The 15 Best Prime Video Original Series of All Time

This animated fantasy series has some of the most unusual source material ever adapted. It's based on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign webseries from Critical Role, a group of voice actors who play the tabletop role-playing game together. The actors voice their own characters in the animation, which follows a party of fantasy characters and their adventures in the magical realm of Exandria. 

In each review of the show tracked by Metacritic, the reviewers were already familiar with Critical Role, and they all praised the seamlessly streamlined adaptation, the performances of the voice cast, and the fact that something so specifically for Dungeons & Dragons players was given a platform this big. 

A fourth season will stream this summer, while a second Critical Role D&D campaign, The Mighty Nein, recently completed its first season.

"The tight friendship of the Vox Machina group, combined with sharp animation, funny jokes, rich action, and raw, honest drama, will win over new fans and satisfy old ones. The Legend Of Vox Machina is a critical hit." —Kevin Johnson, The A.V. Club

Representation is paramount on this dramedy about life and love on the autism spectrum. It follows three twentysomething Angeleno roommates with autism (and their aide, Mandy [Sosie Bacon]) as they navigate jobs, dating, and other typical things for young people from their own specific perspectives. 

Critics respected the series for putting people with autism front and center—stars Rick Glassman, Albert Rutecki, and Sue Ann Pien are all on the spectrum—allowing them to be at the center of their own story. And it does it while being funny and heartfelt. But the series, which hailed from acclaimed creator Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights), was unfortunately canceled after one season. 

"As We See It carries all of this with a lightness that makes it a joy to watch. Yes, there are excruciating conflicts and screaming breakdowns. But there are also cry-laughs and moments of transcendence, as when the trio pauses to welcome a new roommate: a Roomba, humming with a soothing singularity of purpose." —James Poniewozik, The New York Times

A spinoff of fellow Michael Connelly adaptations Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, Ballard follows LAPD detective Reneé Ballard (Maggie Q). She is put in charge of the Robbery-Homicide Division's cold case division, which was formed just for her as a way to sideline her and punish her for doing the right thing when it makes her superiors look bad. But Ballard can't be stopped, and she uses her new post to untangle a years-old conspiracy.

Ballard is simply a very good version of a traditional cop show, critics said, hitting its gritty investigative beats with intelligence and competence. Q was singled out for praise for her empathetic action hero performance. Critics also noted that you don't have to have seen Bosch to enjoy Ballard. 

A second season has been ordered.

"If you're looking for a procedural thriller that's grounded by grit, genuine leads, and complex cases, Ballard gets it done. Each character is fairly well sculpted, seeming to wrestle with some amount of dirt on their hands or darkness shadowing them." —Sherin Nicole, RogerEbert.com

Jacob Elordi and Ciaran Hinds play young and old versions of the same character, Australian doctor and World War II veteran Dorrigo Evans, in this dark and moody drama. Hinds plays him in 1989, when he's a successful but miserable surgeon haunted by his pre-deployment love affair with his uncle's much younger wife, Amy (Odessa Young), and his experiences in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. (Elordi plays him in the 1940s, obviously.) 

The limited series hails from director Justin Kurzel, and critics praised his soulful direction, which combines brutal violence with emotional poetry. It's a show steeped in pain and sadness that manages to find moments of exquisite beauty. War and love are both hell.

"The Narrow Road To The Deep North is a gritty, powerful watch with striking imagery and riveting performances that sometimes read as subtle in all the best ways." —Claire Waheed, Decider

It's a high-concept animated comedy that answers the question: What would a hospital for science fiction maladies be like? The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy follows Dr. Sleech (Stephanie Hsu) and Dr. Klak (Keke Palmer) as they treat patients who are suffering from ailments like alien parasites and being caught in a time loop, while also dealing with their own anxieties. 

Critics praised the show from creator Cirocco Dunlap and executive producers Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph (who also lend their voices) for its realistic depiction of anxiety and its balance of comedy and drama. 

"The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy is a charming mix of genres and tones that borrows from the best while still feeling like something new." —Jourdain Searles, The Daily Beast

Prime Video hosted the one-season revival of the cult favorite 1990s sketch comedy series starring the titular Canadian troupe. The revival features the return of the whole gang with their oddball sense of humor intact, plus guest appearances from friends like Catherine O'Hara, Kenan Thompson, and Mark Hamill. 

Reviewers were impressed that the Kids came back as if they never left, with material as strong (and occasionally as dark) as it was in the troupe's heyday. It was a rare nostalgia revival that still felt fresh.

"Not all of the sketches work—there's no show where they all work—but the batting average is still so much higher than most programs that the Kids inspired into existence. ... They're still hilarious, smart, and sometimes brutal. It makes me very happy to say the Kids are still more than alright." —Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

More specifically: A very English 20th century historical drama limited series (it was produced by the BBC and streamed in the U.S. as a Prime exclusive) starring Hugh Grant as prominent politician Jeremy Thorpe and Ben Whishaw as his ex-lover Norman Josiffe. The revelation of their years-long affair—and the lengths to which Thorpe went to cover it up—shocked the nation.

The three-episode series received critical plaudits for Grant and Whishaw's performances (Whishaw won a supporting actor Emmy), Russell T. Davies' slyly funny writing, and Stephen Frears' assured direction. With its stranger-than-fiction story of betrayal, deception, and inept crime, it earned comparisons to the work of the Coen Brothers. 

The miniseries kicked off a mini franchise of shows about British scandals that later included 2021's A Very British Scandal and 2024's A Very Royal Scandal.

"This rollicking, sublimely written work of countless tones leaves no doubt that Thorpe was guilty of plotting obsessively to kill his once-adored younger lover, Norman Scott. ... Among its tones, the show manages a tender note or two for the character of Thorpe, which leads, in the end, to a convincingly complex portrait." —Dorothy Rabinowitz, Wall Street Journal

Riz Ahmed created and stars in this satirical dramedy as a struggling British Pakistani actor who gets the chance to audition for the role of James Bond. As he gets deeper into the process, his existential crisis deepens. The show's tagline is "this is either his big break or his last shot," which pretty much sums it up. 

Critics were enamored with the show's sharp, witty dialogue and unique sense of humor, both of which are used in service of smart social commentary about the costs of being a performer—especially a non-white performer in a white cultural space. They also appreciated that the episodes are short.

"At just six episodes, things move at such a heady pace that you can't help but be impressed at all the charisma, charm and plot development that is crammed into each 25-minute instalment. While many may think this is just a comedy about the churn of the media mill that pokes fun at Bond, Bait is so much more than you may think – and it's a wonderful surprise to watch it all unfold." —Morgan Cormack, Radio Times

This magical realist coming-of-age comedy tells the story of Cootie (Jharrel Jerome), a 13-foot-tall teenager who grew up hidden from the outside world by his fearful aunt and uncle. But when his desire for adventure drives him to finally venture outside, he finds a world beyond his wildest dreams—the city of Oakland, a place where joy and injustice are always side by side. 

The limited series hails from creator Boots Riley (director of similarly oddball films Sorry to Bother You and the upcoming I Love Boosters), and critics praised Riley's unique vision, from his playfully surreal sense of humor to his assertive left-wing politics. It's a show that couldn't be made by anyone else, critics wrote. 

"Riley's brilliance is to create a fictional setting so over-the-top that it sneaks up on us how close it is to our own. It allows us to realize how outlandish our reality truly is—existence in an impossibly cruel, racist, classist system that is nonetheless marked by flashes of beauty and radical kindness from the very people it exploits." —Jenna Scherer, The A.V. Club

Creator Joey (then Jill) Soloway's dramedy follows the Pfefferman family of Los Angeles after Maura (Jeffrey Tambor) comes out as a trans woman. Each of Maura's adult children—played by Amy Landecker, Jay Duplass, and Gaby Hoffman—deal with the news in their own way, and go on identity journeys of their own.

Though considered dated now and marred by accusations of on-set sexual harassment against Tambor, who was written out of the show's finale as a result, Transparent was hailed as groundbreaking by critics at the time, who praised its empathy, ambition, and performances. 

"Right in the first episode, the relationships are well lived-in, the writing is honest and bound up with the actors, the tone effortlessly embodies drama, comedy, and life's absurdities, the contemporary homes and locations click, and the ensemble acting is filled with little moments and jewels." —Matthew Gilbert, Boston Globe

Rosa Salazar stars in this animated psychological drama as Alma, a woman who, after a car crash, develops an ability to manipulate time—or maybe just believes she does—which she uses to investigate the truth about her father Jacob's (Bob Odenkirk) death years ago. The series is animated in a unique way, where live-action footage of the actors is rotoscoped over, with static, handpainted backgrounds behind them. 

Critics raved about creators Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob-Waksberg's extraordinary achievement, from the beautiful animation that enhances the story itself to the depth and complexity of the themes and emotional content. 

"Together, the animation and the writing compliment each other to form a unique new form of television; one that's easy to get caught up in, even when it stumbles a bit while explaining itself. Undone is a fascinating project to examine, but it's also a very good, very human story, sans the flashy packaging." —Ben Travers, IndieWire

In this psychological thriller limited series, Becky Green (Erin Doherty, who would later win an Emmy for her performance in Adolescence) becomes obsessed with finding out the truth about the death of her former friend Chloe (Poppy Gilbert), with whom she no longer spoke but whose glamorous life she observed through social media. Chloe's death was ruled a suicide, but Becky has doubts. As Becky adopts a new identity and infiltrates Chloe's friend group, her new persona starts to feel more real to her than her actual life.

Reviews of the show uniformly praised Doherty's performance, and how it uses social media in a timely and interesting way as Becky's real and online lives converge. 

"With a sharply-written script, nuanced direction, and deft acting, particularly on the part of Doherty, Chloe is a study in modern social dynamics and their psychological impacts as much as it is a ravishing mystery that needs to be seen through to the end." —Lily Moayeri, Under the Radar

Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney created and star in this cockeyed romantic comedy series commissioned by the UK's Channel 4 and exclusive to Prime Video in the States. Horgan plays Sharon, a teacher in London who gets pregnant as the result of a six-day fling with Rob (Delaney), an American advertising executive on a business trip. The series follows the pair as Rob moves to London and they make a go at being a couple. 

Catastrophe received rave reviews throughout its run for its emotional honesty and cathartically dark humor. Many critics noted a refreshing simplicity to the show—there's no gimmick, just great writing and performances. 

"Along the course of these six episodes, the show touches on various rom-com tropes about disapproving parents (Carrie Fisher is, as always, a treat as Rob's cynical mother), secret meetings with exes, bachelor and bachelorette parties that spin out of control, etc. But they're all dealt with in such a specific and simple way that they feel unique to these characters and their world, rather than the obligatory stumbles on the path to a happy ending." —Alan Sepinwall, HitFix

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) took his talents to Prime Video for this limited series adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning magical realist novel about slavery. The series follows Cora (Thuso Mbedu), an enslaved woman from Georgia trying to escape to freedom on the Underground Railroad, which here takes the form of an actual train. 

Critics were floored by the series, which Jenkins shoots in his signature beautiful style in stark contrast to the darkness of the subject matter. The Underground Railroad is one of a very small number of television programs added to the Criterion Collection, which is basically the Hall of Fame for cinephiles. 

"By showing the joy and laughter, the love and determination, mixed with the horrors, Jenkins turns historical slaves away from being suffering props for white consumption, and gives them dignity. In Thuso Mbedu's resolute, sincere turn as Cora, she fills us with an equally unfathomable grace." —Robert Daniels, Polygon

Creator-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge's undefinable comedy series follows Fleabag, an unhappy young woman living in London who just … doesn't have good instincts when it comes to doing the right thing. In the first season, she's juggling unfulfilling romantic relationships with a few men and strained ones with her family while grieving the death of her friend. In the second, she falls in love with a Catholic priest (Andrew Scott).

While the first season was highly praised, the extraordinary second season was immediately critically anointed as one of the best seasons of television ever made.

"Throughout this magnificent second season, Fleabag buzzes with life. The characters are so well-drawn, and the performers so skillful, that each frame is resonant with their interpersonal friction—and laden with their unspoken shame." —Sonia Saraiya, Vanity Fair