The effects of the WGA and SAG strike are now hitting in a new way, rather than people just going without paychecks. The asks from the groups are certainly reasonable, but with obstinate corporations refusing to find solutions, we are now getting into not-great territory with production on almost all US TV shows and movies shut down indefinitely.
Amazon is now starting to cancel series it previously renewed for second seasons. So far, that includes The Peripheral season 2, the expensive sci-fi series starring Chloe Moretz that was renewed two months after launch, and of course ended on a cliffhanger. And also A League of Their Own, which was again renewed for season 2 before this news.
In Amazon’s case, this also does feel like it’s some amount of cost-cutting. I was a little surprised that The Peripheral was renewed in the first place, given that it was fine, but didn’t make all that much of an impact. But learning that the first season cost $140 million does say to me Amazon is trying to kill two birds with one stone here. Strikes potentially causing production delays compounded by how much a second season would cost. And Amazon has been said to be tired of spending zillions of dollars on shows that don’t prove to be worth it.
I also wonder how this might affect other shows down the line. Amazon did eventually renew the US version of Citadel for a season 2, but that show is the most expensive one they’ve made outside of Rings of Power, and I wonder if that could be on the chopping block, given the poor quality of season 1 and its total cost. Rings of Power, meanwhile, is locked in for five seasons at least, it seems, delays or no.
Of course Amazon is probably not going to end up being the only service to do this. Many services are both trying to cut costs and avoid delays from the strikes. This kind of thing also happened with COVID, where production shutdowns caused many un-renewals of season 2s across Netflix, Showtime and ABC.
I can’t say I really mourn the loss of The Peripheral season 2, as I thought it started strong but I ended up somewhat disinterested by the end. I didn’t watch A League of Their Own, but I’m sure it had its fans.
This feels like the start of something, so I would definitely expect a lot more of this, a combination of cutting costs and the effects of the strike.
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