The Best Based on Books TV Shows on Starz
Finding a good Based on Books TV show to watch can be hard, so we've ranked the best ones and included where to watch them. Check out our list of the best Based on Books TV shows of all time streaming on Starz.
1. Outlander
What it's about: The story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire's heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
Where to Watch: 67 episodes (97%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Starz). 67 episodes (97%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz). 67 episodes (97%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
2. American Gods
What it's about: An ex-con becomes the traveling partner of a conman who turns out to be one of the older gods trying to recruit troops to battle the upstart deities. Based on Neil Gaiman's fantasy novel.
Where to Watch: 26 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Starz). 26 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz). 16 episodes (62%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).
3. Rich Man, Poor Man
What it's about: Based on the best-selling 1969 novel by Irwin Shaw, the series follows the divergent career courses of the impoverished German American Jordache brothers.
Where to Watch: 12 episodes (35%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Starz).
4. The Pillars of the Earth
What it's about: A sweeping epic of good and evil, treachery and intrigue, violence and beauty, a sensuous, spirited story set against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles in 12th Century England.
Where to Watch: 8 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Starz). 8 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz).
5. Little Dorrit
What it's about: Amy Dorrit spends her days earning money for the family and looking after her proud father who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea debtors' prison in London. Amy and her family's world is transformed when her employer's son, Arthur Clennam, returns from overseas to solve his family's mysterious legacy and discovers that their lives are interlinked.
Where to Watch: 14 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (PlutoTV & Plex). 8 episodes (57%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Starz & BritBox). 14 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).
6. World Without End
What it's about: Two hundred years after the construction of the great cathedral, the medieval town of Kingsbridge is taken under siege by Queen Isabella. Caris, a visionary young woman, inspires her people to stand up for their rights and revolt against to the most powerful forces of her time, the Church and the Crown.
Where to Watch: 8 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Starz). 8 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz).
7. Sweetbitter
What it's about: Shortly after arriving in New York City, 22-year-old Tess lands a job at a celebrated downtown restaurant. Swiftly introduced to the world of drugs, alcohol, love, lust, dive bars, and fine dining, she learns to navigate the chaotically alluring, yet punishing life she has stumbled upon.
Where to Watch: 14 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Starz). 14 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz). 14 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
8. Centennial
What it's about: The economic and cultural growth of town of Centennial, Colorado, through the intertwining lives of the brave men and women inhabiting it. Spanning two centuries from the settling of the area in the 1700s, to the late 1970s.
Where to Watch: 12 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Starz). 12 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz).
9. Return to Lonesome Dove
What it's about: Return to Lonesome Dove, written by John Wilder, is a TV miniseries involving characters created in Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning western novel Lonesome Dove. The story focuses on a retired Texas Ranger and his adventures driving mustangs from Texas to Montana. It is a sequel to the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove, but was not written by McMurtry, who instead wrote and published his own sequel novel Streets of Laredo in the same time frame. It was nominated for an Emmy Award, and followed by two TV series, Lonesome Dove: The Series and Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years. Neither series lasted long.McMurtry followed Streets of Laredo with two prequels, which with Laredo were also subsequently made into TV miniseries. Many fans of the Lonesome Dove series of novels do not consider Return to Lonesome Dove or the two derivative TV series to be canonical because of their divergence from McMurtry's storyline, and the apparent motivation of its production by the success of the original miniseries.
Where to Watch: 4 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Starz). 4 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz). 4 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).