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Amazon Cancels I Love Dick, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, and One Mississippi

I never watched any of these, so I'm not shedding any tears. But starting with creatively ambitious projects to attract audience and then switching to more mainstream, commercial content seems to have been the plan of all of these streaming services.

[quote]" Amazon Studios has cancelled I Love Dick, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, and One Mississippi, Variety reports. The cancellations are part of a larger strategy coming from the top: Jeff Bezos has ordered the studio to back away from the kind of niche-y original programming they built their name on in search of broader material that performs better internationally.

[quote]One Mississippi was a semiautobiographical show from Tig Notaro and Diablo Cody about Notaro’s return to her hometown that adroitly mixed comedy and tragedy. I Love Dick, Jill Soloway’s follow-up to Transparent, was an adaptation of Chris Kraus’ novel about a female filmmaker’s infatuation with a male artist, relocated to Marfa, Texas. Jean-Claude Van Johnson was an action series from David Callaham—released just over a month ago—in which Jean-Claude Van Damme played an action star named “Jean-Claude Van Damme” who also works as an undercover agent. All three shows were developed under Roy Price, the disgraced studio head fired after allegations of sexual harassment, but this isn’t a case of sweeping out an old regime: Price had begun implementing Bezos’ strategy before his abrupt departure.

[quote]On its face, this is terrible news: there’s not exactly a surfeit of distinctive, critically-acclaimed female-developed television series, and Amazon just cancelled two in one day. But looking more closely, it’s even worse news: Amazon is consciously following the same international-led strategy that turned the major studios into superhero movie factories over the last decade. In that spirit—and in hopes of scoring their own Game of Thrones-size hit—the studio is developing a series based on The Lord of the Rings. (Peter Jackson’s six-film series ran to a paltry 22 hours in the extended editions; thank God the Tolkien universe will finally get the broader canvas of television!) We all know how this is going to play out: like Lord of the Rings, everybody already saw it at the movies. "

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by Anonymousreply 75March 2, 2018 1:52 PM

[quote] in search of broader material that performs better internationally.

Translation, get rid of those depressing homosexuals and bring in superheroes, car chases, and explosions.

by Anonymousreply 1January 18, 2018 5:26 PM

I'm shocked that Jean-Claude Van Johnson even got picked up.

by Anonymousreply 2January 18, 2018 5:29 PM

Good. Tig Notaro sucks.

by Anonymousreply 3January 18, 2018 5:31 PM

This cannot bode well for Transparent.

by Anonymousreply 4January 18, 2018 5:32 PM

I wasn't interested in I Love Dick after seeing the pilot but I loved One Mississippi and that show must have been produced for pennies.

The fact that Bezos wants broader shows with international appeal doesn't really bode well for smaller, artsier shows in the future. I mean, would they greenlight The Handmaid's Tale or Ms Maisel if those two were pitched today? Bezos just has the next Game of Thrones in mind and that's it.

by Anonymousreply 5January 18, 2018 5:43 PM

I just remembered THT is on Hulu, never mind.

by Anonymousreply 6January 18, 2018 5:45 PM

I love Amazon's The Collection. But I believe there is no official word if there will be a second season. Season One ends with a couple of cliffhangers.

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by Anonymousreply 7January 18, 2018 5:55 PM

Surprised Transparent hasn't been cancelled yet. I guess they are trying to avoid incurring THE WRATH.

by Anonymousreply 8January 18, 2018 6:01 PM

I haven't watched Any of Amazon Originals because none of them look very interesting to me, and the rest of the Prime lineup is hard to find shows that don't cost money. There's no filter to exclude that from what you see, so I'm tired of seeing something appear in the suggestion list and then discovering I have to pay money for it.

by Anonymousreply 9January 18, 2018 6:02 PM

This makes sense because Bezos looks like Dr. Evil or some similar comic book movie villain.

by Anonymousreply 10January 18, 2018 6:07 PM

I loved ONE MISSISSIPPI but those other two were terrible. I also loved GOOD GIRLS REVOLT which they cancelled after one season.

by Anonymousreply 11January 18, 2018 6:07 PM

Suddenly Netflix starts to look good again.

by Anonymousreply 12January 18, 2018 6:36 PM

Bezos wants to fashion himself after Bob Iger.

by Anonymousreply 13January 18, 2018 6:37 PM

I Love Dick sounds like a show we all would love but dick means Kevin Bacon who has shown his dick but will never again. I watched one episode and completely forgot about it.

by Anonymousreply 14January 18, 2018 7:26 PM

DL fave Tig Notaro was on this week's "Fresh Off the Boat."

by Anonymousreply 15January 18, 2018 8:08 PM

I liked ONE MISSISSIPPI and ALPHA HOUSE (which already got cancelled).

by Anonymousreply 16January 18, 2018 8:46 PM

I find Notaro similar to Lens Dunham in the sense that, based on the PR push around them, you'd think they were some amazing perceptive comedic geniuses, that you've somehow missed on and that you must correct that mistake immediately. And then you see their act which quickly turns tired and exhausting. And to be honest, at least Dunham can be self-deprecating (on "Girls", at least) while, with Tig, there was always a sense that she was an incredibly thin-skinned grudge collector, i.e. not something that makes a great comedian. She does have a great team around her to aggressively push her, I'll give her that.

by Anonymousreply 17January 18, 2018 9:48 PM

R'17 very true.. She has the best PR that billionaire friends can buy. Same people that saved Weinstein for decades, actually

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by Anonymousreply 18January 19, 2018 10:53 AM

R17 I would actually disagree with the first part because I think she does have a special and subtle comedic take on just how absurd everyday life situations can be. Took me a while to get used to it but I found myself loving it eventually.

However, she absolutely does strike me as someone who has thin skin and can't take a joke at her own expense. And that's definitely off-putting.

by Anonymousreply 19January 19, 2018 10:58 AM

Guess I'm in the minority, but I was fascinated by I LOVE DICK, at least in the beginning, and got hooked in early.

But then it was the TWIN PEAKS syndrome: it became clear that the storytellers didn't know or care how to resolve their own story.

It was such a letdown by the end..

by Anonymousreply 20January 19, 2018 11:36 AM

Not only can't she take a joke but if she sees you as any kind of threat(in a career or social sense) she will do anything to get you out of town. Read the link. Datalounge makes a guest appearance.

by Anonymousreply 21January 19, 2018 11:48 AM

I can not stand Tig Notaro . I can not believe this woman has so many people, fans, friends that think she is funny or entertaining

by Anonymousreply 22January 19, 2018 12:43 PM

Tig is a nasty and sour dyke, good riddance.

by Anonymousreply 23January 19, 2018 12:55 PM

The Jean-Claude series only has 6 episodes? I thought it ran for two seasons. -

by Anonymousreply 24January 19, 2018 12:56 PM

All the streaming services (Amazon, Hulu, Netflix) are crap. You're paying for crap

by Anonymousreply 25January 19, 2018 1:12 PM

"this is terrible news: there’s not exactly a surfeit of distinctive, critically-acclaimed female-developed television series"

Oh please - just because a woman creates or produces a "distinctive" show does not mean it is any damn good. If women are going to produce shows , well then they have to be good an not just have "niche appeal", whatever the hell that is - all of these shows deserve to be cancelled.

by Anonymousreply 26January 19, 2018 1:32 PM

yay!

by Anonymousreply 27January 19, 2018 1:32 PM

Tig is finding out what goes around comes around.

We all know that Louis CK is a creep, but he's the reason why anyone even heard of her. When he went down, she bent over backward to discredit & bad mouth him. I guess she forgot who promoted her. Now she's gone and there's no space for her material.

Later, bitch!

by Anonymousreply 28January 19, 2018 11:53 PM

Bezos is a moron. He overpaid for the rights to Middle Earth. Amazon should have picked up Oasis from Spring 2017, I think the show could have been something for them.

by Anonymousreply 29January 20, 2018 2:11 AM

I wanted to like Mozart in the Jungle but I didn't.

by Anonymousreply 30January 20, 2018 2:22 AM

R22 TIg doesn't have any significant fan base. She has friends who are very savvy and connected and she has better PR than A list stars and she has an in with many press outlets due to her friendship/business relationship with Nick Kroll. So many will read ton of articles on how loved and famous she is but it's all a fake. Google Weinstein Kroll for just one example of the kind of "reputational managment" Kroll specializes in.

by Anonymousreply 31January 21, 2018 11:19 AM

Bye Tig...guess you will return to 'behind the scenes' for a while...

I will miss only the brilliant acting of John Rothman and Sheryl Lee Ralph and their storyline from One Mississippi.

Tig's face, looks like she is constantly en-excreta.

What a shame she was so quick to turn her back on Louis CK.

by Anonymousreply 32January 21, 2018 12:14 PM

Can’t say I’m impressed really with anything on Amazon. Same with Netflix. They churn out show after show but nothing really outstanding.

by Anonymousreply 33January 21, 2018 4:09 PM

I loved One Mississippi. Never did get the Tig Notaro hate.

by Anonymousreply 34January 21, 2018 4:13 PM

I've worked there so I can assure you guys the only reason they cancelled these shows was a shift of business model. Amazon studios was a vanity project from Jeff bezos and it was envisioned as a sort of a streaming Sundance Festival. Thierry main goal was to cater to the consumers who paid for prime shipment of which Amazon video was a perk. So their target audience was 35-40somethings who paid for that services. It has since changed last year after the firing of Roy Price and Joe Lewis and it's now focusing on global buzzy shows to rival Netflix, eying Brazil Mexico and global markets that are the biggest Netflix markets outside the US.

So expect some Netflix shit from now on. They also have much more budget and money than Netflix ever will.

by Anonymousreply 35January 21, 2018 4:29 PM

Thierry = Their (autocorrect)

by Anonymousreply 36January 21, 2018 4:33 PM

R8 before Jeffrey Tambor's ridiculous sexual assault allegations (hyperbolic accusations according to everyone I've talked to), Transparent had zero chances of being cancelled. The show is Amazon's biggest pride and Bezos' biggest accomplishment of creating a show that was unique and unlike anything else done before. Rumor has it they will continue next season killing his character, which I suspect will put an end to the series, I doubt anyone will watch this show without its main character that made it distinct and unique.

by Anonymousreply 37January 21, 2018 4:42 PM

Did G's Amazon pilot get picked up? Does she have to work part time in the shipping warehouse too?

by Anonymousreply 38January 21, 2018 4:54 PM

Thanks, R35. The 'bait and switch' business model has been around for so long I'm surprised that people haven't picked up on how it is never about the consumer. But what could be done about it?

Yesterday, I read that the cost of monthly Amazon Prime membership is going up. It's to force those who have a monthly subscription to sign up for a yearly membership. It's hard to break a habit, so most people are going to do exactly what Amazon wants them to do.

by Anonymousreply 39January 21, 2018 5:10 PM

[quote] I doubt anyone will watch this show without its main character that made it distinct and unique.

No one watched it before that. it was Amazon's lowest rated show. The only people who did watch it were the ones stealing it off bittorent sites. The only reason Amazon kept it around was for awards and buzz, but no one actually watched it.

by Anonymousreply 40January 21, 2018 5:17 PM

Tig Notaro’s standup is bitter and unfunny and One Mississippi was rarely funny, but I enjoyed it for its production and supporting cast (the supporting cast was outstanding). It’s a show that grows on you. Well, up until the “very special episode” in the second season where a guy masturbates under a desk and the show went from attempting comedy to drama without first laying the groundwork for the transition.

by Anonymousreply 41January 21, 2018 5:35 PM

I tried watching "One Mississippi," because I like Tig's stand-up, but the show was just so dark and depressing and maudlin. I gave up after three episodes. Too bad about Jean-Claude's show; I thought it pretty clever and I appreciated how he poked fun at his image.

by Anonymousreply 42January 21, 2018 5:37 PM

R39 to be honest, I don't believe it was a bait and switch scenario. As I said before, it was a vanity project from Bezos and originally it was meant to produce the shows under a collaborative matter. Amazon Studios was launched to offer full participation of Amazon costumers in creating their shows. It was bold, innovative and unlike anything done before. Unfortunately it became nearly impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff once thousands of people dreaming of breaking into the business swarmed to the site and they had to narrow it down to the point of it becoming just like any other production company. Amazon Studios still is one of the few outlets that continues to accept unsolicited material from non professionals who want to sell a movie or a series idea.

by Anonymousreply 43January 21, 2018 5:52 PM

R40 you don't know what you're talking about. Transparent was extremely popular among Prime members when it premiere, I should know since I've worked there. Obviously the awards and buzz it got helped its longevity but what you don't understand is that Prime was never meant to generate viewers. No one at Amazon cared about numbers, because the strategy was, till last year to only cater to the costumers paying the prime shipment. The main focus was to create anything to please people who had already paid for prime, so it was never about getting new subscribers. This model has since changed in the last couple of months.

by Anonymousreply 44January 21, 2018 5:58 PM

It's unclear whether Tambor will return. They should have one more season in which Maura is accused from back in her Mort days of sexual assault. They'd go out having won the intersectional topics BINGO game.

by Anonymousreply 45January 21, 2018 6:18 PM

R34 She deserves to be loathed by all good humans. She's a monster and that's understatement.

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by Anonymousreply 46January 21, 2018 6:21 PM

R32 she is so cynical and heartless that she thought distancing herself from CK had to happen. Typical sociopath's inability to behave in acceptable ways.

by Anonymousreply 47January 21, 2018 6:25 PM

Hey, R44, there you go, sweetheart. You might want to read this quickly before your next shift begins in the packaging department.

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by Anonymousreply 48January 21, 2018 7:20 PM

R28 she is so well connected, ambitious, and ruthless that she will do just fine. She has a way of manipulating influential people. It's almost impressive.

by Anonymousreply 49January 21, 2018 7:50 PM

R49 everyone meets their match sometime. Thanks to social media things are leaking about Tig that she has tried to keep hidden.

by Anonymousreply 50January 22, 2018 9:34 AM

R50 can you elaborate please. What kinds of stories are leaking etc.

by Anonymousreply 51January 22, 2018 11:06 AM

I liked I Like Dick but had no idea it was supposed to go for more than one season. The plot was so slight it really had no where to go. The creator who also does Transparent has gone from straight and married to I think a person who is a they. The show reflected that confusion well.

by Anonymousreply 52January 22, 2018 11:25 AM

Loved Dick. Anything with Katherine Hahn is worth my viewing time.

by Anonymousreply 53January 22, 2018 12:01 PM

R46, can you explain what this is about.

I tried to read it, got to the part where he started throwing up links and I still had no idea what the hell he was ranting about.

by Anonymousreply 54January 22, 2018 12:07 PM

I Love Dick was an adaptation of a novel. Where was it supposed to go next? Were they going to mine the intraoffice politics of Semiotext{e}?

by Anonymousreply 55January 22, 2018 12:09 PM

I liked both I LIKE Dick and ONE MISSISSIPPI. They were different and it's refreshing to see shows like that. Too bad.

by Anonymousreply 56January 22, 2018 12:13 PM

I love Katherine Hahn, Amazon(or someone)should build a show around her.

by Anonymousreply 57January 22, 2018 3:10 PM

Kathryn Hahn is awful. The only thing they need to build around her is a wall.

by Anonymousreply 58January 22, 2018 4:11 PM

I only ever saw Kathryn Hahn in the worst show ever created- Happiness. She was terrible in it but so was Steve Coogan and he's a genius.

by Anonymousreply 59January 22, 2018 4:34 PM

Louis CK must be thrilled. She thought if she used the #Metoo movement she'd secure another season. Loser!

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by Anonymousreply 60March 1, 2018 5:45 PM

That Tig horror show was not at all funny. I am shocked it made it this far.

by Anonymousreply 61March 1, 2018 5:50 PM

I love dick too. But what does that have to do with amazon?

by Anonymousreply 62March 1, 2018 5:51 PM

Why does it seem earlier to get project greenlighted with a trans theme than a gay male theme? How many gay male shows even get on the air? Crap like "Transparent" get six seasons but "Looking" get axed after two? No gay dramas at all...only sitcoms with a gay guy in a family situation, or with a female best friend a la Will and Grace.

by Anonymousreply 63March 1, 2018 6:01 PM

That should say "easier" not "earlier."

by Anonymousreply 64March 1, 2018 6:02 PM

R61 she has very wealthy and connected friends who bankroll her projects. Her best friend is Nick Kroll( google Kroll Weinstein for just one example) Her whole career is a fraud. She'd go nowhere without all kinds of funding deals and other shady ways to get famous.

by Anonymousreply 65March 1, 2018 6:04 PM

That explains a lot: Vanity fair really started pushing the Cancer Comedian at one point, a couple of years ago, which was strange, given how little she had accomplished up to that point. I've noticed that they also like to feature Nick Kroll on their online portal. Plus, most of their magazine Hollywood features were about whoever HW was pushing at the time (JLaw, Alicia Vikander.) Was she really a part of HW's circle through Kroll and, if so, why? What were they getting out of her in return?

by Anonymousreply 66March 1, 2018 8:26 PM

Loved "One Mississippi" so much. Funny show and amazing music. Love Tig's deadpan sense of humor and supporting cast was amazing.

by Anonymousreply 67March 1, 2018 10:32 PM

Tig Notaro has never been funny.

by Anonymousreply 68March 1, 2018 10:38 PM

[quote]Crap like "Transparent" get six seasons but "Looking" get axed after two?

The gays killed Looking. We saw it happen right here.

by Anonymousreply 69March 1, 2018 10:48 PM

R66 I don't think she has anything to do with Harvey W's circle but it's possible.I know that Nick Kroll is writing big checks and funding many projects so he and his friends get cast. If those friends get to be more and more famous the quid pro quo is that they cast him or push his name. His father also does due diligence work for Conde Naste publications so they feature Nick and friends. Harvey Weinsten bought N Kroll's self funded bullshit movie and Kroll worked for Weinsten, to keep him out of jail and to spy on his accuser so very good chance Notaro is able to get that kind of push. NPR, Pitchfork and many other publications are basically being bribed by Nick to write constant promos for him, Notaro and a few others. If you google NPR , Pitchfork, lots of comedy publications and their names you'll see what I'm talking about.

by Anonymousreply 70March 1, 2018 10:51 PM

What pains me is that someone infinitely more talented like Wanda Sykes would never get a tenth of the publicity or the opportunities that she's been given.

by Anonymousreply 71March 1, 2018 11:22 PM

Kroll's father is worth more than 10 billion. That kind of money can talk and talk. The goal for Nick is to get to the A list. Then, who knows what that POS will want next.

by Anonymousreply 72March 2, 2018 11:15 AM

R71 check this out. People can't stand her and a few comments mirror your own.

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by Anonymousreply 73March 2, 2018 1:25 PM

[quote] "Crap like "Transparent" get six seasons but "Looking" get axed after two?

Transparent is on Netflix, Looking was on HBO. Different management. However Netflix did cancel Sense8 after its second season.

by Anonymousreply 74March 2, 2018 1:30 PM

And then HBO carries "Arliss" for seven years.

by Anonymousreply 75March 2, 2018 1:52 PM
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