TV Shows

The After Cancelled: Why Did Amazon Cancel Chris Carter’s Post-Apocalyptic Series?

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Why was Chris Carter's The After cancelled by Amazon? Share on X

UPDATE: We’re starting a campaign to see if we can get more info from Amazon Studios on why the show was canceled (thanks to the idea from @StephenCWLL). The big issue is that Amazon JUST released its new list of pilots for 2015 that we should vote on, right after breaking our trust in the system. Please retweet the message below to send a message to Amazon Studios. You can also post a comment on Amazon Studio’s blog post about the new 2015 lineup!

The After Cancelled

The After CANCELLED 🙁

I’ve got some bad news… We thought Amazon’s new foray into TV shows would be more user driven and not dictated by the whims of execs and producers. But apparently these promises rang hollow and certainly aren’t part of Amazon’s 2015 New Year’s resolutions.

Last year (February 2014 to be exact), Amazon Studios presented a number of pilots for possible TV series and let viewers vote on which ones they wanted to see produced. “The After,” a post-apocalyptic vision created by Chris Carter, the creator of the X Files, was one series that got the most votes. So Amazon awarded it a slot in its upcoming season.

Today, Amazon announced that the series has been canceled.

Amazon’s being pretty hush hush about why. The Amazon Studios VP simply said that they decided not to move forward with the show, and thanked Chris Carter and the cast and crew for their work. I hate seeing this happen. It really breaks a lot of the trust that Amazon Studios was building with their audience, touting itself as a new type of studio that listened to viewers and let them pick the series that were produced.

Did Amazon's cancelation of The After break viewer trust? #TheAfter #AmazonStudios Share on X

If the reason is outside of Amazon’s control, it would be better for Amazon to say this so the trust isn’t broken. Or maybe the studio just ended up not liking where the pilot went. I, for one, really enjoyed the pilot, as did Amazon reviewers. But other people, like the folks on Reddit, weren’t too happy about the direction it took at the end. What did you think?

You can still watch the pilot episode of #TheAfter right here. Share on X

If you haven’t seen the show, you still can. The pilot episode is still viewable on Amazon Instant, right here at this link.

Out of 15,297 reviews, the show has 4 stars. Recent reviews are pretty upset about Amazon dropping the show (and you can read those reviews at the same link above.) One reviewer said, “I had hoped Amazon was going to be brave enough to try something different…”

I can’t believe they didn’t take a chance on Chris Carter! With the X Files under his belt, and now working for Amazon Studios, this could have been something amazing. Chris had a pretty unique idea for the show, too. He told reporters in July that he had a 99-episode plan for “The After” and the sci-fi series was going to be somehow based on Dante’s Inferno (referencing the 99 cantos in Dante’s story.) The series would be rolled out slowly, in four two-hour installments at first, unlike Amazon’s other series that were released all at once. Carter also mentioned plans to use social media, like Twitter, to share extra content and stories from the series.

The After was going to be 99 episodes, based on the Inferno. #TheAfter Share on X

There are a lot of rumors as to why the series was canceled, but no facts. Right now, Amazon and Chris Carter are pretty silent on the topic. Some people are speculating that after 11 months, things just weren’t coming together or maybe there were creative differences. The rumor that Chris Carter might be being used for an even BETTER sci-fi series, like an X Files return (NO substantiation to that rumor at ALL), is one that I wish was true…

Chris Carter IS working with AMC to develop an Area 51 TV series. And after seeing what a great job AMC’s done with many of its other shows, like The Walking Dead, I could really get into an Area 51 show with Chris Carter at the helm. Maybe he decided he couldn’t do both justice… Maybe…

Can't wait for Chris Carter's Area 51 series on AMC! #ChrisCarter Share on X

Whatever the case, I just want to add that the current information about the show on Wikipedia is wrong. Wiki says at the end that several episodes of The After were produced and will be screened in February. This isn’t true. NO episodes, aside from the pilot, were made.

Sadly, a lot of post-apocalyptic shows that looked like they could be REALLY good have recently been canceled after the pilots were ordered. I’ll be writing a post about these other ones soon (and you’d be pretty surprised about some of them!) Subscribe to the blog below to stay updated on the upcoming post. And by the way, if you have comments about “The After” or any other ideas of why it was canceled, please leave a comment below.

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    Stephanie Dwilson started Post Apocalyptic Media with her husband Derek. She's a licensed attorney and has a master's in science and technology journalism. You can reach her at [email protected].

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    2 Comments

    1. It seems they cancelled it to make room for “The Man in the High Castle.” TMitHC is the same type of show, roughly speaking since they are both sci-fi, and will bring in far more critical acclaim down the line when–not really thinking “if” at this point–it is brought to series.

      1. Josh, that is a VERY good point. I think you hit the nail on the head. Amazon probably didn’t want to spend money on two sci-fi-like shows until they saw whether they have a big enough audience for that genre. And ya, I’m with you on thinking that The Man in the High Castle will be made, voting or no voting. I’m saddened that we the viewers don’t have as much say via the voting process as Amazon led us to believe initially. It seemed like such a GREAT experiment in crowdsourcing TV choices.