Amazon made waves when it entered the original TV series space, but the streaming service has now made a trio of high-profile cancellations. Amazon announced yesterday that it was cancellingJean-Claude Van Johnson,I Love Dick, andOne Mississippi, with the latter two being shows about and written by women.I Love Dickwas the new series fromTransparentcreatorJill Soloway, whileOne Mississippiwas the brainchild ofTig Notaro.
Optics-wise, these cancellations don’t look great. All three of these shows were developed byRoy Price, who was fired last year following a sexual harassment investigation. AndOne Mississippi’s second season, which premiered in September, served as Notaro’s direct address ofLouis C.K.’s sexual harassment allegations.
It’s true that Amazon just won accolades forAmy Sherman-Palladino’s new seriesThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but losing two high-profile female-centric series is not a great look, especially two that had pretty positive reviews. But as Amazon’s feature film plays have garnered more success,Jeff Bezoshad ordered Price to abandon his “niche programming strategy” that resulted in shows likeI Love Dick,One Mississippi, andMozart in the Junglein favoring of finding “the nextGame of Thrones.”
Amazon made that play last year in securing the rights toaLord of the RingsTV series, and in the wake of these cancellations it sounds like Bezos is changing the direction of Amazon’s original TV series output. Add in the fact thatTransparent’s next season is in limbo due to allegations lobbied against starJeffrey Tambor, and their lineup may look very different this time next year.
It’s a bummer and a shame, especially given how much money Amazon has to produce original content. But as Netflix continues to expand its volume of original content at an insane rate and everyone braces for Apple’s entrance into the original content marketplace, it very much feels like a bloodbath is about to ensue. As a result, it appears Bezos wasn’t happy with the performance and brand of Amazon’s TV series thus far and is now pivoting hard in theLord of the Ringsdirection.
To catch up on all the TV renewals and cancellations thus far,check out our TV Lifeline.
