Bryan Cranston is back on your screens, but the name he wants you to say is different. The "Breaking Bad" star is both in front of and behind the camera for "Sneaky Pete", the latest original show to debut on streaming service Amazon Instant Video.
"Sneaky Pete" started life at CBS and is now developed by Amazon's production arm Amazon Studios. The show centres around a con man who adopts the identity of his former cellmate before ingratiating himself into the man's long-estranged family. Giovanni Ribisi is Pete-but-not-Pete, while the show also stars Marin Ireland and character actress Margo Martindale. Bryan Cranston is the bad guy -- although this looks like a show where telling good and bad apart might not be easy -- and he's also an executive producer. The pilot is written by David Shore, creator of "House".
Here's the trailer:
Original TV shows and movies are increasingly important to streaming services seeking to differentiate themselves from each other and persuade you to sign up. Netflix is leading the way with shows like "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black", but Amazon is gaining ground with shows like "Transparent" and "Bosch", as well as star signings like Woody Allen and the .
Unlike Netflix, which makes a full series of each new show, Amazon experiments with pilot episodes first. During Amazon's regular pilot seasons, these taster episodes are free for you to watch. Viewers are then invited to vote as to whether they think the show should be picked up for a full series.
The pilot of "Sneaky Pete" premieres on Amazon Instant Video this Friday, 7 August. It's joined by a pilot episode of "Casanova", directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Diego Luna as the famous 18th century love machine.
Pilot episodes are available in the US, UK and Germany. Once you've seen the free pilots, you have to sign up to Amazon Prime to watch the rest of Amazon's video offerings. In addition to Instant Video, Prime also includes access to Prime Music streaming service, ebook rentals for Kindle and one-day delivery on your Amazon purchases. A year's subscription costs £79 in the UK or $99 in the US.