The best shows on Amazon Prime right now (February 2023)

In 1963, the divorce proceedings between Ian Campbell, 11^th Duke of Argyll and Chief of Clan Campbell, and his wife Margaret Campbell shook postwar Britain. At a time when the social and political climates were very different from today, as were attitudes toward women, the allegations of everything from adultery to violence, drug use, and more were salacious and scandalous. It was one of the most notorious legal cases at the time. Claire Foy and Paul Bettany beautifully portray the at-odds couple in this historical drama miniseries, which serves as a follow-up to 2018’s A Very English Scandal (more on that below) about the Thorpe affair.

In the 1980s, with the Cold War getting warmer, American pop culture produced a bounty of movies expressing the anxieties and patriotism of the era: Films like Red Dawn, or 1985’s lesser-known Invasion U.S.A. (starring Chuck Norris). Comrade Detective lifts the aesthetics of ’80s action cinema and filters them through a (sardonic) communist lens, following a pair of Romanian detectives investigating a plot by Western imperialists to subvert the communist order. The show — which is framed as an actual show from Romania, dubbed over in English with voices from actors like Channing Tatum and Joseph-Gordon Levitt — begins with detective Gregor Anghel (a hard-nosed cop who plays by his own rules but gets results) and his partner busting drug dealers, only for a sniper to shoot Anghel’s partner. Out for vengeance, Anghel and his new partner, Iosif Baciu, hunt the killer but stumble on a conspiracy of international proportions. Comrade Detective is a strange show even by the inventive standards of modern television, a parody wrapped in a layer of faux-authenticity, but its odd charms are worth watching.

Originally airing on Fox from 2012 through to 2014 then picked up for three more seasons on Hulu, running through to 2017, The Mindy Project is a hilarious and charming romantic comedy. Mindy Kaling stars as the title character, an obstetrician/gynecologist navigating her work life with her quirky co-workers and her dating life as a single woman living in New York City. It’s sweet and fun with a diverse list of guest stars who made appearances through the six-season run. You can now stream The Mindy Project in its entirety on Amazon Prime.

In 2033, people who are near death can be “uploaded” into virtual reality afterlives of their choosing; but it will cost their families a pretty penny. These VR afterlives are run by six tech firms, setting up a new kind of corporate competition over human death. When Los Angeles party boy Nathan’s (Robbie Amell) self-driving car crashes, his girlfriend uploads him into the luxurious Lakeview digital afterlife. There, he meets Nora, a customer service representative for Lakeview, who onboards Nathan to his version of heaven. The series follows their friendship as Nathan grows accustomed to life away from his loved ones while Nora balances her connection with the virtual Nathan with her real-life financial and personal struggles. But when Nathan, a talented coder who was on to something big before he died, discovers his death might not have been an accident after all, he must try to unravel what really happened. It all comes down to the economic disparity that continues to exist in death just as strongly as it does in real life.

If you want to watch a star being born, stop what you’re doing and immerse yourself in Rachel Brosnahan’s work as Miriam “Midge” Maisel on the 1950s-set comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Midge is a housewife who pursues a career in stand-up comedy after her husband, Joe Maisel (Michael Zegen), unexpectedly leaves her. After a drunken, impromptu, and mile-a-minute stand-up set that ends with Midge being arrested, hard-nosed venue employee Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein) takes Midge under her wing in hopes of molding a diamond in the rough. The show has won numerous well-deserved awards, solidifying its place among the best period comedy-dramas you can watch right now.

World War II seems to be the most common source for the “What if?” scenario in fiction. The Man in the High Castle, based on Philip K. Dick’s novel of the same name, starts with the premise that not only did the Axis powers win the war, but they also occupied the United States afterward, with Imperial Japan governing the West Coast and the Nazis controlling the territory east of the Rockies. The show follows a few different characters living in different regions as they try to endure the occupation and simultaneously investigate a mysterious film reel that depicts an alternate universe where the Allies actually won the war. Dick was a true visionary author, and The Man in the High Castle captures the otherworldly, authoritarian nature of the world he imagined. Rich with intrigue and superb direction, The Man in the High Castle is an exciting thriller. The series wrapped up its impressive run with November 2019’s season 4.

Delivered in three parts, the Steve McQueen and James Rogan docuseries analyzes three different events that took place in 1981 and had a huge impact on race relations in the U.K. The first episode delves in the New Cross house fire, which resulted in the deaths of 13 Black teenagers, while episode 2 covers the organized mass protest of more than 20,000 Black British citizens. The final episode shifts to the Brixton riot of April 1981. Dubbed a “powerful oral history” by The Financial Times, the Amazon original maintains a perfect 100% score on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.