Missing ‘Upload’ Already? 9 Other TV Shows to Check Out
Upload is nearly complete: Five years after its debut, the Prime Video comedy-drama is concluding with what Amazon is calling a four-part series finale, premiering on Monday, August 25.
Created by Greg Daniels (The Office), Upload stars Robbie Amell as Nathan, a man who dies after a self-driving car accident, but not before his consciousness is uploaded into a virtual afterlife. Nathan then meets his afterlife handler, Nora (Andy Allo), and other virtual residents of the seemingly paradisal Lakeview.
Upload premiered five years ago at the height of the lockdown era, a time when many of us wished our consciousnesses could escape our confines. And when the show is all said and done, such escapism can be found in other surreal, sci-fi or supernatural small-screen stories, detailed below.
Upload, Final Season Premiere, August 25, Prime Video
Black Mirror
This anthology about the perils of technology offered an uncharacteristically uplifting installment with “San Junipero,” one of two Black Mirror episodes to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. In this one, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis star in a retro-futuristic tale about an afterlife simulation in which loved ones can reunite.
Dead Like Me
This comedy-drama about reapers was anything but grim, with Ellen Muth and Mandy Patinkin playing External Influence Division employees tasked with guiding souls to the afterlife. Dead Like Me only lasted 29 episodes before TV’s grim reaper ushered it away, though it was briefly resurrected via the TV movie Dead Like Me: Life After Death.
Forever
Like Upload, Forever hails from Parks and Recreation talent — Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard in this case. Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen play spouses whose routine is only shaken up when death comes knocking. Despite its title, Forever lasted just one season but did achieve award-season immortality with a Writers Guild of America Awards nomination.
Ghosts
Adapted from a British series of the same name, Ghosts follows a married couple who inherit a mansion and move in, only to find that they’re cohabitating with the ghosts of souls who died on the property. Unlike other TV shows on this list, Ghosts will have a long run, and in a treat for Upload fans, Allegra Edwards has a recurring role on the show.
The Good Place
After devising Parks and Recreation together, Greg Daniels created Upload and Michael Schur created this comedy. Like Upload’s Nathan, Kristen Bell’s Eleanor dies in a freak accident and arrives at an idyllic afterlife where all is not what it seems. And The Good Place has an A.I. assistant, too, in the form of D’Arcy Carden’s Janet.
Made for Love
In another story of a technology corporations run amok, Made for Love adapts an Alissa Nutting novel into a dark comedy starring Cristin Milioti as a woman fleeing a marriage to an obsessive tech billionaire. But the latter character, played by Billy Magnussen, is so obsessive that he had an implant put into her brain to track her every move and emotion. (Unfortunately, this one is not currently available to stream, much to the actress’ dismay, but fans can check out the book upon which the show is based.)
The Peripheral
On the periphery of the TV landscape is this short-lived sci-fi drama, one based on a William Gibson novel. In this case, the alternate reality isn’t an afterlife but a virtual-reality game. At least, Chloë Grace Moretz’s character thinks it’s just a game, until her family ends up in real-world danger.
Pushing Daisies
After creating the aforementioned Dead Like Me, Bryan Fuller once again played with life and death with this fantastical series. Lee Pace plays a pie maker with a magical ability to bring dead people back to life with one touch. But a second touch kills them for good, so the pie maker has to tread carefully after reviving his childhood love.
Severance
Unless you’re an innie, you’ve heard of this TV show dominating water-cooler conversations. Adam Scott plays a grieving widower and corporate drone who agrees to be “severed” by his employer, the mysterious Lumon Industries, so that his work self and his off-hours self have no memory of or knowledge from each other. Not at first, at least!
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