Prime Video’s Underrated Rom-Com Anthology Series

Prime Video has a couple of franchises in its catalog, including a 16-part anthology series that’s one of its most underrated shows. Prime Video has produced some of the best TV shows of all time and has covered a variety of genres, reaching a wider audience and appealing to viewers of different ages.

Among the best Prime Video TV shows to date are The Expanse, Fleabag, The Boys, and Reacher, but there are many other great shows that have gotten lost amid the streamer’s biggest titles. Such is the case for Modern Love, which, even though it spawned an international franchise, is one of Prime Video’s most underrated shows.

Developed by John Carney and based on The New York Times’ weekly column of the same name. Modern Love is an anthology rom-com TV show that explores love in its different forms, such as platonic, sexual, self-love, romantic, etc. Each episode tells a different story with a different cast, and most take place in New York City.

Shortly after its debut, Modern Love was renewed for a second season, released in 2021, and followed the same concept and format as season 1. Modern Love got mostly positive reviews in its first season, with most praise going to the performances of its cast (which features the talents of Cristin Milioti, Dev Patel, Anne Hathaway, and Andrew Scott, among others).

Season 2 wasn’t well-received by critics, who felt the new episodes were too cliché and lost depth. Still, Modern Love is one of Prime Video’s best rom-com shows, thanks to its exploration of different forms of love, relatable characters and stories, and diverse themes within those love stories, such as mental health, aging, self-acceptance, and more.

Despite its strengths, Modern Love has become one of Prime Video’s most underrated shows, due to its “feel good” tone amid bigger shows with a faster pace and more high-stakes, and its more personal and sentimental approach didn’t appeal to many viewers.

Modern Love Spawned An International Franchise

Modern Love might not have been a hit with critics, but that didn’t stop it from succeeding enough to start an international franchise. First there were three Indian versions of Modern Love in three different languages: Modern Love Mumbai in Hindi, Modern Love Hyderabad in Telugu, and Modern Love Chennai in Tamil. All three were well-received by critics, but only got one season.

A Japanese version, titled Modern Love Tokyo, premiered in October 2022 on Prime Video, and like the Indian versions, it only had one season. Later that year, a Dutch adaptation of the show, appropriately titled Modern Love Amsterdam, was released, with just one season of six episodes. Modern Love Amsterdam was well-received by critics, who praised how it captured the diversity of the city.

At the time of writing, there aren’t any more international adaptations of Modern Love in the works (or, at least, none that have been announced), but the possibility of more shouldn’t be ruled out just yet.

What Happened To Modern Love Season 3?

Modern Love season 1 currently holds a 75% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 87% popcornmeter, so it’s easy to see why it was quickly renewed for a second season. Season 2, however, has a lower score on both, with a critics’ score of 64% and a popcornmeter of 44%. It’s understandable, then, that season 3 Modern Love didn’t happen, but its future is technically still open.

Prime Video never officially canceled Modern Love, but it didn’t renew it for a third season, either. This means that Modern Love season 3 could still happen if Prime Video wanted to do it, but in the meantime, the original column in The New York Times continues to be published, and in 2016, it also spawned a podcast with the same name.

Modern Love hasn’t received the attention and praise it deserves on Prime Video, but one of the biggest advantages of this franchise is that it can be consumed and enjoyed in different formats: a column, different TV shows, and a podcast.