For better or worse, AMC has become The Walking Dead network, especially of late. There are currently three different scripted The Walking Dead series, an after-show devoted to The Walking Dead, an unscripted reality series devoted to Norman Reedus, and during the pandemic, they even had Friday Night with the Morgans, a living-room chat show starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his wife (who will be playing the wife of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character on The Walking Dead soon).
In other words, if you are a subscriber to AMC+ — AMC’s premium streamer — there’s a good chance it’s because you wanted commercial-free early access to The Walking Dead series. Unfortunately, there’s no new The Walking Dead until February 28th, but there’s still plenty of content to keep one entertained over the next two months. AMC+ promotes itself as streaming “only the good stuff” from AMC and its sister networks (IFC, SundanceTV, Shudder, & Sundance Now). It is, however, accurate to say that the streamer carries the best of what those networks offer, and among the offerings on those other networks, there are a lot of hidden gems, great series that have gone under the radar.
Here’s a taste of what AMC+ has to offer in terms of television series.
Orphan Black
Orphan Black, a Canadian sci-fi series that actually was on BBC America, is easily the most recognized on this list, in part because its star, Tatiana Maslany, has three Emmy nominations and one win for playing several characters on this show. The show is a mystery about a woman who is pulled into a conspiracy when someone who looks just like her winds up dead. As she soon discovers, there are several other characters who look just like her, as well. Some are friend, and some are foe. What’s so remarkable about the series is the performance of Maslany, who gives each of these iterations such distinct personalities that it’s often easy to forget they are all being played by the same person. The first couple of seasons are fantastic, although the series does wane as it gets closer to the end of its five-season run.
Dispatches from Elsewhere
Dispatches aired earlier this year on AMC, and it’s such a bizarre (though infinitely compelling) series that it would have had difficulties finding a large audience at any time, but this one also happened to come out during the height of pandemic anxiety. Still, it’s hard to completely overlook a series that stars Jason Segel (who also created the series), Andre 3000, Richard E. Grant, and Sally Field, although it’s the least well-known Eve Lindley who steals the series. It’s a mystery show — basically, an incredibly elaborate scavenger hunt orchestrated by a mysterious entity. It’s trippy, but it’s a lot of fun, and it’s a shame it was so little seen during the pandemic because it is ultimately an incredibly life-affirming show.
Slings and Arrows
One of my all-time favorite shows, Slings and Arrows, is another Canadian series, this one about a Shakespearean festival. I understand why that might sound like the least interesting series on television, but in reality, it’s essentially just a phenomenal workplace drama set behind-the-scenes of a Shakespearean production. It is funny, it is heartwarming, and it is completely intoxicating, and if you need another enticing hook, a young Luke Kirby and Rachel McAdams also star in the later episodes.
DES
In DES, David Tennant plays Dennis Nilsen, a real-life Scottish serial killer and necrophile, who killed at least 12 men between the years of 1978 and 1983. For a show about a serial killer, it’s unusual in that it’s not about the investigation — Nilsen, in fact, confesses in the opening minutes of the series. The rest is an exploration of psychopathy through the police interrogations of Nilsen. Nilsen is remarkable as a prolific serial killer and necrophiliac because (as a person) he is so profoundly mediocre, an ordinary civil servant who would not have otherwise left a smudge on the world had he not killed so many men.
The Cry
Another Doctor Who alum, Jenna Coleman, stars in The Cry, which is about the mystery behind the disappearance of a baby. It’s one of those shows where, every time you think you are about to witness the worst thing that could possibly happen, it comes at you with a revelation that is even worse, something akin to a fictional Dear Zachary. It is very much a show about a situation that is not what it seems, but it’s also not for the faint of heart. It’s a series that delivers one devastating emotional blow after another.
Gangs of London
In the United States, Gangs of London is currently exclusive to AMC+ (it hasn’t even aired on AMC yet). As the logline suggests, it’s the “story of the city being torn apart by the turbulent power struggles of the international gangs that control it and the sudden power vacuum that’s created when the head of London’s most powerful crime family is assassinated.” That doesn’t tell you nearly as much about Gangs of London as knowing that Gareth Evans is the creator behind it. Evans directed The Raid, and Gangs of London is something akin to a massive, nine-hour iteration of that set in London. In other words, it’s fast-paced, there’s a lot of stylish blood and brutal violence.
Channel Zero
Channel Zero is a creepy, unnerving little anthology series from writer and creator Nick Antosca based on creepypastas (horror-related legends that have been copied and pasted around the Internet, i.e., The Slender Man). Its four seasons originally aired on SyFy so I’m not sure how they found their way to AMC+, but they’re must-watch for horror fans and the first season, especially, should be reserved only for the bravest of souls.
Soulmates
Fans of Black Mirror will also love Soulmates, which comes from one of the writers of Black Mirror. The first season of the six-episode anthology series revolves around a computer algorithm in the future that predicts someone’s soulmate with 100 percent accuracy. Each episode explores how such an algorithm upsets the balance of things, while also investigating whether being with the one you’re meant to be with can actually provide happiness.