Prime Video Cancels Two More Shows After One Season

Prime Video delivered a double whammy.

Deadline reports that the streamer has canceled freshman dramas Countdown and Butterfly, even after both were on Nielsen’s top 10 streaming originals chart.

Starring Jensen Ackles, Jessica Camacho, Violett Beane, Elliot Knight, Uli Latukefu, and Eric Dane, Countdown centered on a covert task force with undercover agents unveiling a much darker conspiracy that threatens the City of Los Angeles. One Chicago vet Derek Haas created the series, which premiered in June. Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger that saw Camacho’s Amber Oliveras getting kidnapped and having to run through a field while a gun was aimed at her.

Ackles took to Instagram on Friday after news broke to share his disappointment, saying, “As some of you may have seen already, Countdown did not get picked up for another season. Amazon’s gonna let it go. And it’s a bummer, because I had such an amazing time making that show. I had an absolute blast with the cast and the crew.” He went on to praise and thank Haas, Amazon, and former Amazon MGM Studios TV head Vernon Sanders, also noting he’s “thankful for the experience.”

Butterfly premiered on Aug. 13 and stars Daniel Dae Kim, Reina Hardesty, Louis Landau, and Piper Perabo. The show centers on a former spy who fakes his death and later learns that his daughter is working as an assassin for a spy organization he co-founded, so he comes out of hiding to reconnect with her and bring down the organization.

Both Countdown and Butterfly didn’t have the best reception, unfortunately, even despite cracking the Nielsen chart. Countdown only has a 35% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while Butterfly has 68%, but the cancellations were still surprising, especially since the two have quite the star power on the cast.

Prime Video has also previously canceled The Wheel of Time, Motorheads, On Call, Clean Slate, Citadel: Diana, and Citadel: Honey Bunny, among others. As of now, an exact reason for Countdown and Butterfly’s cancellations, but it’s possible the reception was not what Amazon expected.

At the very least, Prime did just recently renew Ballard, We Were Liars, and Maxton Hall for new seasons, to name a few. Plus, Jensen Ackles is returning to The Boys as Soldier Boy for the upcoming fifth and final season and will reprise the role in prequel series Vought Rising. And everyone else is staying busy with other projects or focusing on themselves, so at least there’s that.