Amazon Prime Video: 25 of the best TV series to watch tonight – CNET [CNET]

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Longtime comedy pair Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) hit the small screen with Truth Seekers, a surprisingly dark comedy with a sinister edge. Frost plays Gus, a paranormal investigator when he’s not working for Dave’s (Pegg) broadband company taking assignments in creepy houses across the UK. The ghost-a-week format turns into solving a larger conspiracy, with a few guest stars who’re clearly having a ball. It won’t top Pegg and Frost’s list of best projects, but it’s good fun, especially around Halloween.

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Going on a Katheryn Hahn binge after WandaVision? Marvel’s new favorite witch starred in one season of this 2016 comedy with a memorable title. Her character’s name is just as memorable: Chris Kraus, an artist and filmmaker who moves to Texas with her husband. She quickly falls in love with his fellowship sponsor, played by Kevin Bacon. Yes, Kevin Bacon is in this. The dynamic of her marriage shifts as her infatuation challenges everything in smart and provocative and adult ways. Sadly, I Love Dick didn’t score a second season, but the first is well worth your time.

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Not just another show about a small town where strange things happen, Tales from the Loop has a lot more underneath the surface. Drawing from a narrative art book by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag, the series is stunning to look at, meticulous as can be with symmetrical frames. Light and space are infused with a painterly feel. The interconnected townspeople are similarly nuanced, their stories exploring loneliness, aging, the impact of technology and more through sci-fi ideas.

For those who aren’t a fan of cartoons, Invincible could be your converter, up there with other adult cartoons like BoJack Horseman and Rick and Morty. Based on a comic book from Robert Kirkman, the creator of the Walking Dead, Invincible follows 17-year-old Mark Grayson and his training to become a superhero just like his father, who happens to be the most powerful superhero on the planet. Episodes run long at nearly 50 minutes, connected into one big, blood-spattered story. A subversive series with a huge cast featuring Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh and J.K. Simmons, Invincible will engross you in its smart animated world.

Amazon Prime Video

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 African-Americans 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.

Amazon

Amazon’s first original young adult offering is an intriguing combination of Lost and the Breakfast Club — and it works. Crucially, the cast of characters who find themselves stranded on a deserted island are all teenage girls. To them, that makes life even more excruciating. Each has a very different background — from spoiled rich girl to Native American — but they have to put aside their differences to survive, learning a thing or two about themselves on the way. Things get even more dark and thrilling when Rachel Griffiths’ Gretchen Klein comes into the picture as the head of the secretive Dawn of Eve program.

Amazon Prime

The premise of Hanna, a Joe Wright action thriller from 2011, is so good Amazon fleshed it out for a TV series. Starring Esme Creed-Miles as the skilled young assassin living in the Romanian wilderness, Hanna the TV show expands the teen’s backstory and explains why the CIA’s Marissa Wiegler has an obsession with capturing her.

Amazon Studios

This gripping British series is about, yes, an informer, and the murky territory involved in coercing someone to take on the dangerous gig. Paddy Considine (who now has a gig on the Game of Thrones prequel) stars as DS Gabe Waters, a counterterrorism officer tasked with infiltrating a far-right movement in West Yorkshire. Partnered with an excellent Bel Powley (The Morning Show, The King of Staten Island) as the young and inquisitive DC Holly Morten, he attempts to bring British Pakistani Raza (Nabhaan Rizwan) on board to uncover information about a possible terrorist attack. A provocative thriller that will keep you on your toes.

Amazon Studios

This TV version of Picnic at Hanging Rock isn’t quite a masterpiece like the 1975 film adaptation of the classic Australian novel. But it’s just as mysterious, unfurling a dreamy yet eerie veil over a fictional disappearance in the isolated Australian bush. When three students and their governess go missing after a picnic at the rock area, hysteria sets into the community and the esteemed Appleyard College, led by Natalie Dormer’s formidable headmistress. Dark secrets emerge, keeping you hanging on until the end.

Chris Raphael

This adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel pairs two other UK treasures in David Tennant and Michael Sheen. They play the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale respectively in this miniseries that sees Earth on the brink of destruction thanks to a final battle between Heaven and Hell. Decidedly against this, after enjoying their time on the planet, the bickering pair team up and attempt to prevent Armageddon. With a stacked cast, including a cameo from Benedict Cumberbatch as, well, Satan, Good Omens is a worthy adaptation, largely thanks to Tennant and Sheen’s double act.