The Best Survival TV Shows on Prime Video

What it's about: Defiance is an American science fiction television show that takes place in the future on a radically transformed Earth containing new species arriving from space. In the show, Joshua Nolan works as the lawman for the town of Defiance, a community where humans and intelligent extraterrestrial species coexist. The show follows Nolan, his adopted alien daughter Irisa, and the town's new mayor Amanda Rosewater.

Where to Watch: 38 episodes (97%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 39 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: The adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny many billions of light years distant from the Milky Way Galaxy. They evacuated there and are now trying to figure out a way to return to Earth, while simultaneously trying to explore and to survive in their unknown area of the universe.

Where to Watch: 40 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 40 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A reality show contest where sixteen or more castaways split between two or more “Tribes” are taken to a remote isolated location and are forced to live off the land with meager supplies for roughly 39 days. Frequent physical challenges are used to pit the tribes against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for “Immunity”, forcing the other tribe to attend “Tribal Council”, where they must vote off one of their players.

Where to Watch: 10 episodes (2%) are available to watch free online (CBS). 586 episodes (99%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & CBS All Access). 473 episodes (80%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Tremé takes its name from a neighborhood of New Orleans and portrays life in the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane. Beginning three months after Hurricane Katrina, the residents of New Orleans, including musicians, chefs, Mardi Gras Indians, and other New Orleanians struggle to rebuild their lives, their homes and their unique culture.

Where to Watch: 36 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO & Prime Video). 36 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 36 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Hardcore survivalists are put by themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness, without camera crews, teams, or producers – on a single mission to stay alive for as long as possible.

Where to Watch: 31 episodes (45%) are available to watch free online (History). 56 episodes (81%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 45 episodes (65%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (History). 69 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Survivorman is a Canadian-produced television program, broadcast in Canada on the Outdoor Life Network, and internationally on Discovery Channel and Science Channel. The show aired three seasons and 4 specials – 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2012.The title refers to the host of the show, Canadian filmmaker and survival expert Les Stroud, who used survival skills and knowledge to survive for up to ten days alone videotaping his adventures in remote locales where he brought with him little or no food, water, or equipment. According to the show's website, each location was scouted and pre-planned extensively by Stroud and his team who consulted with survival specialists and natives of each area. The fact that Stroud spent his time alone without a production crew is a major focus of the show.

Where to Watch: 43 episodes (66%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 41 episodes (63%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Science). 54 episodes (83%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The “Abyss” is the last unexplored region, an enormous and treacherous cave system filled with ancient relics and strange creatures. Only the bravest of adventurers can traverse its depths, earning them the nickname, “Cave Raiders.” Within the depths of the Abyss, a girl named Riko stumbles upon a robot who looks like a young boy. Tantalized by the Abyss, Riko and her new friend descend into uncharted territory to unlock its mysteries, but what lies in wait for them in the darkness?

Where to Watch: 13 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Bear strands himself in popular wilderness destinations where tourists often find themselves lost or in danger.

Where to Watch: 73 episodes (89%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 57 episodes (70%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (BBC America). 74 episodes (90%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Jeremiah is an American television series starring Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamal Warner that ran on the Showtime network from 2002 to 2004. The series takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where most of the adult population has been wiped out by a deadly virus.

Where to Watch: 35 episodes (81%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 35 episodes (81%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: The Tribe is a New Zealand/British post-apocalyptic fictional TV series primarily aimed at teenagers. It is set in a near-future in which all adults have been wiped out by a deadly virus, leaving the children of the world to fend for themselves. The show's focus is on an unnamed city inhabited by tribes of children and teenagers. It was primarily filmed in and around Wellington, New Zealand.The series was created by Raymond Thompson and Harry Duffin and was developed and produced by the Cloud 9 Screen Entertainment Group in conjunction with the UK's Channel 5. It has aired on over 40 broadcast networks around the world.It debuted on Channel 5 on 24 April 1999 and quickly gained a large fan base. From 1999 to 2003, five series and 260 half-hour episodes were produced. Series 6 was scheduled to begin filming in 2003, but Nick Wilson, of Channel 5, and Raymond Thompson felt that "although the show was still performing well, the cast was getting too old and the series was beginning to stretch the core proposition." They felt the characters were not kids fending for themselves without adults any more. As a result, the show was cancelled. Channel 5 aired the final two episodes on 6 September 2003.

Where to Watch: 260 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu). 261 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 261 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: I Shouldn't Be Alive is a documentary television series that airs on multiple networks in the United States, Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, India, Iran, Pakistan, South Africa and the Philippines. I Shouldn't Be Alive is made by Darlow Smithson Productions, a UK-based production company.The show features accounts of individuals and groups caught in dangerous scenarios, presented both through interviews and dramatic reenactments. The main focus is how the survivors survived and the decisions they made that kept them alive.The show is currently casting on Animal Planet.com.It was announced on August 4 that I Shouldn't Be Alive was canceled by Animal Planet.

Where to Watch: 37 episodes (62%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 38 episodes (63%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Animal Planet). 38 episodes (63%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: In a world where monsters, ghosts and other dreadful creatures are a reality, nightmares can come true. And they will. An anthology that delves into the paranormal, the bizarre and the downright insane. No place is safe.

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 6 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Amazon was a syndicated television show created by Peter Benchley. It was developed by Canadian production companies Alliance Atlantis Communications & WIC Entertainment and German company Beta Film GmbH. The 22 episodes of the series were in first-run syndication between 1999 and 2000.The drama series focused on the six survivors of a crashed airline flight in the Brazilian Amazon jungle. The group soon comes into contact with a Native American tribe, and relations are anything but friendly. The group is taken in by a mysterious tribe, who descended from 16th century British colonists who were lost in Amazon. Relations with the Chosen are tenuous at best. Most of the group escapes the Chosen only to stir up a hornets nest with a tribe of cannibals, led by an insane American woman bent on domination of all the local tribes. The first season ended in a cliff-hanger, and a second season was never produced. The series retained sufficient interest that it was released on DVD in 2011.A novelization of the 2-hour pilot was written by Rob MacGregor, and a mass-market paperback was released by Harper on 8 Aug 2000.The German title was Amazonas - Gefangene des Dschungels.

Where to Watch: 13 episodes (21%) are available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu). 52 episodes (84%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 52 episodes (84%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Five survival experts and friends send each other to harsh environments with only 100 hours to find civilization - and they have no idea when they're going to be taken there.

Where to Watch: 15 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 15 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Everest veteran Ben Webster leads a group of climbers through every aspect of a daring summit attempt. This is the ultimate reality program that explores the trials of a team climbing the world's highest mountain. And, for the first time ever, feature footage will be shot from the perspective of each climber. Four climbers, four cameras. Who will make it to the top? Who will survive?

Where to Watch: 6 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Vudu). 6 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video). 6 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).