Seasons: 1
Starring: Olivia Welch, Mike Faist, Jessica Sula
Descriptions: Take the idea of “Hunger Games” and pit a bunch of teens against each other, except it’s in present-day Texas. Based on Lauren Oliver’s 2014 YA novel, “Panic” mysteriously organizes a game for graduating seniors of a high school, competing in dares to get their ticket out of the small town.
Why it’s lukewarm: “Panic” seems to think that everybody who watches the show will get squicked out with even a little bit of blood and can’t seem to stop coddling its audience. It also seems to be a little more interested in boosting the star power of Ray Nicholson than actually creating a good show. Check it out if the premise seems interesting, but it certainly isn’t the best thing Amazon has ever made.
The Wheel of Time (So-So)
Seasons: 2
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Daniel Henney
Description: Based on the immense series begun by Robert Jordan and completed by Brandon Sanderson, this series is fantasy action at its most okay. While fans of the series were excited to see the books portrayed on the screen with all the energy of the “Game of Thrones” show, the first season proved to be far more of an adaptation than a translation of the books themselves.
Why it’s lukewarm: The visuals were a highlight, but many simply found the show to be boring. Not everybody agreed, but it’s hard to come up with something that is more damning for a show than it is simply boring. If you love it, great, and if you hate it, you might keep watching because you hate it. But boring? There are lots of other things to fill your time.
Gary Busey: Pet Judge (So-So)
Seasons: 1
Starring: Gary Busey, Shadoe Stevens, Ian Abramson
Description: If Gary Busey is in a project, you can bet it’s going to be kind of weird. Him dressing up like a judge and handing out judgments to pets is no different. Busey has to figure out court cases that feature made-up pet disputes.
Why it’s Lukewarm: The show is goofy, there’s plenty of good writing, and it neither takes itself too seriously nor references its strange idea too much, but at the end of the day, it’s just Busey being Busey in yet another odd place. It’s really strange, and if you don’t like that kind of strangeness, it isn’t going to trip your trigger all that much. Mostly, it just feels out of place on Amazon.
Utopia (So-So)
Season: 1
Starring: John Cusack, Rainn Wilson, Sasha Lane
Description: A group of misfits and comic nerds discover that the comic “Utopia” is predicting the end of the world. There’s conspiracy, thriller elements, and a couple of big names to add to the show’s appeal. It was first a Channel 4 sci-fi thriller that was passed around before the adaptation finally came out on Amazon.
Why it’s lukewarm: The timing was poor. It’s a story about the government lying about a plague and making fake vaccines, and it came out in the fall of 2020. Seriously, talk about a bad release date. It also takes itself a little too seriously for people to enjoy without a wink and a nod to the audience. Black comedy has to have a subtle hand sometimes, and this one was going at it pretty heavy.
Them (So-So)
Seasons: 1
Starring: Deborah Ayorinde, Ashley Thomas, Alison Pill
Description: The period piece “Them” has a black couple move into a white neighborhood during the fifties with their young daughter, and before long, the white neighbors are terrorizing them, trying to get them to move out. There also seems to be something a little supernatural going on, which just adds to the mystery.
Why it’s lukewarm: The setup almost seems like it’s old hat by now. The black people move in, and the white people don’t like it. While the production is slick, there just isn’t enough new and interesting to keep people watching. The show is also EXTREMELY brutal, which turned off a lot of audience members and critics. Throw in a dash of staid “Stepford Wives” elements, and you have a show that just doesn’t do enough to separate itself from the pack.