15 shows that define prestige TV

3. Transparent

Just when it seemed like Netflix had the market cornered on streaming-service prestige TV offerings, Amazon arrived with Transparent, the Jill Solloway show about a family dealing with the revelation that its patriarch identifies as transgendered. It was an immediate critical darling and set Amazon up as a contender in the prestige TV universe.

Just like with House of Cards, it must be mentioned that star Jeffrey Tambor left the show after being accused by two women of sexual harassment on the set of Transparent. His two Best Actor Emmy wins for the role of Maura Pfefferman will always be asterisked by his alleged transgressions, as well as whatever he did to Jessica Walter on the set of Arrested Development.

It’s unfortunate that Tambor’s behavior obscures what an achievement this show was for LGBT representation of all types. Just about every member of the Pfefferman family has spent the show’s five seasons struggling with their identity in one way or another, and the results have made for incredible television.

Calling Transparent a comedy is disingenuous, given the extreme dramatic places this show was never afraid to go. Any show that features characters struggling so openly with their childhood traumas and their current inabilities to express their true selves was never designed to be a laugh riot. Of course, it can be quite funny at times, usually when Judith Light’s Shelly is involved.

Veep opened the floodgates for prestige half-hour “comedies,” and Transparent was not only able to capitalize on that phenomenon but also make its parent streaming service a viable prestige TV factory in the process. It’s no longer Amazon’s flagship show for obvious reasons, but it is the one that allowed them to ascend to their current status as a potential prestige TV destination.