadvertently led to America’s biggest tragedy, 9/11. Powerfully written and bolstered by great acting, including Jeff Daniels and Tahar Rahim, with a directing tone set by Alex Gibney. Exclusive to Amazon.

10. Mad Men (2007 – 2015)

    Set in 1960s New York, a slow-burn drama that offers a peek inside a fictional ad agency, focusing on one of its extremely talented executives (Jon Hamm) who’s bored by his simple personal life. It offered brilliantly crafted characters and a subversive, intelligent look at the American workplace, while never dropping in quality across seven seasons.

11. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017 – Present)

    Among Amazon’s best originals to date, the seemingly perfect life of a Jewish housewife (Rachel Brosnahan) in late 1950s New York City crumbles after her husband confesses he’s having an affair, which leads her to an unexpected discovery: she has a knack for stand-up comedy. Third season couldn’t match the heights of the first two.

    

12. The Night Manager (2016)

    Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman lead the way with strong performances in this six-episode miniseries adaptation of the 1993 John le Carré novel, about a former British soldier and luxury hotel manager (Hiddleston) who becomes an undercover operative to infiltrate the inner circle of an international arms dealer (Laurie).

13. The Office (2005 – 2013)

    This American remake of Ricky Gervais’ BBC sitcom mockumentary lasted far longer — 201 episodes over nine seasons — as it followed the quite-often inappropriate and awkwardly-hilarious lives of the employees (Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, and John Krasinski among them) of a suburban Pennsylvania paper company. Suffered in later seasons but regained form in the final season after the return of creator Greg Daniels.

14. Paatal Lok (2020 – Present)

    A struggling cop (Jaideep Ahlawat) is assigned the case of his career that involves the attempted murder of a high-profile journalist (Neeraj Kabi), but his off-the-books investigation reveals it might not be as straightforward. A second-rate police procedural, a first-rate examination of India’s deep-rooted socio-political problems. Anushka Sharma is an executive producer. An Amazon original.

15. Parks and Recreation (2009 – 2015)

    Amy Poehler starred as an always-optimistic public official in an Indiana town’s parks department for seven seasons, surrounded by an ensemble cast as eccentric as the next one. Co-created by Daniels (The Office) and Michael Schur, the show made adjustments after a poorly-received debut season and never looked back, as it blossomed into one of the best sitcoms of this century.

16. Ramy (2019 – Present)

    An American-born Muslim (Ramy Youssef, also co-creator) in suburban New Jersey grapples with the dual identity challenges of just that, as he’s perpetually caught between the traditions and values of his Egyptian heritage, and the live-in-the-moment ambitions of his millennial peers. Youssef won the Golden Globe for best actor in 2020. First season is marginally better than the second.

17. Spaced (1999 – 2001)

    Before they gave us the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg directed and co-created, respectively, this sitcom about the misadventures of two twenty-something London strangers (Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, fellow co-creator) who pose as a married couple to get a flat in the English capital. Season two is more creative than the first one.

18. The Underground Railroad (2021)

    Oscar winner Barry Jenkins — he directed all 10 episodes — is behind this miniseries adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, about an alternate-history 19th-century southern USA where a literal railroad helps African-Americans escape to safe harbours. It follows a young enslaved woman (Thuso Mbedu) and the slave catcher (Joel Edgerton) in pursuit.

    

19. Yes Minister (1980 – 1984)

    Together with its 1986-88 sequel — Yes, Prime Minister — the two short-lived British series are reigning kings of the political satire, following a newly-appointed department minister struggling to carry out reforms and later, his unexpected elevation to the highest office in the land. Never a low point in this beloved firing-on-all-cylinders hit.