Amazon Prime’s pilot seasons—in which viewers watch a handful or so of TV pilots and pick which ones they want to see made into series—started out revolutionary and often invoked the praise “Finally! Why don’t more networks do this?” Well, partly because cable series and our bingeable culture (Amazon itself releases all episodes of its series on the same day) has made TV pilots less relevant than ever, and only broadcast networks are still really tied to the idea of Pilot season. Plus, there are unusually long wait times between pilot season and when something actually debuts its first episode, since it’s averaging roughly a year between when Prime voters watch a pilot and when a debut season airs. I would argue that this approach has actually hurt quality and lessened anticipation more than it’s boosted it.
For example, will anyone really care about any of these five new series by the time 2 or 3 are made into series? Judging just by the pilots—none of which are truly great—I would say no…
The New VPs…Amazon’s first foray into an original animated series is like an animated Horrible Bosses send-up with an animation style closest to Comedy Central circa the mid-90’s. The jokes are non-stop but rarely produce real laughs. Grade for Pilot: C-…Odds of Getting Picked Up: Good. Although I personally liked this pilot less than any of the rest, it’s different than anything else Amazon has which isn’t really the case for any of the other pilots. Plus, this animation style can’t cost much to produce, and Amazon can’t let Netflix hog all the adult animation viewers “Bojack Horseman” brings forever.
Budding Prospects…Three losers in 1983 San Francisco get a chance to score big money farming a weed crop. Although Natalie Morales will be the lead in a hit comedy one day, she has only a couple of too-brief scenes here. Grade for Pilot: C…Odds of Getting Picked Up: Doubtful. I know Amazon won’t pick up this and “The Legend of Master Legend” and may not pick up either one of them. The needlessly period setting means the show will be a little bit more expensive than it should be, and Amazon never experienced much success with their other 1980’s comedy “Red Oaks,” so why should they double down on something that would be even less likely to break out?
The Legend of Master Legend…A real-life superhero “fights crime” in Las Vegas mostly by doing good small acts like charity and letting tourists take pictures with him. Although I love John Hawkes and his superhero is someone you really feel for, I’m not crazy about the fact that it once again features an interracial couple in a divorced capacity before the series even starts (his estranged wife thinks his superheroism is a joke and his daughter is royally embarassed in the pilot’s worst scene). Grade for Pilot: C+…Odds of Getting Picked Up: Bad. Will Amazon Prime pick up this or “Budding Prospects” or neither? Considering that this series got the most negative reviews from critics who bother to grade these pilots and Amazon has already greenlit another superhero comedy (“The Tick”), this seems like an easy pass for the network. Although personally I would be more likely to see where this goes than any of the other pilots.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel…Viewers will either love this series or be profoundly irritated by it. The creator of “Gilmore Girls” (Amy Sherman Palladino) has made a very erudite, hyper-speed tale of a 50’s housewife who gets left by her aspiring comedian husband and discovers she could be the real comedian in the family. Rachel Brosnahan is amazing in the title role (taking her best instincts from another period series where she played a Jewish housewife—WGN’s “Manhattan”—and combining it with screwball comedic timing), and the stage climax towards the end of the pilot is excellent, but there are a lot of scenes that aren’t as clever as Palladino thinks they are, and even if this is the best pilot of the bunch, that says more about this weak crop than this series quality. Grade for Pilot: B…Odds of Getting Picked Up: Coin toss. This series should be an easy pass for Amazon since they’ve been trying hard to make some variation of this same series work (“Good Girls Revolt,” “Z: The Beginning of Everything,” and “Crisis in Six Scenes”) with absolutely no success so far. And while “Maisel” has more life, energy, and good reviews than any of those other series, Amazon already has “The Collection,” the upcoming “The Last Tycoon” and another season of “The Man in the High Castle” coming up. Does a network that wants to brand itself as the future, really want to have a majority of their shows set in the past? But “Maisel” is near-unanimously agreed upon as the best quality of these pilots, and Jeff Bezos can’t resist courting prestige “old media” talent (like Palladino) in his quest to brand Amazon as a serious competitor.
Oasis…Set in the near-future (perhaps too near), a London preacher gets sent to the first space colony on another planet. People who watch mostly SyFy channel will love this, but it’s doubtful the thin characterizations and cheap-looking visuals will appeal much to anyone else. Grade for Pilot: C+…Odds of Getting Picked Up: Coin toss. I doubt Amazon will pick up both “Maisel” and “Oasis” and it’s really just a coin toss. “Maisel” has a period setting that isn’t cheap, and the ironic thing is that “Oasis” is set on alien planet that may actually be cheaper to film than 1950’s NYC. But Amazon doesn’t seem motivated by money—as given their strong preference for period dramas so far—and it’s just a matter of whether they want to finally enter the sci-fi genre. “Man in High Castle” and “Hand of God” have fantastical elements, but “Oasis” would be their first true sci-fi show, something the network can’t avoid forever.