Amazon has opted to cancel three of its original scripted series, including Jean-Claude Van Johnson, I Love Dick, and One Mississippi. Amazon has experienced some critical and awards success with shows like Transparent, The Man in the High Castle, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but still currently finds itself struggling to match both the overall audience acclaim and crossover hit appeal of Netflix shows like Stranger Things and Daredevil.
Making matters worse for Amazon is fellow competitor Hulu beginning to pick up steam in the race for streaming dominance, establishing itself with original dramas like The Handmaid's Tale and The Path. Clearly, Amazon is still trying to find its way as an original content producer, which makes the abrupt cancellation of three of its original programs not a huge surprise. Unlike Netflix, which has given the majority of its shows a bit of time to earn fans, Amazon has shown a willingness to quickly cut shows loose if they fail to make a mark with the masses.
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As reported by Variety, the highest profile project to be newly canceled by Amazon is Jean-Claude Van Johnson, a comedy starring veteran action star Jean-Claude Van Damme as a fictionalized version of himself. The main difference between Van Damme and Van Johnson is that the latter is a secret agent in addition to being an actor and martial artist. The end of Jean-Claude Van Johnson came swiftly, with season 1 arriving on Amazon Prime only a little over a month ago.
Second on Amazon's list of freshly canceled series is I Love Dick, a comedy from Jill Soloway, the creator of prior Amazon success Transparent. Starring Kevin Bacon, Kathryn Hahn, and Griffin Dunne, I Love Dick failed to earn the attention commanded by Transparent, and is also coming to an end after a single season. I Love Dick's 8-episode season 1 arrived on Amazon Prime in May of 2017.
Finally, the third Amazon show to head to Hollywood's endlessly expanding TV graveyard is One Mississippi, a comedy co-created by standup comic Tig Notaro and Oscar-winner Diablo Cody. Somewhat based on Notaro's real life, One Mississippi got two seasons and 12 episodes total before Amazon dropped the ax. Critically acclaimed, One Mississippi found itself awkwardly put into the spotlight for a bit a few months back, due to it being executive produced - in name only - by comedian Louis C.K., who was famously accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. Incidentally, all three canceled shows were developed during the reign of former Amazon Studios head Roy Price, who was himself forced to resign after being accused of sexual harassment.
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Source: Variety