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It’s the one-season curse yet again, as Amazon has chosen to cancel It’s Not Like That. While it’s a sad cancellation, it’s not a surprising one.
It’s Not Like That* follows two families, both going through their own struggles and grief. Malcolm and his three children are struggling with the loss of their mom, trying to figure out why God would allow something like that to happen and what to do next.
Meanwhile, Lori is going through a divorce, and that brings its own grief and stress on her family. We get to see both Lori and David deal with the loss of their family unit and focus on single life, which means dating and helping their teenagers through this change.
Of course, there’s a hint of romance between Lori and Malcolm. However, Malcolm’s wife was Lori’s best friend, and there’s a lot to unpack with what could happen between the two of them.
Why It’s Not Like That’s Cancellation Isn’t Too Surprising
Deadline claims that the decision to cancel the show isn’t that surprising, but I do disagree. Let’s start with the fact that the series initially premiered on Wonder Project and then moved over to Prime Video to be available for free for all subscribers months later.
I remember getting the screeners from Prime Video for the series, which I’d already watched because I had the screeners when it was a Wonder Project series, and felt like there was a lot of déjà vu.
Sure, the series performed well at first, making it into the Weekly Top 10, but I didn’t see a lot of chatter about it online. Everyone I chatted to outside of my life on social media hadn’t even heard of it.
There wasn’t a lot of promotion once it went to Prime Video, with the Amazon streamer hoping that those who saw it on Wonder Project would be happy they didn’t need another subscription to watch it or just hoping for organic reach.
The One-Season Cancellation Curse
Too many shows are now being canceled after one season. In fact, hearing that a show has been canceled now becomes a case of “well, I didn’t even know about it in the first place” or “This is why I didn’t bother watching it.”
With so many one-season cancellations, people aren’t willing to give a new series a chance. Of course, that leads to cancellation as there isn’t the viewership, and it’s a monster that the streaming platforms have created and cannot escape from.
What needs to change? How about fewer shows with better marketing? How about going back to the weekly release model? Sure, viewers want to binge, but it’s not doing the shows any good.
The last few years have been hell for the entertainment industry. Until someone is willing to make some changes, we’ll get more cancellations like It’s Not Like That, where it’s sad but not surprising.
It’s Not Like That* is available to stream on Prime Video.
