Last month, online retailer Amazon.com unveiled its first-ever slate of original TV shows, promising a bright future for streaming television in which viewersā opinions will actually matter and determine the fate of shows unlike how things work on broadcast TV, which is held back by inaccurate Nielsen ratingsĀ and illogical decisions by network execs. Today, however, Amazon announced which shows itās picking up, and it seems like Amazon will prove to be just us frustrating and dismissive of good work as the big networks. Although news got out last week, Amazon officially announced today theyāve picked up the John Goodman Washington comedy Alpha House and the Silicon Valley sitcom Betas, both of which will debut their first seasons in 2014. Variety reports that Amazon has passed on pilots forĀ Onion News EmpireĀ and Zombieland, the latter of which was previously reported along with news of Amazon rejecting the pilot Browsers. Thereās no official word on remaining pilotsĀ Dark Minions, Supanatural, and Those Who Canāt, but Amazonās press release makes it sound as if Alpha House and Betas are the only shows from this batch that theyāre picking up at this point. Itās a shame, in particular, that Onion News Empire, Those Who Canāt, and Supanatural were not picked up today as they are three of the strongest pilots Amazon has. One of the drawbacks of making your pilot selection process public, which is something the networks donāt do and possibly for good reason, is that audiences get to see when good stuff inexplicably doesnāt make the cut.
Update: We hear that Onion News Empire may not be dead after all ā weāll let you know when we hear for sure one way or the other.