One of Amazon’s most-watched shows is hanging up the phone after just one season.
On Call, the police procedural from Tim Walsh, Law & Order creator Dick Wolf, and his son Elliot Wolf, was unexpectedly cancelled after talks with Amazon Prime Video and the production team fell through.
Videos by PopCulture.com
It’s a shocking development from Prime Video, as the series hit #1 on the streamer as it aired in January and sports a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes from audience reviews.
According to Deadline, renewal was looking likely just a few weeks ago. Amazon approached the show’s producers at Wolf Entertainment about a two-season renewal, but the company also asked the creative team to reduce the series’ premiumโa sum of money that goes to producers, actors, the studio and anyone who profits from the series.
Amazon apparently argued that the streamer was losing money on the series, due to On Call being a joint production with NBCUniversal. The split between Wolf Entertainment and Amazon was “amicable,” Deadline says, and the production company is now looking for a new home for the series.
Unsurprisingly, the company mentioned most to possibly continue On Call is NBC, who co-produces the show and is the home of several other Dick Wolf franchises, like Law & Order and Chicago Fire.
On Call was beloved by audiences, though not by critics, for being filmed entirely via fake bodycam footage, fake dashcam footage, and fake cellphone footage to portray a more “realistic” police drama.