Can you believe we’re more than halfway through the year?
It seems like only yesterday we were publishing articles about what new content to keep an eye out for in 2025 — but now it’s time to take a look back.
Amazon Prime Video has been busy releasing new shows, and there are five in particular that deserve a special shoutout.
The Watch With Us team presents our picks for the five best shows on Amazon Prime Video in 2025 so far.
5. ‘We Were Liars’
Think of We Were Liars as a YA Succession with a little less business and a little more arson. The series follows Cady Sinclair (Emily Alyn Lind), a teenage granddaughter of the wealthy Harris Sinclair (David Morse), who was involved in a mysterious accident in the summer before the start of the show.
Suffering from amnesia and dealing with her family’s determination to keep her in the dark, Cady tries to piece together what happened to her — and to the other three teens (Shubham Maheshwari, Esther McGregor and Joseph Zada) who were with her when the accident occurred. Scheming and backstabbing over inheritances collide with relationship drama and moral dilemmas in this juicy, elevated soap.
4. ‘Wear Whatever the F You Want’
Clinton Kelly and Stacy London rose to fame through their show What Not to Wear, in which they somewhat brutally eviscerated people’s closets during makeovers. In 2025, they returned with a kinder, gentler show — Wear Whatever the F You Want — that puts their style knowledge to work in a new way. In each episode of the makeover show, Clinton and Stacy meet with a new client and learn what they want their style to say. They then help to curate a personal look that’s just as unique as the client themselves. It’s warm, bubbly fun for fashion lovers!
3. ‘Étoile’
Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino of Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel brought us a new show this year — and instead of being set in the world of 1960s stand-up comedy, this one dives into the modern world of ballet! It follows the heads of two prestigious ballet companies — Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby), the artistic director of the New York Metropolitan Ballet and Geneviève Lavigne (Charlotte Gainsbourg), the interim artistic director of Le Ballet National in Paris — as they attempt to save their institutions from fading into obscurity.
As a PR move, they propose a swap: each company’s most talented star, or danseur/danseuse étoile, will perform at the other’s house. Of course, personalities clash and drama ensues. Étoile feels like a cross between Gilmore Girls and Mozart in the Jungle — two of our all-time favorite shows.
2. ‘Ballard’
This Bosch spinoff quickly became one of the most popular shows on Amazon, and rightfully so. Maggie Q shines as Renée Ballard, an empathetic detective assigned to the cold case department of the LAPD after a conflict with a popular detective.
While she’s expected to fade into obscurity in that department, she instead changes it for the better, recruiting a talented team to help solve the cases everyone else has left behind. Along the way, she uncovers a serial killer and a conspiracy in the police department. Gripping mysteries and Q’s powerful performance elevate this wonderfully solid detective drama.
1.‘Clean Slate’
It was tough to pick the number one Amazon show of the year, but we’re going with Clean Slate because we think it hasn’t received enough love yet. Laverne Cox of Orange is the New Black stars as Desiree, a transgender woman who returns to her hometown in Alabama after 23 years away, reuniting with her father Harry (George Wallace) — who has no idea his child has transitioned. Co-created by Cox and Wallace and produced by sitcom legend Norman Lear, Clean Slate isn’t nearly as issue-driven as the premise might suggest.
In fact, the most radical thing about it is how little the show actually talks about Desiree’s gender. There’s an adjustment period as her father gets to know his daughter, but before long, the show evolves into a classic small-town friends-and-family sitcom — one with jokes and performances that are instantly lovable. Sadly, Clean Slate was cancelled — but it’s not too late to watch that one, excellent season for some laughs.
Led by Senior Editor and experienced critic Jason Struss, Watch With Us’ team of writers and editors sees almost every movie and TV show from the distant past to the present to determine what’s worth your time and money. Our countless hours of multimedia consumption — combined with years of experience in the entertainment industry — help us determine the best movies and TV shows you should be streaming right now.
To be considered “the best,” these films and series can be visually engaging, intellectually stimulating or simply just fun to watch, but the one trait they must have is that they are all, in some way, entertaining. We then check which platform they are streaming on and how you can access them as a subscriber. No algorithm nonsense or paid endorsements here — our recommendations are based purely on our love and interest for the films and shows we love.
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