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Are you a fan of Westerns? Do you love a cowboy and a sheriff facing off against each other in a dusty town while, perhaps, an Enrico Morricone theme plays in the background? Whatever you specifically love about Westerns, there are plenty of great Western movies to watch … but what if you want a longer narrative?
Thankfully, Amazon Prime Video has tons of both. While there are many, many Western classics available to watch on the giant retailer’s streaming service, there are also a bunch of great Western TV shows on this massive streamer. Some are Amazon Prime Video originals and made in-house, and others, including some true classics, are simply licensed to the platform. As of this writing, though, these five Western TV shows are the best of the best on Amazon Prime Video, so from a beloved literary adaptation to a modern Western starring one of Hollywood’s most popular actresses, here are five Amazon Prime Video shows you should watch.
Lonesome Dove
The first of two big literary adaptations on this list is “Lonesome Dove,” the 1989 miniseries based on Larry McMurtry’s novel of the same name that hit shelves in 1985. Credited as a show that helped repopularize Western narratives in the 1980s, “Lonesome Dove,” helmed by screenwriter William D. Wittliff and director Simon Wincer, stars Robert Duvall as Captain Augustus “Gus” McCrae and Tommy Lee Jones as Captain Woodrow F. Call, two former Texas rangers who jointly run a livery stable filled with horses in the titular town Lonesome Dove (located near the famous Rio Grande river). The two couldn’t be more different; Gus, who was married and widowed twice, loves chasing new potential flames, while Woodrow never stops working and maintains an extremely strict life and schedule. Together, the two are surprised when a figure from their past, fugitive Jake Spoon (Robert Urich), rolls back into town after years away and tells them Montana is a perfect place to settle and raise cattle.
From there, Gus and Woodrow head north with a group of men, but there are still three episoes to go — and we’ll let you discover the joy of “Lonesome Dove” for yourself. With a supporting cast that includes Danny Glover, Diane Lane, D.B. Sweeney, and Anjelica Huston — the last of whom plays Clara Forsythe Allen, for whom Gus still carries a torch — “Lonesome Dove” is a truly phenomenal miniseries, and it’s also a great Western you can stream on Amazon Prime Video.
The Pinkertons
Rosetta Media/Buffalo Gal Pictures
Ever wonder what happened to Becca from “Superbad” — the girl who was the object of Evan’s (Michael Cera) affection? Well, in 2014, she led the Canadian first-run syndication series “The Pinkertons” as Kate Warne, an agent with the very real but fictionalized TV version of the Pinkerton intelligence agency. Kate, who’s the first female Pinkerton agent in the organization’s history — the series takes place in 1865 in Kansas City — works alongside one of the titular family’s prodigal sons, William Pinkerton (Jacob Blair), to solve cases in the Wild West while trying to get into the minds of the criminals they’re hunting.
Across one season and 22 episodes, “The Pinkertons” watches Kate and William deal with everything from an actor who mysteriously dies before a local production of Hamlet to a strange séance to the murder of a member of the local Chippewa tribe. “The Pinkertons” might only span that single season, but it’s pretty delightful from beginning to end, and it’s streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Outer Range
An Amazon Prime Video original series, “Outer Range” is, without question, the weirdest pick on this list — and we mean that in a good way. Across two seasons from 2022 to 2024, “Outer Range,” created by Brian Watkins, stars Josh Brolin as Wyoming cattle rancher Royal Abbott, who’s minding his business when he sees a strange black void on his property. Shortly thereafter, a mysterious woman named Autumn (Imogen Poots) shows up and claims to have some sort of long-held connection to Royal’s farm and asks if she can stay there as a camper. As if this isn’t enough to deal with, the Abbotts — including Royal’s wife Cecelia (Lilli Taylor), sons Perry (Tom Pelphrey) and Rhett (Lewis Pullman), and young daughter Amy (Olive Elise Abercrombie) — also have to handle the Tillerson family. The Tillersons — notably, sons Trevor (Matt Lauria), Luke (Shaun Sipos), and Billy (Noah Reid) — claim that the property lines of the Abbott ranch are askew, and are ready to take the Abbotts to court. Oh, and one more thing: Royal and Cecelia’s daughter-in-law Rebecca (Kristen Connolly) is missing.
“Outer Range” is a phenomenal mix of science fiction and Western genres, and throughout its two seasons, it’ll keep you hooked. If you’ve made your way through every super traditional Western and want something familiar yet totally different, stream “Outer Range” on Amazon Prime Video.
The English
Just in case you think Emily Blunt hasn’t done it all, here’s some proof of her versatility: the British-born actress, who’s appeared in action flicks like “Edge of Tomorrow,” beloved fare like “The Devil Wears Prada,” horror hits like “A Quiet Place,” and even Christopher Nolan’s epic “Oppenheimer” also led a Western series for Amazon Prime Video. Written and helmed by Hugo Blick, “The English” centers around Blunt’s heroine Lady Cornelia Locke, a genteel Englishwoman who makes the long journey to the American West in 1890 for a very specific purpose. Namely, Cornelia believes that her son was murdered by one specific man, and she intends to kill that man.
Early in her journey, Cornelia, thankfully, meets Native Pawnee scout Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer) after she’s held captive by their mutual enemy Richard Watts (Ciarán Hinds). After Eli and Cornelia manage to subdue and kill Watts and his men (not a spoiler, considering that it happens in the first episode), they decide to team up, as Eli understands the emotional nature of Cornelia’s mission in America and Cornelia believes that fate brought them together as a team.
Spencer and Blunt are truly fantastic together alongside supporting players like Rafe Spall, Stephen Rea, and Toby Jones as figures in their shared story … and again, Blunt really can do everything, even sling guns in the wild, wild West. “The English,” which ran for one season and six episodes, is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video now.
Little House on the Prairie
There are a ton of adaptations of “Little House on the Prairie,” the beloved and classic series of books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder about her childhood in the American west — including a fresh, modernized take that premiered on Netflix in 2026. For many, though, the NBC TV series that premiered in 1974, ran until 1983, and ran for 9 season and 200 episodes (plus five specials!) is the defining on-screen version of “Little House on the Prairie.” Melissa Gilbert leads the story as Laura, a plucky young girl living with her parents Charles and Caroline Ingalls (Michael Landon and Karen Grassle), known to her as “Pa” and “Ma,” as well as her sisters Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) and Carrie (Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush), on a farm near a Minnesota town named Walnut Grove.
“Little House on the Prairie” is, of course, notable for centering young Laura’s perspective as life changes for her and her family in the late 1800s, but it’s also anchored by Landon and Grassle as the Ingalls parents, who face challenges of their own separate from their daughter’s antics. Despite some cast changes throughout the series — Mary goes blind before Season 4 and ends up “leaving” Walnut Grove to attend a special school for the blind, and even Landon leaves the series and Charles behind before the ninth and final season — “Little House on the Prairie” is a genuine joy from beginning to end, and it, like everything else here, is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
