Amazon Prime Video’s New Top 10 List Reveals A Shortage Of Meaningful Originals

Recently, Amazon Prime Video has undergone a much-needed UI overhaul in order to make it more accessible for navigation and frankly, more like Netflix, which for all its other issues, does have its UI down pretty well.

Amazon Prime also took something specific from Netflix, however, the concept of a top 10 list, which shows the best-performing movies and shows on the service, Amazon Originals only. But while Netflix’s top 10 lists shifts every single day, the fact that Amazon has this list running now reveals how much its original programming lags behind some of its rivals, Netflix included, with a few exceptions.

Let’s go through the top 10 list right now, and you’ll see what I mean. Look at the dates for when these things debuted:

1. The Terminal List Season 1 (July 1, 2022)
2. The Boys Season 3 (June 3, 2022)
3. Thirteen Lives (July 29, 2022)
4. Paper Girls Season 1 (July 29, 2022)
5. The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 1 (June 17, 2022)
6. The Outlaws Season 2 (August 5, 2022)
7. Reacher Season 1 (February 4, 2022)
8. Nighty Sky Season 1 (May 20, 2022, has already been cancelled)
9. Outer Range Season 1 (April 15, 2022)
10. Forever Summer: Hamptons (July 15, 2022)

So I mean, do you seen the weirdness here? Most of the shows on here have been out for over a month. A number of them have been out for months, plural, all the way back to the spring. And we get bizarre situations like Night Sky being on here since its May debut, even though it’s already been cancelled, and its cliffhangers will not be resolved. Outer Range is a similar show in a similar situation, albeit has neither been cancelled nor renewed yet. Still, it’s in the top ten after four months? That…speaks to a void of content, if you ask me.

It’s not that Amazon doesn’t have true hits. They do, and a few are on the board here like The Terminal List, The Boys and Reacher, the last of which has presumably been a top ten show for half a year now. But by showcasing a top 10 list like this, it shows that Amazon Prime, despite getting into the streaming game so, so early compared to many of its rivals, still has trouble producing a breadth of content on a reasonable timeframe. This is Amazon we’re talking about, one of the biggest corporate powerhouses on earth, but it seems like it’s getting outpaced by the likes of Apple and HBO, and its oldest rival, Netflix, is just miles ahead at this point. Yes, Netflix has its quality problems, but it’s not like the top 10 list here is full of absolutely incredible productions. The only shows that I’d consider great on here are The Boys and Reacher, though I know The Terminal List, The Summer I Turned Pretty and Paper Girls have their fans.

I would say give it time, and we’ll see how things progress, but that’s the thing, Amazon Prime Video is one of the oldest streaming services out there, and it still feels very behind other than the occasional breakout hit. They are about to drop an atomic bomb in the form of their Lord of the Rings series, which I imagine will plant itself on the top 10 list’s #1 spot for half a year at least, so clearly they’re willing to spend to try to keep pace. I just don’t know how well it’s worked so far, judging by a list like this.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.