Amazon cancels three original series: I Love Dick, One Mississippi, and Jean-Claude Van Johnson

As the company pursue bigger, broader series

Unfortunately, not every television show can be renewed for seemingly eternity (*cough* The Simpsons) meaning some shows must go.

Over at Amazon, three original series have unfortunately not been renewed: I Love Dick, One Mississippi, and Jean-Claude Van Johnson.

I Love Dick — which starred Kevin Bacon — and Jean-Claude Van Johnson (about the actor of the same name) both ran for a single season, while One Mississippi, which received widely positive reviews, ran for two.

All three shows were spearheaded by former Amazon Studios president Roy Price who was fired following sexual harassment allegations.

Rather than working on multiple smaller shows — many of which won critical acclaim, such as Transparent and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel — company founder Jeff Bezos has ordered the company to pursue bigger and broader shows that can potentially appeal internationally, similar to Game of Thrones.

The most notable example of this philosophy in practice would be Amazon purchasing the television rights to The Lord of the Rings for a reported $250 million.

Amazon's megadeal with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line is believed to run for five seasons, plus a potential spin-off. When you factor production budget, casting, writers, producers, visual effects, plus everything else, the series will likely cost upwards of $1 billion.

That price tag would easily make The Lord of the Rings the most expensive show of all time, usurping Netflix’s The Crown which has a budget of $130 million per season.