Amazon Studios greenlights six new original shows
And they look motherf*cking awesome...
Oh my God, you guys. Oh my God. If you, like me, have been drifting in a lonely sea of existential dread since “The X-Files” came to an end—what, 10 years ago?—you’re in luck. Chris Carter is back at it with a new series that’s just received the green light from Amazon Studios: “The After,” a post-apocalyptic drama about eight strangers who find themselves thrown together by “mysterious forces” and must survive in a deadly new world. Hot damn that sounds awesome!
It’s one of six shows that received the green light from Amazon today, along with “Bosch,” “Mozart in the Jungle,” “Transparent,” and children’s shows “Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street” and “Wishenpoof!”
Several of the shows come with truly impressive casts, including Jeffrey Tambor and Gaby Hoffman (“Transparent”), Gael Garcia Bernal, Saffron Burrows, Malcolm McDowell and Bernadette Peters (“Mozart in the Jungle”), and more.
This is the second time that Amazon Studios has debuted a handful of pilots and allowed viewers to choose their favorites. Last time, Amazon debuted 14 pilot episodes and produced six, four of which were children’s shows. Out of that lineup, we got “Alpha House” and “Betas.” Amazon announced today that the widely acclaimed “Alpha House” has been renewed for a second season. No word on the less successful “Betas,” or any of the children’s shows, such as “Tumbleaf.”
“We had a tremendous response to Amazon Studios’ latest pilots—in fact, double the number of customers watched these pilots compared to our first season and they posted thousands of heartfelt reviews with pleas for us to continue these shows,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios, in a statement. “Now the fun really begins—Amazon will be working with some of the most talented casts and creators in the business to bring six new shows exclusively to tens of millions of Prime members worldwide. These series, along with our summer kids programming, will give customers a lot of viewing choices.”
It’s not clear when the shows will premier, as they’re all in production right now. Amazon gave the green light to “Alpha House” back in December 2012 and the show premiered nearly a full year later, so we can probably expect the same for the new shows.
In addition to “The After” (squeak!), the new lineup includes:
“Mozart in the Jungle,” a comedic drama about sex, drugs, and classical music.
“Bosch,” based on the best-selling book about a relentless LAPD homicide detective.
“Transparent,” a dramedy about an LA family with boundary issues.
“Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street,” a live-action children’s show that was discovered through Amazon Studios’ open-door submissions policy.
And “Wishenpoof!”, an animated series about a girl and her wish magic.