Three Amazon Studios pilots—I Love Dick, Jean- Claude Van Johnson and The Tick—will become Amazon Original Series to stream in 2017.
“These pilots were vast in scope, disruptive in tone, challenging in story and sometimes even funny,” Joe Lewis, head of half-hour series at Amazon Studios, said in a release. “It’s rewarding to see customers embrace them in such a huge way. We can’t wait to premiere these series next year on Prime Video.”
The new series will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S., UK, Germany, Austria, and Japan. Amazon Prime members will be able to watch as part of their membership via the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices including Fire TV, and mobile devices, or online at the company’s originals page
Amazon customers can watch the pilot episodes of the new half hour series at the streaming service. Below are descriptions of each series.
I Love Dick
Adapted from the cult classic book, “I Love Dick” is set in a colorful intellectual community in Marfa, Texas. Chris (Kathryn Hahn) and Sylvere (Griffin Dunne), arrive in Marfa when Sylvere is offered a fellowship to finish a book he’s been writing on the Holocaust. A new friend, Dick (Kevin Bacon), taunts their imaginations and upends their preconceptions about love and monogamy. An exploration of the female gaze and how we tell stories about love and desire, “I Love Dick” charts the evolution of a marriage, the awakening of an artist and the deification of a writer named Dick. Jill Soloway (“Transparent”), Andrea Sperling (“Transparent”) and Sarah Gubbins (“Ten Aker Wood”) executive produce “I Love Dick.” Soloway directed and Gubbins wrote the pilot.
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
If you need to eliminate a political rival, debilitate a multinational corporation, or overthrow an entire government—and you need it done with the utmost secrecy—there’s only one person to turn to: Jean-Claude Van Johnson. He’s one of the most internationally recognizable movie stars in the history of film. Jean-Claude Van Damme (JCVD) stars as Jean-Claude Van Johnson, a global martial arts and film sensation … and, operating under the simple alias of “Johnson,” the most dangerous undercover private contractor in the world. Lucky for the world’s bad guys, he’s been retired for years. Unlucky for them, a chance encounter with a lost love is about to bring him back to the game. And this time, he’ll be deadlier than ever. Probably.
Van Damme starred in the pilot along with Kat Foster, Moises Arias and Phylicia Rashad. Peter Atencio (“Key and Peele”), Ridley Scott (“The Good Wife”), David W. Zucker (“The Man in the High Castle”) and Van Damme executive produce the show. Dave Callaham (“Mortal Kombat”) wrote and created the pilot. Atencio directed the pilot, which comes from Scott Free Productions.
The Tick
In a world where superheroes have been real for decades, an underdog accountant with zero powers comes to realize a global super villain long-thought dead owns his city. As he struggles to uncover this conspiracy, he falls in league with a strange blue superhero. Peter Serafinowicz, Griffin Newman, Jackie Earle Haley, Valorie Curry, Yara Martinez and Brendan Hines star. Ben Edlund (“Supernatural”), Barry Josephson (“Bones”) and Barry Sonnenfeld (“A Series of Unfortunate Events”) executive produced the pilot. Wally Pfister (“The Dark Knight”) directed it. Edlund wrote it. “The Tick” is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television.