In 2026, Prime Video is one of the major powers in streaming. With hits like The Boys, Reacher, and Off Campus, the streamer continues to find new audiences in multiple age ranges. However, its popularity wasn’t always there. In the 2010s, Amazon started committing resources to original programming, and it took years of trial and error to figure out what type of shows worked on the platform.
While there were several failed shows in those beginning years, Prime Video produced a handful of series that came to define the early years of the service. Some of those shows were adaptations of books by acclaimed authors like Michael Connelly and Philip K. Dick. Other shows recruited prolific showrunners like David E. Kelley to legitimize the material. These five shows from Prime Video’s beginning days are still worth watching today.
Bosch
One of Prime Video’s most popular police procedurals
If you ask me to think of the show that best represents Prime Video’s early years, I would pick Bosch, the police procedural based on Connelly’s novels about Harry Bosch. Titus Welliver steps into the role of the titular character, a relentless LAPD detective who will bend the rules if that’s what it takes to catch the bad guy.
Developed by Eric Overmyer, Bosch ran for seven seasons on Prime Video from 2014 through 2021. The show’s popularity led to two spin-offs, Bosch: Legacy and Ballard, with a prequel, Bosch: Start of Watch, in development. Prime Video has mastered the “guy with a gun” genre — the lawman who won’t take no for an answer. Look at the success of Reacher as proof. However, Bosch certainly paved the way for Reacher.
Bosch
Release Date
2015 – 2021-00-00
Network
Prime Video
Showrunner
Eric Ellis Overmyer
Sneaky Pete
A con man gets a second chance
Bryan Cranston is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning actor best known for his stints on Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle. Following Breaking Bad, Cranston co-created crime show Sneaky Pete? The show originally landed at CBS, but after the network passed on the pilot, Amazon picked it up and ran the show for three seasons on Prime Video from 2015 to 2019.
After his release from prison, con artist Marius Josipovic (Giovanni Ribisi) finds himself on the run from the gangster he robbed, Vince Lonigan (Bryan Cranston). Desperate for a disguise, Marius takes on the identity of his former cellmate, Pete (Ethan Embry). Because Pete’s family hasn’t seen him in a long time, Marius is able to move in with them and pass himself off as Pete. Though it lasted three seasons, Sneaky Pete only got better with more time. It’s a wildly entertaining crime show with two standout performances from Ribisi and Margo Martindale.
sneaky pete
Release Date
2015 – 2019-00-00
Network
Amazon Prime Video
Showrunner
David Shore, Bryan Cranston
Red Oaks
A throwback to the 1980s
Red Oaks’ most powerful asset is nostalgia. The Prime Video comedy was billed as an homage to the raunchy comedies and coming-of-age stories of the 1980s. In 1985, college student David Myers (Craig Roberts) gets a summer job working as a tennis instructor at a Jewish country club in New Jersey. Throughout the summer, David navigates unexpected romances, familial problems, and socioeconomic obstacles.
The show eventually transforms into more of an ensemble comedy during its three-season run from 2014 to 2017, with Ennis Esmer becoming a true scene-stealer as Nash Nasser. Red Oaks is a period piece, so fans of the 1980s will enjoy the show. However, it’s also a comedy with universal themes many people still face today, making it that much more relatable.
The Man in the High Castle
One of Prime Video’s most innovative series
Philip K. Dick was such a visionary that I’m convinced he could see into the future. I may be kidding, but his imagination for sci-fi and dystopian stories is unparalleled. His iconic works inspired movies like Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report. One of Dick’s most praised novels is 1962’s The Man in the High Castle, which Amazon adapted into a four-season TV show from 2015 to 2019.
The dystopian story presents an alternate world where the Axis powers were victorious in World War II. In the United States, Japanese forces control the West, Nazi Germany governs the East and Midwest, and the Rocky Mountains are a neutral zone. It’s a show that excels in world-building, and there are many characters on this chessboard. The Man in the High Castle is an innovative show with a fascinating premise, political thrills, and tense showdowns.
Goliath
Billy Bob Thornton plays a lawyer in need of redemption
In one corner, you have Billy Bob Thornton, an Oscar-winning actor who thrives playing complex, sometimes unlikable, characters. In the other corner sits David E. Kelley, one of the most important showrunners of the last 40 years. Put them together, and you get an entertaining legal drama called Goliath.
Billy McBride (Thornton) used to be a successful lawyer and owner of a powerful firm. Then, a tragic incident caused him to walk away from it all and drown his sorrows. Now washed up, Billy is recruited back to the courtroom to defend a client against his former firm. I’d like to think that Goliath set the template for Thornton’s role in Landman and Kelley’s work on Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer. Out of its four seasons, the first remains the show’s best effort.
Goliath
Release Date
2016 – 2021-00-00
Network
Prime Video
Directors
Dennie Gordon, Alik Sakharov, Anthony Hemingway, Bill D’Elia
Do you need more shows to watch?
The above list features five of the many shows on Prime Video. Several miniseries, including Spider-Noir and The English, can be watched and finished on a plane ride. Elsewhere, if you’re looking for more Hulu shows to watch after The Bear, check out Normal People and Not Suitable for Work.
Subscription with ads
Yes, via Prime membership or $9/month
Simultaneous streams
3
