Netflix bins acclaimed shows if they don’t attract the needed views, Disney gave similar excuses when it began its canceling spree. But what reason does Amazon have for scrapping the sci-fi drama The Peripheral and the comedy A League of Their Own after renewing both shows for their second seasons?
Whether the two shows managed to get the necessary traffic or succeeded in wooing the critics and audience (well, both did) matters little as Prime Video saw enough potential and promise in The Peripheral and A League of Their Own to greenlit their future season. In fact, in the case of the former, the choice to give it a next chapter was made with the awareness that its second season would potentially cost more than the $175 million it took to make the first season. Of course, Amazon clearly thought “Ah, money well spend” just a few months ago and then suddenly changed its tune.
Bullets have left guns slower.
So, why was The Peripheral canceled? Why did A League of Their Own lose its ticket to season 2?
Well, as far as the officially revealed reason goes, as productions of the two shows can’t possibly begin until 2024 with the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strike expected to continue, the double delay — both in beginning productions and releasing the finished product — was not an ideal situation for the streamer. Also, as their release dates and further delays would then fall in 2025, it would compromise Amazon’s already set plans for the year.
While many already renewed shows saw their survival promises getting revoked during the COVID-19 pandemic as well, The Peripheral and A League of Their Own being the first shows during the ongoing strikes to get their renewals rescinded is not exactly basking Amazon in a flattering light.
Though A League of Their Own star Abbi Jacobson chose to limit her public ire towards the streamer to just calling their decision “bullsh*t and cowardly,” fans online have pointed out the most obvious conclusions these sudden cancelations reflect in the middle of the writers’ and SAG-AFTRA strikes — that Amazon is simply hiding behind the strikes to cancel the show as part of its cost-cutting measure or that it doesn’t want to pay writers and actors what they truly deserve for all the hard work…
… or worse — the fact that The Peripheral was a women-led series while A League of Their Own focuses on queer characters, including its prime protagonist, is what led to their cancelation.
The online discussion has already established that Amazon is just blaming the strikes for its selfish reasons, whichever one (or all) it might be. But even if Amazon is believed, seeing as Prime Video is one of the big studios the strikes are strongly protesting against and has the power to do the right thing by paying writers and actors fairly, it dumping the burden of the cancelations on them only serves to cement the role the entertainment giant has played and continues to play in doling out injustice to the very people who earned it the fame it enjoys.