Amazon Studios went on a somewhat unexpected cancellation spree this week, and among the casualties was One Mississippi, the acclaimed comedy series by Tig Notaro and Diablo Cody. The move has fans and a number of top-teir TV critics voicing their disappointment and sparking the hashtag #SaveOneMississippi on Twitter.
Not lost on the show’s fans is Amazon’s singularly bad timing: Notaro was one of the first high-profile voices to openly criticize Louis C.K. for sexual misconduct that was long an open secret in comedy and entertainment circles. That Amazon would pull her show at the height of the “Me Too” movement is coming off as tone deaf to say the least.
Still so mad ONE MISSISSIPPI was cancelled. It was the most prescient show about all of the #metoo moment, without being preachy. And it was so much more too! Humane, funny, specific, fresh characters. Grr.
— Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) January 18, 2018
A million reasons it was dumb to cancel One Mississippi. But this is among them: After a sexual harassment scandal at Amazon, why cancel a series that received major acclaim for exploring that topic with deftness and nuance? Also it’s the rare TV show created by a queer woman. ????
— Mo Ryan (@moryan) January 18, 2018
The cost of another season of “One Mississippi” would have been a rounding error in the calculation for the absurd sum Amazon spent to buy the “Lord of the Rings” rights with no creative team attached and no concept of any kind.
— Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) January 18, 2018
While it’s unlikely that the backlash will prompt Amazon to change its mind—fan-driven campaigns like this one rarely do—there’s always hope. Last year, NBC made the rare decision to un-cancel the drama Timeless after fans protested.
Amazon Studios had originally sought out prestige programming (and found it in shows like Transparent and movies like Manchester by the Sea), but Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is reportedly shifting gears with an eye toward big-budget spectacles á la Game of Thrones.
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