Excellent Amazon Prime TV Shows You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of
Prime Video’s library runs deep, and tucked between the big, buzzy hits are original series that launched quietly, wrapped early, or flew under the radar while delivering distinct stories, unusual formats, and memorable casts. These are official Prime Video originals across drama, comedy, sci-fi, mystery, and animation—each one an Amazon-backed production or co-production that premiered on the service.
Below, you’ll find concise essentials for each show: creators, cast, core premise, episode counts where helpful, and notable production details. No spoilers—just enough to help you pick what to try next.
‘Patriot’ (2015–2018)
Created by Steven Conrad, ‘Patriot’ follows intelligence officer John Tavner, whose non-official cover places him inside a Midwestern industrial-piping company to steer a high-stakes geopolitical operation. The series stars Michael Dorman, Kurtwood Smith, Terry O’Quinn, Aliette Opheim, and Michael Chernus, and blends corporate espionage with bureaucratic obstacles and folk songs performed in-story by its lead character. Across two seasons and 18 episodes, the plot moves between the U.S. and Europe as the mission’s cascading complications pull in family and co-workers.
Produced by Amazon Studios, ‘Patriot’ was filmed in multiple locations, including Illinois and the Netherlands, with detailed attention to the fictional company’s internal politics. Its narrative uses recurring musical motifs, precise jargon from the energy sector, and low-key tradecraft to ground the spycraft inside everyday office life and procurement processes.
‘Red Oaks’ (2014–2017)
Set at a suburban New Jersey country club, ‘Red Oaks’ centers on film student David Meyers as he navigates work, family expectations, and friendships during one long-running summer job. The show features Craig Roberts, Ennis Esmer, Alexandra Socha, Richard Kind, Paul Reiser, and Jennifer Grey, with executive producers including Gregory Jacobs and Steven Soderbergh. The story tracks across three seasons and 26 episodes, moving characters through internships, creative projects, and post-college choices.
‘Red Oaks’ is an Amazon Studios production that recreates a mid-’80s environment through period-accurate wardrobe, music cues, and club-life rituals. Episodes frequently situate character arcs around tennis courts, poolside shifts, and video-production gigs, using the club’s hierarchy to explore class dynamics and career paths.
‘Undone’ (2019–2022)
‘Undone’ is a rotoscoped animated series from creators Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob-Waksberg, starring Rosa Salazar as Alma, whose relationship with reality shifts after a near-fatal accident. Bob Odenkirk co-stars, and the animation is produced by Minnow Mountain and Submarine, combining live-action performances with painterly frames. The series spans two seasons and 16 episodes, using voice-over, bilingual dialogue, and family history to structure its mysteries.
An Amazon Studios original, ‘Undone’ integrates neuroscience concepts, Indigenous storytelling elements, and time-perception ideas into character-driven plots. It employs a grounded domestic setting alongside altered-reality sequences, with recurring visual motifs that signal memory, trauma, and shifting timelines.
‘The Romanoffs’ (2018)
Created by Matthew Weiner, ‘The Romanoffs’ is an anthology in which each episode focuses on different people who believe themselves to be descendants of the Russian royal family. The international cast includes Aaron Eckhart, Christina Hendricks, Isabelle Huppert, Kathryn Hahn, John Slattery, Diane Lane, and many others across eight self-contained stories.
Commissioned by Amazon, ‘The Romanoffs’ filmed across multiple countries, tailoring each installment’s cast, language mix, and visual style to its setting. The production uses location shooting, episode-specific crews, and a rotating roster of directors to deliver discrete narratives linked by a shared theme of identity and inheritance.
‘Forever’ (2018)
‘Forever’ stars Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen as a married couple whose comfortable routines are interrupted by a sudden, life-altering event that pushes them into unfamiliar territory. Created by Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, the series unfolds over eight episodes, combining domestic details with metaphysical frameworks.
Produced for Prime Video, ‘Forever’ builds its world with carefully designed suburban spaces, recurring props, and structured dialogue rhythms. The show’s format supports bottle episodes and environment shifts, letting the production team reconfigure sets and supporting characters to examine commitment, habit, and choice.
‘Alpha House’ (2013–2014)
Created by Garry Trudeau, ‘Alpha House’ follows four Republican senators who share a rented house in Washington, D.C., balancing re-election campaigns, committee work, and media appearances. The ensemble stars John Goodman, Clark Johnson, Matt Malloy, and Mark Consuelos, with guest turns from journalists and public figures. Across two seasons and 21 episodes, storylines track fundraising, staffing, and legislative maneuvering.
As one of Amazon’s early scripted originals, ‘Alpha House’ was produced by Amazon Studios with a single-camera setup and recurring Capitol Hill sets. The series incorporates campaign logistics, polling operations, and donor events, using episodic arcs to mirror the workflow of congressional offices.
‘Betas’ (2013–2014)
Set in the San Francisco startup ecosystem, ‘Betas’ follows a small team racing to launch a social-discovery app while seeking funding, user growth, and industry visibility. The cast features Joe Dinicol, Karan Soni, Jon Daly, Charlie Saxton, and Maya Erskine. The show’s single season comprises 11 episodes that chart pivots, demos, and boardroom pitches.
Produced for Prime Video, ‘Betas’ makes extensive use of co-working spaces, pitch-night sequences, and live-product tests to depict startup culture. The production embeds realistic development milestones—feature freezes, beta invites, and analytics dashboards—into episode structures that track runway and traction.
‘Hand of God’ (2014–2017)
‘Hand of God’ centers on Judge Pernell Harris, who experiences visions after a personal crisis and interprets them as directives to pursue extrajudicial justice. Created by Ben Watkins, the series stars Ron Perlman, Dana Delany, Garret Dillahunt, Andre Royo, Alona Tal, and Julian Morris. The drama spans two seasons and 20 episodes, with cases and conspiracies interwoven with family and political influence.
An Amazon Studios production, ‘Hand of God’ uses legal settings, city-government offices, and community spaces to anchor the story’s institutional layers. The show’s plotting incorporates church leadership, private-security operations, and municipal deals, aligning procedural elements with its protagonist’s shifting beliefs.
‘Jean-Claude Van Johnson’ (2016–2017)
In ‘Jean-Claude Van Johnson’, Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a fictionalized version of himself who resumes his secret career as a black-ops operative working under his celebrity persona. Created by Dave Callaham, the series features Kat Foster, Moisés Arias, and Phylicia Rashad. The single season includes six episodes that pair mission objectives with film-set cover identities.
Produced for Prime Video, ‘Jean-Claude Van Johnson’ stages action sequences alongside industry satire, using studio lots, international locations, and prop departments as operational backdrops. The production integrates stunt choreography with gadget-driven set pieces while maintaining a case-of-the-week structure.
‘The Last Tycoon’ (2016–2017)
Adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel, ‘The Last Tycoon’ dramatizes the power struggle inside a major Hollywood studio during the Golden Age. Created by Billy Ray and Christopher Keyser, the series stars Matt Bomer, Kelsey Grammer, and Lily Collins. Its single season depicts development slates, censorship pressures, and labor issues through the lens of executives, writers, and stars.
An Amazon Studios period production, ‘The Last Tycoon’ builds expansive backlots, soundstages, and art-deco offices to recreate the studio system. The show’s department work—costume, hair, and production design—supports storylines about prestige pictures, overseas markets, and shifting audience tastes.
‘Class of ’07’ (2023– )
‘Class of ’07’ is an Australian Prime Video original about a women’s high-school reunion that becomes a survival scenario when a sudden cataclysm floods the world. Created by Kacie Anning, the series stars Emily Browning, Megan Smart, and Caitlin Stasey. The season follows the former classmates as they reorganize resources, resolve old conflicts, and build systems to keep their hilltop campus functioning.
An Amazon Studios production in Australia, ‘Class of ’07’ constructs a contained setting with practical water-level effects, dorms repurposed for logistics, and recurring flashbacks to map pre-event relationships. The show’s ensemble format supports rotating episode spotlights that chart supply management, governance experiments, and repair projects.
‘Deadloch’ (2023– )
‘Deadloch’ is an Australian Prime Video original that opens with a death in a Tasmanian seaside town and pairs a meticulous local detective with a brash interstate arrival. Created by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, the series stars Kate Box, Madeleine Sami, and Nina Oyama. The investigation spans community events, local businesses, and environmental concerns across its first season.
The production showcases Tasmanian locations and leans on ensemble work from town residents to layer suspects and motives. ‘Deadloch’ balances procedural beats—evidence boards, forensic updates, and inter-agency coordination—with recurring town-council threads and regional history that inform the case.
‘Beat’ (2018)
A German-language Amazon original, ‘Beat’ follows a Berlin club promoter recruited by authorities to infiltrate a human-trafficking network tied to organized crime. Created by Marco Kreuzpaintner, the series stars Jannis Niewöhner, Karoline Herfurth, and Kostja Ullmann. The season maps contacts across nightlife, private security, and government agencies.
Produced for Prime Video in Germany, ‘Beat’ uses real club venues and location shooting to depict the city’s after-hours economy. The show threads investigative procedures with the protagonist’s role as a connector, highlighting surveillance methods, informant management, and operational pressure points.
‘You Are Wanted’ (2017–2018)
‘You Are Wanted’ is a German Prime Video original about a hotel manager whose digital identity is hijacked, placing him on terrorist watchlists and forcing him into a fight to clear his name. Created by Hanno Hackfort, Bob Konrad, and Richard Kropf, the series stars Matthias Schweighöfer, who also directs. The story unfolds over two seasons, following data breaches, manhunts, and international jurisdiction issues.
The production stages cyber-intrusion sequences, mobile-device forensics, and law-enforcement coordination, integrating on-screen UI elements and practical stunts. ‘You Are Wanted’ was marketed as one of Prime Video’s first German-produced originals, reflecting the service’s regional commissioning strategy and multilingual rollout.
‘The Gryphon’ (2023– )
Based on the novel by Wolfgang Hohlbein, ‘The Gryphon’ is a German Prime Video original about teens who discover a gateway to a dark parallel world ruled by a monstrous entity. The cast includes Jeremias Meyer, Zoran Pingel, and Lea Drinda. The first season follows quests across modern settings and the fantasy realm as characters piece together a family-bound legacy.
Produced for Prime Video in Germany, ‘The Gryphon’ combines practical creatures with VFX environments and prop-heavy worldbuilding. The show designs an in-universe bestiary, artifacts with codified rules, and a mythology that links real-world clues to travel between realms.
Share your own under-the-radar Prime Video originals in the comments.
