Amazon Prime Video Cancels Sci-Fi Series After One Season

Amazon Prime Video has canceled its freshman sci-fi series Night Sky, according to a report by Deadline. Sources at the streamer said that Night Sky did not reach the viewership goals Amazon Studios and Legendary Television had in mind for it. The cancellation comes about a month and a half after the season premiered.

Night Sky starred Oscar winners Sissy Spacek and J.K. Simmons as a seemingly ordinary couple in possession of an extraordinary artifact. They discover a portal in their backyard that leads to an entirely different planet – a deserted world with endless possibilities. The drama series premiered on May 20, 2022 with eight episodes in total. Unlike other prestige series, Amazon dropped all eight episodes of this show at once. As always, some critics questioned this approach, fearing that it is not ideal for promotion or viewership.

Still, Night Sky got generally positive reviews from critics, and from casual viewers as well. The show has an average score of 73 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critical consensus reading: “Night Sky reaches for the stars when it really should have settled on a feature-length finish, but the combined supernova of J.K. Simmons and Sissy Spacek shines bright.”

Amazon reportedly cited the high cost of production as a reason for this cancellation, since sci-fi series typically require more CGI and special effects than other shows. The streamer also spent a considerable sum on a sci-fi marketing stunt to “distribute” this show into outer space. In coordination with Amazon Web Services, SES and Intelsat, the first episode of Night Sky was beamed into outer space, making it the TV episode that has been screened the furthest away from Earth to date.

The fans here on Earth may have preferred a robust marketing strategy that could have contributed to a renewal, though many seem content with the self-contained first season as well. Fans and critics have not failed to notice that shows with a week-to-week release schedule likeThe Boys seem to perform better and last longer than shows that drop a whole season all at once. It’s never entirely clear what makes a streamer like Amazon choose one route or the other for a show like Night Sky.

The series’ other stars include Chai Hansen, Adam Bartley, Julieta Zylberberg, Rocío Hernández, Piotr Adamczyk, Kiah McKirnan, Beth Lacke, Sonya Walger, Stephen Louis Grush, Angus O’Brian and Cass Buggé. It was created by Holden Miller and Daniel C. Connolly, and was directed by Juan José Campanella. Night Sky is streaming now on Prime Video.