Outer Range started to develop some notable buzz across its first two seasons, but then Amazon pulled the plug on the show before it resolved its storylines.
What Is It?
This series focuses on rancher Royal Abbott who discovers a mysterious black void on his property. At the same time, a female drifter arrives who has an unrevealed connection to the ranch, and Royal is also dealing with a rivalry with a neighboring family.
Aired: Prime Video, 2022-24, 2 Seasons Totaling 15 Episodes
Starring: Josh Brolin, Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor, Tom Pelphrey, Tamara Podemski, Lewis Pullman
Created By: Brian Watkins
Why Was It Cancelled?
The cancellation of this sci fi western came as somewhat of a surprise seeing as the show performed quite well in viewership over its two seasons and developed some decent buzz. In its first year, Outer Range spent five weeks in the Nielsen Streaming Rankings Top 10, averaging an estimated 345 million minutes viewed per week, very good numbers considering it was an unknown property and received little in the way of advance promotion. In its second season, it spent three weeks in the charts, averaging over 400 minutes per week, which was solid considering the level of competition by that point. It has also received decent marks from critics and viewers, currently holding an 85% Fresh Rating and 74% Audience Score across its two seasons on Rotten Tomatoes. Series star Josh Brolin expressed an interest in seeing it continue to a third season saying:
I think it would be intriguing, which I can’t believe me saying because I don’t want to stay with anything too long, but this series just as an idea and as an experience has gotten more intriguing the further we’ve gone with it, so I think that Season 3 would be amazing.
But Amazon decided to pull the plug and did not provide a reason for the cancellation. Word is that the show was expensive to produce, and Brolin likely commanded a top salary to star in the production. The streamers have been cutting back on their originals, and apparently this was not considered a strong enough property to keep going in the face of high costs. That left the series ending on a cliffhanger, making Outer Range yet another genre entry with its main storyline unresolved. Viewers have been growing increasingly frustrated with the streaming services for cutting so many of their originals short, but the message does not appear to be making its way to the executives issuing these decisions as the cancellations keep coming.
Can It Be Saved?
I have not seen much in the way of a fan campaign to save Outer Range, though there is a online petition which has over 6,600 signatures as of this writing. I also have not heard if there are any plans to shop the series around to other venues, and since Amazon Studios has an ownership stake and this one is costly to produce, that might be an uphill battle.
Fans could stage watch parties to try and get the show back in the Nielsen Streaming Rankings, and they could also try to get it trending on social media. In addition, they could run a campaign to get people to subscribe to Prime Video to watch that show, and that would draw some attention because it impacts the bottom line. (You can find more campaign suggestions at our Call to Action page.) Any such fan efforts could potentially convince Amazon to reverse its cancellation decision or interest another venue into inquiring about picking the show up. But time is running out on this because certainly the cast and crew have been released from their contracts and Josh Brolin has a pretty busy schedule (he is currently jumping onboard the reboot of The Running Man). So if fans want a third season of this show, they need to get busy, otherwise that cliffhanger will never be resolved.
Where Can You Watch It?
Both seasons of the show are still available on Prime Video, and they should remain there for a while unless this one switches venues.
Did you watch Outer Range and would you support fan efforts to save the show? Chime in below in the comments.
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The studios only cares about profits, and that’s their mission, but the problem of all this series ending on a cliffhanger falls on the showrunner / writers, they should give a proper end of the main story every season, leaving it open for more if another season is pick up.