We take a look at Amazon’s Freevee streaming service and suggest six shows you might like to watch… for free
We recently looked at shows to watch with a trial Apple TV+ subscription, now we look at shows you might watch for free. There’s definitely something for everyone, and plenty more where these came from.
What is Freevee?
It’s Amazon’s advert supported streaming service, formerly known as IMDb TV. They have a lot (we mean a lot) of titles you can watch from your browser or Prime Video app. In their words:
Amazon Freevee offers a selection of digital movies and TV shows for no additional cost.
As to the adverts, our experience is it varies. We also have a Prime subscription, and have watched man shows with very few interruptions. From Amazon’s perspective they can target individuals with very specific adverts, as they have a lot of demographic information and your purchase history to draw on.
We’ve said before but there’s a lot of material available, and being Amazon be warned, shows may vanish for a while, reappear and other old favourites popup. In other words, check what’s there every once in a while.
What about those six shows to watch?
We could have picked a different six altogether, but wanted to cover something of a range. In alphabetical order, we’ve chosen: Alex Rider, Columbo, Haven, Jury Duty, Leverage: Redemption and Lost Girl.
Alex Rider
When we last covered Alex Rider, Freevee was still called IMDb TV. Back in 2021 we noted it was based on the hugely successful series of novels by Anthony Horowitz. The show follows London teenager Alex, who has been unknowingly trained as a super-spy from a young age. Played by Otto Farrant, the cast also includes Vicky McClure.
Columbo
A massive hit running for nine seasons and several specials, Peter Falk starred as the dishevelled raincoat wearing Lieutenant Columbo of LAPD between 1968 and 1990. He had two runs, one with NBC (68-78) and again with ABC (89-90) and was a staple of British television in the ’70s. Freevee has the first seven seasons (ie the NBC run) but we have found the odd episode missing.
That’s still plenty of opportunity to see a master at work as the stories were not whodunnits but duels of wits between Columbo and murderer of the week, each resulting in a clever trick whereby the guilty always made a mistake.
Haven
Running for five seasons from 2010 – 2015, Haven started life as a series based on Stephen King’s The Colorado Kid, and after a very weak start ended with a double-length final season adding none other then James Shatner to the cast of regulars.
Never afraid to change tack to keep things fresh (or improve the story), the series centres on Audrey Parker played by Emily Rose (as were seven [maybe more] other parts). It involves multiple periods of history, plenty of horror, some police procedural and romance, all set in Haven Maine.
Every 27 years a woman looking the same appears as many of the towns older families exhibit (generally) horrifying supernatural powers (known as the Troubles). Audrey needs to find out just what is going on to resolve the Troubles once and for all, whatever the personal cost.
If you give this a try, the first few episodes are not strong, but before long you’ll be binge watching until the end.
Jury Duty
A recent addition to the Freevee catalogue, Jury Duty caught is completely by surprise. Consisting of eight short episodes, it’s a documentary-style comedy series that shares the inner workings of an American jury trial through the eyes of one particular juror. Apart from one Ronald Gladden, every character is an actor. Everyone. Think Truman Show meets Candid Camera [showing our age].
As you watch, the story grows more and more ridiculous and admiration for cast and production team grows as you can’t help but wonder how they made it work. Bottom line — it’s hilarious.
Leverage: Redemption
Currently on its second season, this is easy to describe — think US version of Hustle. It’s a revival of the show Leverage, which ran for four seasons (and is also on Freevee, so really this is two recommendations in one). This new series is set in New Orleans, beginning a year after the ending of Leverage. The status of a possible season 3 is unclear.
Lost Girl
One of many great Canadian shows we adore at Cultbox, Lost Girl ran for five seasons from 2010-15, and starred Anna Silk as bisexual succubus Bo. We watch as Bo learns of her true origins and fights for the underdog in a complex world of supernatural forces. There were many strong roles for other characters and while the threat of the week format gets a little forced here and there, the show attracted good ratings and is definitely worth a look.
Other shows
We decided to stop at six, though it was a tough call to leave out many other favourites (such as Andromeda). While there’s a lot of good material on Freevee as we write, do check back — we’re waiting for Magicians to reappear either on Prime or Freevee for example. Why not check it out for yourself?