The rumors about two highly rated Prime Video shows are true — the series have been cancelled by Amazon after just one season. That doesn’t necessarily mean the streaming giant has abandoned its push into original scripted television, but it does highlight how a company with a massive library of movies and TV shows can sometimes miss on the big idea.
Amazon Prime Video offers a mix of films and TV shows from the studios and networks it partners with as well as original content like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fleabag. It doesn’t have the same cache as Netflix or the immediacy of Hulu, but it still offers a compelling collection of titles for a monthly subscription.
The best shows on Prime Video are a mix of the popular and the unique. These include a goofball animation series like Spongebob Squarepants, gritty dramas such as Mr. Robot and Dexter, and some of the most critically acclaimed TV shows of recent memory.
There’s also a great selection of comedies, like Transparent, which is a funny and touching show about a family dealing with the fact that one of their members is transgender. Other great comedies on Prime Video include The Mindy Project and Sense8. There are also some dramas that have become big hits on other platforms before landing on Prime, including The Expanse and the two seasons of Mel Gibson’s The Patriot.
The upcoming addition to the Prime Video roster is The Terror, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. The eight-episode first season stars Bill Paxton as a former FBI agent who has returned to his home town in Maine to investigate an unexplained murder. It’s a darkly comic show with plenty of action and plenty of thrills.
For those who are more interested in the music world, there’s Mozart In The Jungle, which stars Gael Garcia Bernal as Rodrigo, a brash new conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra who clashes with the classical philanthropists behind the scenes. The show is well-acted and has an interesting premise.
One of the most interesting features on Prime Video is X-Ray, which lets you see what’s behind the curtain of a movie or TV show. This is a useful feature that can be particularly helpful when you’re watching a movie and want to know more about the actors or directors.
If you’re interested in checking out Amazon Prime Video, you can sign up for a free trial here. Prime Video does have ads, but they’re typically short pre-roll commercials that play at the beginning of a show or film. They’re usually no more annoying than the ones you’d find on a YouTube video, and they’re easy to skip. Prime Video is available on almost all major devices, including desktop computers and smartphones. It’s also included with many cable boxes and can be accessed on a variety of smart TVs. There are also apps for Android and iOS. In the future, Prime Video may expand its offerings to include more live TV and sports.