The 5 best TV shows of 2017 on Amazon Prime Video
Ranking the five best Amazon Original TV shows of 2017, including the breakout hit The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel starring Rachel Brosnahan.
As we get ready to turn the page on 2017 and head into 2018 with plenty of optimism and enthusiasm for what we hope will be a better new year, it’s time to look back on the best TV shows that helped entertain us the last year.
While Amazon Prime Video may not have the glut of shows like Netflix or the signature original show like Hulu has with their Emmy-winning The Handmaid’s Tale, there are still plenty of great options to watch. And that’s why I ranked the five best Amazon Originals I saw in 2017.
The list won’t include Mozart in the Jungle or The Man in the High Castle because new episodes didn’t air in 2017 and it won’t include The Big Sick, because while that’s an Amazon Original, it’s a movie, and not a TV show. Overall, this was a ranking of the shows that I enjoyed the most, not necessarily the most popular among critics or the most well-known. This is my list and what I liked, so with that, here’s my five favorite Amazon Originals of 2017.
5. Bosch – This crime drama from Michael Connelly and starring Titus Welliver is so good. I was a late arrival to the show as I didn’t have Amazon Prime when the show premiered in 2014, but I’ve since made up for lost time and am counting down the days until season 4 premieres, hopefully, this coming March or April. Season 3 premiered on April 21 with 10 new episodes, and I think I was done with the season by the end of the weekend. Welliver has long been one of my favorite actors dating back to his time on Deadwood and Lost, so if you’re a fan of crime dramas and Welliver’s work or Connelly’s novels, this is a must-watch.
4. One Mississippi – I was initially drawn to One Mississippi after I saw the Netflix special from the show’s co-creator, Tig Notaro. I was floored by her brutally honest and revealing special that documented her cancer diagnosis. From there, I saw her make many appearances on the talk show circuit and I just fell in love with the person and her brand of humor. I was also intrigued because Louis C.K. was an executive producer, and until recently, I was a big fan of his, so I had to check out the new show. It was nearly a two-year wait between season 1 and 2, which premiered on Sept. 8, but the wait proved to be well worth it. The dark comedy really will sink its teeth into you and won’t let go and with six-episode seasons, the binge-watch experience is not too much of a commitment.
3. Catastrophe – They aren’t always the perfect TV couple, but that’s what makes Rob and Sharon so likeable and so relatable. Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney wrote and star in the comedy that has served as my favorite Amazon comedy since it premiered in 2015. The chemistry the two share on screen will make you believe they are really married and really going through these various challenges, obstacles and fights. The writing, the humor, the pace, everything is just so perfect and the only bad thing I can say about this show is that it’s a travesty that each season is only six episodes and not 60.
2. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – The series from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino is a late arrival and made a serious bid for the top spot on this list. The show came out of Amazon Pilot Season when the first episode was so well received by fans and critics alike that Amazon ordered two seasons of the show starring Rachel Brosnahan. It was far and away my favorite from the pilots I saw in the spring, but the rest of the season wasn’t released until right after Thanksgiving.
Broshahan is so spectacular as the charismatic housewife living a glamorous life in 1950s Manahattan. That was, until her aspiring comedian husband abruptly leaves her, which served as Mrs. Maisel’s coming out party as a stand-up herself. She quickly discovered she had the it factor on stage that her husband lacked and turns into an overnight sensation.
1. Sneaky Pete – The show was initially going to air on CBS but after an elongated production process that saw the show’s original co-creator David Shore leave the project and Graham Yost hop on board, the show eventually landed at Amazon. Bryan Cranston also co-created and stars in the show that blew me away.
At first, it played like a CBS procedural but as the season progressed, it was in a league of its own. Giovanni Ribisi plays the lead character Marius who is released from jail and assumes the identity of his former cellmate and reunites with Pete’s estranged family that hasn’t seen him in ages. Marius is a career criminal and savvy con-man so he plays up the part well, but he quickly realizes that he can’t run from his past and his enemies start to close in around him.
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There you have it, those are my five favorite Amazon Originals of the year. How does my top five compare to your top five?