Amazon has chosen not to go forward with its sci fi series Night Sky, which stars J.K. Simmons and Sissy Spacek, cancelling it after one season. That show arrived in May with little in the way of promotion, but it has spent three weeks in the Nielsen Streaming Top 10 for originals so far (all in the lower rungs, though). According to Deadline, viewership was not sufficient to sustain the cost of the show, but if the streamer had done more to get the word out, perhaps more people would have watched. Amazon did beam the first episode out into space, the only streamer to have done that so far, but that stunt received little in the way of publicity and Nielsen doesn’t count the viewership from aliens. The show was generally well-received by critics and viewers in its first season, holding a 73% Fresh Rating and an 81% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes. But apparently it did not draw enough in the way of new subscriptions and Amazon decided not to carry the story into a second season. There is no word at this point on whether it will be shopped around to other venues.
Night Sky follows an elderly couple who have discovered a chamber in their basement that leads to an alien planet. They have kept it a secret, but when a stranger arrives their peaceful life is shattered. It stars Sissy Spacek, J. K. Simmons, Chai Hansen, Adam Bartley, and Julieta Zylberberg.
The 2021-22 regular season has ended, but there are still quite a number of shows waiting for word on their fate (more on that at this link) plus several Summer entries. You can see the status of all the currently airing, returning, and upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows on our Cancellation Watch Page. And be sure to stay tuned to this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and keep up with what is airing/streaming each week with our Weekly Listings.
At first I liked Night Sky a lot, because it was slow, character driven, and also a bit weird. But as the season progressed it quickly became the usual run-of-the-mill sci-fi mystery thing. I actually thought the series would use the sci-fi elements mainly as an allegory and somehow weave it all into a quirky tale about getting/being old, but keeping the spark. I didn’t expect the sci-fi to be this literal and conventional. So yes, I won’t miss this show.
That’s a shame. Speaking as someone who likes a slow burner Night Sky was slow. The angry teen subplot with the hispanic mom and daughter took up far too much time – ultimately for nothing. The nosy neighbor part seemed a bit improbable but whatever. I think it still managed to create an interesting premise that I’d like to have seen continue despite some obvious flaws.