Latest news with #MaggieQ
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Prime Video top 10 shows — here's the 3 I'm binge-watching this weekend
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Prime Video's most-watched list is constantly shifting, which makes it a great go-to when you're not sure what to stream next. Whether it's trending newcomers or returning fan favorites, it offers a snapshot of what's currently pulling in viewers. But just because a show is trending doesn't mean it's a must-watch, especially if your queue is already packed. That's why I've filtered through the noise to highlight the three standout options worth your time this weekend. While thriller hits like 'We Were Liars,' 'The Better Sister,' and 'Countdown' have had their moment in the spotlight, I'm turning the focus to a few fresher picks. From a gritty new 'Bosch' spin-off starring Maggie Q, to a comedy drama led by Leighton Meester, plus the return of a beloved summer romance, these are the shows that actually earn a place on your watchlist. This is based on the Prime Video top 10 U.S shows as of Friday, July 25, 2025. Best shows in the Prime Video top 10 'Good Cop/Bad Cop' Prime Video recently added all eight episodes of 'Good Cop/Bad Cop' to its library. Created by John Quaintance and co-produced by The CW and Stan, the show first premiered on the network back in February. Set in the quirky small town of Eden Vale, 'Good Cop/Bad Cop' follows estranged siblings Lou (Leighton Meester) and Henry Hickman (Luke Cook), forced into a detective partnership by their father, Chief Big Hank (Clancy Brown). Lou, a seasoned, people-savvy detective, contrasts sharply with her socially awkward, hyper-logical brother, making for an odd couple duo solving weekly mysteries while bickering like real family. So if you're looking for a breezy, character-driven mystery with sibling chemistry and small‑town charm, this comedy drama is now ready to stream on Prime Video. Watch it on Prime Video 'Ballard' Prime Video's latest original is stepping in to fill the void left by 'Bosch,' and longtime fans are here for it. 'Ballard' is a brand-new spinoff that trades Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) for Renée Ballard (Maggie Q), a determined detective first introduced in the 'Bosch: Legacy' season finale earlier this year. Despite just debuting, the series has already climbed to No. 2 on the platform and boasts a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The show follows Ballard as she takes charge of the LAPD's newly formed Cold Case Division — an under-resourced unit made up of volunteers, retirees, and civilians. Tasked with breathing new life into long-forgotten investigations (including a John Doe homicide and the killing of a councilman's sister), Ballard also battles department pushback and the fallout from a recent misconduct scandal. Watch it on Prime Video 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Prime Video's hit YA romance returns with its third and final season. 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' season 3 kicked off with two episodes, and the story continues with one new installment dropping every Wednesday. The narrative picks up with Belly (Lola Tung) finishing her junior year and enjoying life with Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) at Finch University, until Conrad (Christopher Briney) unexpectedly reappears, reigniting the central love triangle and forcing Belly to confront her heart's true calling. Right out of the gate, the show delivers emotional jolts — from Jeremiah's engagement to Belly, to Steven's serious accident and simmering real-world drama fueling the decisions Belly must make. So if you're tuning in for romance, family drama, and emotional growth set against the nostalgic summer backdrop of Cousins Beach, don't miss season 3 of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty.' Watch it on Prime Video Prime Video top 10 shows right now 1. "The Summer I Turned Pretty" (2022)2. "Ballard" (2025)3. "Countdown" (2025)4. "Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War" (2025)5. "One Night in Idaho: The College Murders" (2025)6. "We Were Liars" (2025)7. "The Better Sister" (2025)8. "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" (2022)9. "The Chosen: Last Supper" (2025)10. "Good Cop/Bad Cop" (2025) More from Tom's Guide Everything new on Prime Video in July 2025 5 best Prime Video movies with a surprising twist 5 Prime Video movies to stream before they leave Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The arc for the second season is very exciting': Ballard star explains why Prime Video should renew the Bosch spin-off
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. I want it, you want it, we all want it, but as it stands, there's no news confirming Ballard season 2. The Bosch: Legacy spinoff has had astonishing success on Prime Video during its first week of release, scoring the elusive 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. These days, though, even that doesn't guarantee a future. Ballard, which follows LAPD detective Renée Ballard (Maggie Q) as she oversees a cold case in a new department, remains the most streamed new TV show on the platform at the time of writing, with positive critical reviews flying in thick and fast. Even to someone who knows very little about how the industry works, there's clearly more than enough evidence to commission new episodes. But according to Maggie Q, there's just as much chance that we could never see Ballard again if a second season isn't green lit. The biggest shame if the new series quits while it's ahead? We'll never get to see the 'very exciting' season 2 arc that's been teased by Q herself. Ballard season 2 isn't guaranteed to be renewed by Prime Video, but a 'very exciting' arc would make a cancelation devastating Spoilers for Ballard season 1 finale ahead. 'I have no sense,' Q told The Hollywood Reporter about a potential Ballard season 2. 'This industry is not what it was before. It's barely recognizable to me, and shows are so expendable. They can throw out a show in two seconds, and it doesn't make a ton of difference that whole worlds and livelihoods are at stake. Studios always have options. But we have a writers room, and they've been writing away. 'The arc for the second season is very exciting,' she confirms. 'But I've had writers room hired before and then gotten cancelled. So everyone's like, 'Maggie, of course!' I'm like, 'No, no, no.' There is no 'of course.' I am not a negative person at all. I'm a very positive person, but I'm a realist.' Let's recap what we know. Season 1 left off with the unexpected reveal that Councilman Jake Pearlman's (Noah Bean) own father, Gary Pearlman (Kevin Dunn) murdered his own daughter over an alleged confrontation about his marital affair. Robert Olivas (Ricardo Chavira) was also exposed as being a dirty cop alongside being a generally terrible human (bear in mind the earlier assault accusations), but when he's also killed off, Ballard is arrested for it. We've not seen how Olivas died, but we did see Ballard draw her gun on him in the final moments of their confrontation. If season 2 never gets off the ground, Ballard is essentially stuck in jail, for possibly no good reason, for the rest of her fictional life. Not only this, but Ballard has already defied the typical crime drama stereotype by blending the personal and professional in an entirely new way, so it would be an extra shame to lose something that's bringing us something fresh. As far as I'm concerned, Prime Video owes it to the franchise, fans and the undoubtedly the strongest Bosch spinoff so far to give over some answers. In the meantime, you can check out everything else new on Prime Video in July 2025 to get yourself out of a post-Ballard slump. You might also like The Boys season 5: everything we know so far about the popular Prime Video show's final entry Reacher season 4: everything we know so far about the hit Prime Video show's return The best TV show on Prime Video? I can't stop coming back to this comfortingly cringey comedy series from the 2000s Solve the daily Crossword
The Star
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
'Ballard' review: Solid crime procedural does justice to its legacy
What are crime drama fans doing right to get two "Dept Q" series in the same year? Ballard, the latest adaptation of Michael Connelly's (Bosch, The Lincoln Lawyer) books, has more than a passing similarity to the set-up of that Matthew Goode series from earlier this year. Consider: a disgraced detective who doesn't play well with others is consigned to a basement office with a motley group of non-cops (a retired detective, a police reservist, a volunteer and an intern, initially) and a stack of cold case boxes. (As for the "Q" connection, well...) It should be noted that in the first Connelly novel featuring Detective Renee Ballard (Maggie Q), she was not kicked out of the Los Angeles Police Dept's Robbery-Homicide division. Instead, she was banished to the graveyard shift while keeping her spot on the team, albeit for the same reason she winds up in the TV show's makeshift cold case unit. 'You bring the cold cases, we bring the heat.' The main reason for the unit even existing is because of pressure from LA Councilman Jake Pearlman (Noah Bean, Nikita mini-reunion alert!), who wants the cold case of his sister's murder solved for the family to get closure. With a 10-episode first season available to stream all at once – one of those rare departures from Prime Video's typical weekly release schedule – we can view it at leisure or binge it, depending on our preference. Chances are that it will be the latter, given the intrigue involved here, not just for the primary case but the far-reaching consequences of another case involving a John Doe murdered at a seedy motel. Being from the same literary and TV universe as Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, Ballard follows a similar pattern of character and story beats. (In fact, Ballard herself showed up in the closing segments of Legacy's final season, ICYMI.) The familiarity is comforting, as is the parade of familiar faces from the earlier shows as they help us get acquainted with this new cast of characters. Given the stresses of Ballard's situation and the cases, plus some unresolved trauma from a family tragedy, Maggie Q gives us a convincing lead character who is visibly restraining herself, but not so much that she doesn't occasionally call out her higher-ups for their BS in a few satisfying scenes. It's fortunate for Ballard that she has solid support at home (from her "Tutu", or grandmother, played by veteran Amy Hill) and at work. 'Do I need a court order or what? People are starting to think that word you guys keep inserting between Harry and Bosch is my actual middle name.' Her staunchest supporter on the job is Thomas Laffont (John Carroll Lynch, Fargo), her ex-partner brought out of retirement to work the cold cases. Remember how Lynch gave The Walking Dead an entire season's worth of heart from just a single episode (Here's Not Here, as the enigmatic Dr Eastman, who gave Lennie James' Morgan his trademark staff)? In Ballard, his palpable investment in the case of a missing baby provides extra depth to a character we already know must be full of compelling experiences. Ballard also finds a kindred spirit in ex-cop Zamira Parker (Courtney Taylor, The Invitation), whom she coaxes back to the force and who provides the show with one of its more redemptive character arcs. Ballard's showrunners, Michael Alaimo and Kendall Sherwood, count the Mary McDonnell procedural Major Crimes on their resumes, and the experience of juggling a large cast – and keeping each character interesting – pays off here. None of the supporting characters feels obligatory or like dead weight, from the cold case squad's varied components down to the suspects, bureaucrats, even Ballard's kind-of boyfriend – so much so that when things happen to one (or more) of them, the impact is deeply felt. Buoyed by the goodwill left over from its predecessors, Ballard hits the ground running and carries us easily through its debut season. Right through to an ending that sets up a second season in so nail-biting a fashion that we're left with fingers and toes crossed in this streaming age of uncertain series longevity. And yeah, Prime Video/Amazon, I still haven't forgiven y'all for axing The Bondsman. All 10 episodes of Ballard are available to stream on Prime Video.
USA Today
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Will there be a 'Ballard' Season 2? What to know
"Ballard" fans are ready for more. Throughout the first season's ten episodes, fans got to know disgraced yet determined LAPD detective Renée Ballard (Maggie Q), who was put in charge of the department's new and underfunded cold case division. Viewers also learned of a "dangerous conspiracy within the department" as Detective Ballard peeled back layers of crimes spanning decades, including a serial killer's string of murders, with help from her team and retired detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver). "Detective Ballard navigates personal trauma, professional challenges, and life-threatening dangers to expose the truth," the show's official logline says. The police procedural, a spinoff of another spinoff set in the "Bosch universe," was inspired by the popular crime novels written by best-selling author Michael Connelly. "Ballard" made its debut July 9 on Amazon Prime Video, a few months after the last "Bosch: Legacy" episode aired. The streamer, unfortunately, has yet to formally announce whether "Ballard" will be, or has been, renewed for a second season. Representatives for the show declined to comment on its future, but lead Maggie Q recently told The Hollywood Reporter that the season two story arc will be "very exciting" if greenlit. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Here's what we know about "Ballard" Season 2. Will 'Ballard' return for Season 2? The jury's still out. (Amazon MGM Studios has yet to make an official decision.) But Q, who has "no sense" about the show's future, told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview that if a season two is greenlit, the cast will likely start shooting in the fall. "This industry is not what it was before," Q told THR. "It's barely recognizable to me, and shows are so expendable. They can throw out a show in two seconds, and it doesn't make a ton of difference that whole worlds and livelihoods are at stake. Studios always have options. But we have a writers' room, and they've been writing away. The arc for the second season is very exciting." The possibility of a renewal, according to Q, ultimately lies in the hands of the viewers. "It's all going to depend on what the audiences think of what we've done," Q told Men's Journal. "I'm not going to pretend I know this industry anymore. But we have a great lineup for Season 2, story-wise. So, fingers crossed." What is 'Ballard' about? "Ballard" follows LAPD Detective Renée Ballard, who is the new and fearless leader of the LAPD's underfunded and all-volunteer cold case unit. "Armed with her unwavering determination, (Detective) Ballard races against time to solve the city's most challenging cold cases, confronting the ghosts of victims past, the very real dangers of the present, and even her own past catching up to her," the show's official logline says. How to watch 'Ballard' The show premiered on Wednesday, July 9, on Prime Video. The first season, which consisted of 10 episodes, dropped on premiere day. Prime Video subscriptions are included with an Amazon Prime membership, which start at $14.99 a month, or $139 a year if you prefer to pay annually. Discounted membership options for young adults and qualifying government-assistance recipients are available. Customers can also purchase or rent a selection of media titles from Prime Video without having an Amazon Prime or Prime Video account. Watch 'Ballard' trailer Our team of savvy editors independently handpicks all recommendations. If you purchase through our links, the USA Today Network may earn a commission. Prices were accurate at the time of publication but may change.
Forbes
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
A Confusing Update About ‘Ballard' Season 2 On Amazon Prime Video
Ballard Ballard is a hit. It's currently Amazon Prime Video's #1 show, even beating out the long-awaited return of The Summer I Turned Pretty, back for its final season. The show currently sits at a very rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and you may think that auto-greenlights a season 2. Well, rather odd news on that front. Star Maggie Q is saying that season 2 is moving forward without an actual renewal in a new interview with THR, even in an industry where shows are 'expendable': 'I have no sense (about renewal). This industry is not what it was before. It's barely recognizable to me, and shows are so expendable. They can throw out a show in two seconds, and it doesn't make a ton of difference that whole worlds and livelihoods are at stake. Studios always have options. But we have a writers room, and they've been writing away. The arc for the second season is very exciting. But I've had writers room hired before and then gotten canceled. So everyone's like, 'Maggie, of course!' I'm like, 'No, no, no.' There is no 'of course.' I am not a negative person at all. I'm a very positive person, but I'm a realist.' So this is hedging bets a bit. There is already a writers room working season 2, but despite that investment of time and resources, it's still not a guarantee that a season 2 will happen. Amazon has not confirmed Ballard has been renewed for season 2, nor was it originally greenlit for a double-season run, as sometimes happens with shows streamers are confident about. Ballard FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder All this said, despite Maggie Q not wanting to get her hopes up, and this being a brutal industry at times in terms of surprise cancellations, I'm willing to go all-in that there is a 100% chance Ballard will be renewed for season 2. 1) It's stayed at #1 essentially since its release almost two weeks ago 2) It has perfect critic scores and solid enough audience scores. 3) It's a lower-budget crime series, and that's the kind of thing Amazon wants to see as they attempt to print more huge hits like Reacher. All the pieces are there for a season 2 renewal, and it's just not unusual for a show to be two weeks in and still not renewed, even a hit. I don't think they wanted to fully gamble ahead of time with an instant greenlight, but Ballard and its star have nothing to worry about, mark my words. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
