With all of the various streaming services competing for your attention these days, some of the smaller (and less promoted) ones tend to get lost in the shuffle. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t have plenty of interesting films and television series on offer.
AMC Plus may have started off with the intention of showcasing just the series that originated on the AMC cable channel, but since then, it has taken off. Not only has it licensed shows from other networks, but it also features plenty of ambitious co-productions and has developed its own originals that are released simultaneously to streaming and on AMC. From quirky sci-fi and fantasy projects to prestige dramas, AMC Plus has a little bit of something for everyone.
'Mad Men'
This one’s kind of a no-brainer, right? "Mad Men" isn’t just one of the best shows on AMC Plus, it’s among the greatest TV series in history. Starring Jon Hamm as the enigmatic Don Draper, it tells the story of a New York City advertising agency over the course of the turbulent 1960s.
Although Don is the centerpiece of the show, one of "Mad Men’s" greatest strengths is its deep bench of supporting actors, with career-best performances from Elisabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks and Vincent Kartheiser, amongst many others. It sits cozily amidst the modern golden age of television, with writing that is often incredibly moving but always interesting. The Season 4 episode "The Suitcase" alone earns it a place on any respectable best-of list.
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'Being Human'
What happens when a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf all end up sharing an apartment together? A lot of supernatural shenanigans, we can tell you that much. Starring Aidan Turner, Lenora Crichlow, and Russell Tovey (although all three left the show over the course of its five-season run), "Being Human" was known for its deft touch, bringing a whimsical and often quite funny tone to its otherwise dark proceedings.
The show captured the hearts and minds of audiences, earning itself an American reboot that was surprisingly successful, running for four seasons on Syfy (and which is also now available to stream on AMC Plus, in case you want to binge both and do a comparative analysis).
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'Kevin Can F*** Himself'
You know when you watch old sitcoms about a schlubby manchild and his incredibly put-together wife, and you just kind of wonder what she possibly sees in him? That’s what "Kevin Can F*** Himself" is all about. Annie Murphy of "Schitt’s Creek" fame stars as Allison, the long-suffering wife of Kevin (Eric Peterson), whose inconsiderate, boorish tendencies are a brutal satire of … well, basically any role Kevin James has ever had.
The show is shot through two very different lenses. When Allison is with Kevin, it plays out like a traditional family sitcom, complete with bright studio lights and an overbearing laugh track. But whenever he leaves the room, it takes on the aura of a gritty, desaturated dramedy as Allison begins to realize how much of an oppressive burden her husband actually is. Unlike anything else on television, "Kevin Can F*** Himself" is worth it for Murphy's increasingly unhinged performance alone.
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'Killing Eve'
A murderous cat-and-mouse game between an assassin and the MI5 agent determined to catch her, "Killing Eve" is equal parts seductive and disturbing. It deserves credit for reminding the world what a singular talent Sandra Oh is, as well as introducing Jodie Comer to the global stage. As the two foils become more intertwined in each others’ lives, the danger (and the blistering sexual tension) ratchets up for both of them.
And if "Killing Eve" doesn’t quite manage to sustain the momentum it built up in its earth-shattering freshman and sophomore seasons, it’s nonetheless one of the most ambitious and fascinating shows of recent years. Oh and Comer were both rewarded for their work with multiple Emmy nominations and eventually a win for Comer in 2019.
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'Orphan Black'
"Orphan Black" is a TV show with a great concept: a woman discovers that she has several doppelgangers and that she and her “sisters” are the result of a cloning experiment. But without Tatiana Maslany in the lead role(s), it all falls apart. She puts in the performance of a lifetime, playing 17 different characters each with different accents and personalities. And what’s more, Maslany is so good in all of the roles that you actually start to forget that they’re all played by her.
Over the seasons, "Orphan Black" expanded in scale dramatically, with expert world-building and continually escalating stakes, creating one of the most narratively satisfying science fiction dramas in recent years.
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'Interview with the Vampire'
Based on the extremely popular Anne Rice novel "Interview with the Vampire," this series pays homage to both the book series and the 1994 film starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, while also putting its own spin on things. For one thing, this adaptation of Interview with the Vampire doesn’t bother with subtext when it comes to Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat (Sam Reid), making their romantic and sexual relationship just plain text.
By spelling out explicitly what the 1994 film danced around with homoerotic undertones, the show is able to offer up a fresh take on the beloved characters that is only deepened when the young vampire Claudia (Delainey Hayles) is added into the mix.
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'This is Going to Hurt'
These days, it feels like every third show on television is a medical drama. But we promise, "This is Going to Hurt" isn’t like all the rest. For one thing, it’s more of a medical dramedy, with plenty of fourth-wall-breaking and much less melodrama than we’ve come to expect from any series that takes place in a hospital since "Scrubs." It also has the talents of Ben Whishaw in the lead role, which certainly doesn’t hurt.
Although it only ran for one season on BBC One, it received rave reviews for its comedic stylings, with a no-nonsense approach to the world of medicine vaguely reminiscent of how Armando Iannucci’s "The Thick of It" treated the world of politics.
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