Amazon has been undergoing some major changes following the the exit of former Amazon Studios head Roy Price and comedy/drama head Joe Lewis, both after sexual harassment scandals. They’ve already said they’re going to abandon the Amazon Pilots Season that generated some of their best shows, and they reportedly may not even renew some critical favourites.
The company has passed on all three pilots that were greenlit by the former regime; Bridget Everett‘s new dramedy Love You More, the Glenn Close zombie comedy Sea Oak and the Diarra Kilpatrick comedy The Climb.
Other shows are still in contention to be picked up for series, such as Upload, a single camera comedy from The Office creator Greg Daniels, and multi-camera sitcom Making Friends, from How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
But reportedly some of Amazon’s most critically-acclaimed shows, such as Tig Notaro‘s One Mississippi or Jill Soloway‘s I Love Dick, are in limbo, with no decision having been made on their future. Transparent also remains up in the air given the scandal surrounding star Jeffrey Tambor.
Amazon has begun ordering shows straight to series, such as Jack Ryan and their very expensive Lord Of The Rings series, which might be one reason they’re cutting down costs by no longer doing the Amazon Pilots series.
There’s certainly a big overhaul happening at the company, and it might take a while until they find their feet again. Amazon would be wise not to alienate fans by cancelling their best shows, even if they are doing away with the pilots.
In their effort to keep up with Netflix, and by ordering shows straight to series instead, it seems they’re looking to somewhat follow Netflix’s own business plan: spend a lot of money.
#Peace.Love.Amazon
