David Farnor | On 28, Aug 2023

Amazon has taken the surprising decision to cancel two original shows despite having already renewed them for second seasons.

The Peripheral, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by William Gibson, is a sci-fi thriller that follows Flynne Fisher, a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow’s America. Flynne is smart, ambitious, and doomed. She has no future; until the future comes calling for her – and what seems like VR turns out to be something much more real.

Starring Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass), Jack Reynor (Midsommar), Gary Carr (The Deuce), Eli Goree (One Night in Miami), the series was the first to come out of Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan’s sizeable overall deal with Amazon, worth a reported $150 million. The show premiered in October last year and was renewed in February for a second season.

Now, though, Amazon has gone back on that decision, a move that Variety reports was influenced by the ongoing writers and actors strikes, as they fight for the industry – particularly in a post-streaming landscape – to pay them fairly. With the show unlikely to resume production for some time, once the strikes have been resolved, the release date for Season 2 would probably be 2025, which apparently is too long for Amazon to believe it would get the return needed from its renewal.

The other show to fall foul of Amazon’s scrapping manoeuvre is A League of Their Own. The show, inspired by the hit 1990s film, follows a generation of women who dream of playing pro baseball. The show will explore race and sexuality as well the struggles of the women trying to carve their own paths professionally and personally.

Renewed for a second season in April – a shorter sophomore of four episodes, down from the debut season’s eight – Amazon has again gone back on its renewal, for similar concerns about the inability to start production soon.

It was co-created and executive produced by Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham, with Jacobson also starring. Jacobson posted on Instagram: “What luck I have had to get to tell these stories and play this character I love so much. What a rare thing in life. And so I am sad today. To blame this cancellation on the strike, (which is an essential fight for fair wages, protections and working conditions, etc…) is bullshit and cowardly. But this post isn’t about all that. About all the ways this show has been put through the ringer. Not today.

“This post here is about the special show I was lucky to make with so many incredibly talented artists and actors and writers and crew. A show I’m so proud of. Filled to the brim with stories worth telling. Full of so much heart and soul and value. Thank you for watching.”

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