Amazon wants big addictive female shows women can’t stop talking about
Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke dished about her plans for new programming geared toward women that sounds really exciting.
It’s an exciting time for Amazon, especially for Prime members who are anxiously awaiting the next wave of great Amazon Originals that will be coming out over the next little while.
Tasked with that responsibility is Jennifer Salke, who took over as the studio head for the disgraced Roy Price who was ousted over sexual harassment. Salke is not wasting any time putting her mark on the company, renewing Golden Globes winner The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Bosch and Jack Ryan, even ahead of the Aug. 31 premiere.
She’s also had to oversee the exit of Jeffrey Tambor from Transparent amid harassment accusations and is locking up stars like Jordan Peele to overall TV deals.
Oh, and don’t forget about the billion dollar project making The Lord of the Rings into a TV series. While that’s a big deal, financially and creatively, that show won’t be in production until 2020 and released until 2021.
However, there are plenty of worthwhile ideas in Salke’s mind that she wants to get Prime Video subscribers excited about. Particularly, the female audience, according to her comments in a wide-ranging interview conducted with The Hollywood Reporter’s Lesley Goldberg.
"We are going to have lots of big shows. They’re not all going to be genre sci-fi. We’re also going to have some big addictive female shows. We’re looking for our next big show that women also can’t stop talking about."
I think this is awesome and think it’s a direct result of the success of Mrs. Maisel that took home the Golden Globe for Best Comedy and saw Rachel Brosnahan take home the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy.
Amy Sherman-Palladino made that show about a housewife who has her life turned upside down after her husband leaves her and suddenly she finds herself on the stage as a stand-up comedian, and a hilarious one at that!
This may be the new flagship show for Prime Video as a result and with Transparent ending, The Man in the High Castle off the air for so long that people are forgetting all about it, this type of programming could soon be the norm for Amazon.
Certainly, a variety of programming will be ideal, but catering to the female demographic is a smart play for a myriad of reasons, and I can’t wait to see what type of shows the creatives will think of.
Brosnahan is already having another series developed for her, which sounds totally exciting, and means she’ll be awfully busy while also working on Mrs. Maisel. If the next show can have half the amount of success as this, it should be another smash hit for Amazon.