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Posted: 2024-12-08 15:00:05

Reached the end of a binge and ready for something new? Prime Video may offer your next small-screen fixation. 

The streamer is the place to visit for can't-miss originals like The Boys and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. With new shows premiering frequently, such as the postapocalyptic drama Fallout, you can choose a fresh release or start a series you've had on the back burner.

Prime Video is now ad-supported and charges an extra fee to remove commercials. Read on for this month's new releases and a collection of the best shows on the streamer.

What's new on Prime Video in December

Note: These descriptions are taken from Prime Video press releases and lightly edited for style.

Dec. 4

  • Pop Culture Jeopardy!, season 1 premiere (2024- ): Game show. Contestants, playing in teams of three, compete for the grand prize of $300,000 and ultimate bragging rights.

Dec. 5

  • Glitter & Greed: The Lisa Frank Story, premiere (2024- ): Docuseries. It's about Lisa Frank Inc., a brand that defined girlhood for a generation of Americans only to seemingly disappear overnight.

Dec. 6

  • The Sticky, season 1 premiere (2024- ): Comedy drama series. It follows a tough, middle-aged maple syrup farmer who turns to crime when the bureaucratic authorities threaten to take away everything she loves. 

Dec. 10

  • Secret Level, season 1 premiere (2024- ): Animated anthology series. It features original stories set within the worlds of some of the most beloved video games.

Dec. 19

  • Beast Games, season 1 premiere (2024- ): Competition series. One-thousand players compete in nail-biting physical, mental and social challenges for a chance to win a $5 million cash prize.

Best Amazon Prime Video original TV shows

This list focuses on shows that have premiered a new season since 2020 and have a score of at least 70 on Metacritic.

Fantasy

Jonathan Prime/Prime Video

Lady Jane Grey, the Queen of England for just nine days in 1553, is the subject of this Prime Video series. The show doesn't stick closely to the events of her life, weaving in fantasy elements like humans who can turn into animals and imagining a world where she met a fate other than execution. Based on a book of the same name and blending comedy, action, romance and more, My Lady Jane is a wild, enjoyable ride you won't find in a history book.

Prime Video

Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You) created this surreal series about Cootie (Jharrel Jerome), a 13-foot-tall Black man who leaves home for the first time at 19. The gentle giant from Oakland, California, experiences friendship, love and more milestones in this coming-of-age story, which brings humor, social commentary and undeniable originality to the small screen. 

Ben Rothstein/Prime Video

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022- )

Haven't watched Prime Video's buzzy, wildly expensive fantasy series yet? The Rings of Power brings incredible visuals, a sprawling cast and a sense of adventure to the streaming service. It's set thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings, and in part follows a young version of the character Galadriel, who's played by Morfydd Clark. 

The Legend of Vox Machina (2022- )

Buckle up for a new animated series that centers on a group of boisterous, belching misfits called Vox Machina. Based on Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role (you don't have to be familiar with that to enjoy this show), The Legend of Vox Machina sees its protagonists go from being broke bar-hoppers to accepting a mission to stop evil brewing in Exandria. We're further introduced to the characters in a musical number that occurs about halfway through the first episode. 

That's right, I said musical number. You'll be down for every element this show throws at you. Why would anyone choose these misfits to fight for the kingdom? "Well... they do have a bear," one royal decision-maker concedes.

Thriller

Prime Video

The Devil's Hour (2022- )

The Devil's Hour sets up an intriguing mystery: Why is a woman, Lucy, waking up at 3:33 a.m. each night, and why does her 8-year-old son, Isaac, seem oddly emotionless? Starring Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) as Lucy, Nikesh Patel (Starstruck) as a kind detective and Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who) as a suspicious character, the Devil's Hour is a twisty series that eventually delivers satisfying answers. A bonus? A third and final season is on the way.

Niko Tavernise/Prime Video

Oscar winner Rachel Weisz plays not one, but two main characters in Dead Ringers, Prime Video's version of David Cronenberg's 1988 psychological thriller. The darkly comedic series follows identical twin doctors pursuing their goal of opening a birthing and research center. Spend some time with these unconventional sisters, you'll want to see the whole thing through.

Led by a stellar Erin Doherty, this British thriller will swallow your attention. It centers on Becky, a temp with an unusual pastime: assuming different identities to sneak into fancy art galleries and yoga classes. When a woman she follows obsessively on Instagram suddenly dies, she attempts to uncover more details, once again posing as someone else. Tear away from your timeline and check out this six-episode limited series.

Amazon Studios

Season 2 of Homecoming didn't quite find its feet, but season 1 hit the ground running. Julia Roberts stars in this psychological thriller about an army rehabilitation facility run by questionable owners. Using an effective, mystery-building narrative that covers two timelines, Homecoming is high on tension and paranoia as it reveals what the facility's true purpose is. Fun fact: The series uses the actual scores of movies from Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and more.

Comedy

Seven strangers are assigned to the same community payback sentence in this appealing comedy thriller set in Bristol, England. The six-episode show is fun, dark and touching, offering an engaging look at its rule-breakers backgrounds and the relationships that form between them. The plot thickens when some members of the group come across a bag of cash. If you need another draw, the show is co-created by Stephen Merchant, who co-created the UK version of The Office.

Amazon Studios

This unique series uses the Rotoscoping animation technique to tell the story of a young woman who, after suffering a near-fatal car accident, discovers she can manipulate time. Intriguing, right? It gets better: Bob Odenkirk plays Alma's dead father, who enlists her help in investigating his murder. Bending both time and space, Undone is surreal and beautifully existential for those looking for deep material.

The Kids in the Hall (2022)

Prime Video has resurrected The Kids in the Hall, the Emmy-nominated Canadian sketch comedy show that originally ran from 1988 to 1995. (By "resurrects," I mean the show literally exhumes members of the comedy troupe from a grave they were buried in at the end of the original show. That's just the beginning of the fun.)  Follow the comedians as they freak out over mislabeled desserts, fight over imaginary love interests and write Earth's last fax. Be warned: Some of these sketches are highly NSFW.

Amazon Studios

A League of Their Own (2022)

Prime Video's TV series A League of Their Own is inspired by the 1992 film of the same name and introduces new characters portrayed by Abbi Jacobson, D'Arcy Carden and others. In the comedy-drama's first episode, women try out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the '40s. The show explores themes of race and sexuality and offers a satisfying period setting and compelling characters.

Amazon Studios

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-2023)

A '50s housewife who becomes a standup comic? This brilliant series from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino is filled with sparkling performances from Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein, with dialogue to match. Set in a vibrant and changing New York, our delightful heroine moonlights as a comedian, while doing her duties as an upper-class Jewish American housewife. With impressive visuals, warmth and zingers, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the full package.

Drama

Prime Video

A new miniseries starring Nicole Kidman may be enough to guide your finger to the Play button, but you may also want to know that Expats comes from Lulu Wang, the director of the critically acclaimed 2019 comedy-drama The Farewell. In the six-episode show, Kidman portrays an American woman who's living in Hong Kong and is one of three characters linked by a sudden family tragedy.

A soapy drama about a family after the death of their wealthy patriarch sits tantalizingly on Prime Video. In Riches, the will reading goes in an unexpected direction, leading Stephen Richard's two sets of children to vie for control of his business. You'll glide through the stylish first season, which includes Ted Lasso Emmy nominee Sarah Niles.

Amazon Studios

Gripping Western drama series The English stars Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer as an unlikely duo traveling across a treacherous landscape. The first episode of the miniseries presents some terrible characters and reveals a bit of what motivates both protagonists -- Blunt's aristocratic Englishwoman and Spencer's Pawnee ex-cavalry scout -- to continue in the face of danger. Gorgeous visuals and superb acting make The English worth a binge. 

A Very British Scandal (2022)

Unfurling over three hour-long episodes, A Very British Scandal dramatizes the highly publicized, real-life divorce between the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in the 1960s. Claire Foy, of Netflix's The Crown, and WandaVision's Paul Bettany star.

A newer entry to Prime Video, As We See It earns a spot among its best shows. Starring three actors who identify as autistic, this sincere series follows young adults on the autism spectrum as they navigate jobs, make friends and find love. Neurotypical actors usually play autistic characters on screen, so the casting sets this one apart. It's also heartfelt, funny and poignant, with well-rounded characters you'll want to root for. I could let the show's glowing Metacritic score speak for itself -- but whatever convinces you, this needs to be your next watch.

Amazon Prime Video

The Underground Railroad (2021)

Sublime filmmaker Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) takes on adapting Colson Whitehead's novel The Underground Railroad into a powerful 10-episode series. Set in the southern US during the 1800s, the fictional story follows Blacks attempting to escape from slavery via a network of hidden tracks and tunnels. Tapping magical realism and a superb cast including Thuso Mbedu and William Jackson Harper, The Underground Railroad is an emotional and chilling triumph.

Sci-fi

Prime Video

Prime Video's video game adaptation is an entertaining postapocalyptic adventure you shouldn't leave sitting in a vault. The series follows three different characters occupying the same wasteland. One is Lucy (Ella Purnell), who wanders in search of her kidnapped father and feels the need to invoke the Golden Rule to a cruel post-human Ghoul (Walton Goggins). Meanwhile, an eager Maximus (Aaron Moten) gets his big break as a squire in the Brotherhood of Steel. It's an unpredictable series with humor and gore. Don't let long episode runtimes deter you from exploring Fallout.

Prime Video

The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy (2024- )

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