Prime Video Just Announced It’s Canceling 'The Peripheral'

It hurts to see your favorite show get canceled—especially when it only got one season. Unfortunately, such is the case for fans of Prime Video’s The Peripheral. Deadline reported that the mystery series was officially canceled on August 18th. Say it ain’t so!

READ MORE: Hulu Just Announced It’s Canceling Even More Shows And Customers Are So Upset!

Prime Video Officially Cancels The Peripheral Amidst Writer's Strike Delays

Despite previously ordering a second season, Prime Video has doubled back and officially canceled the sci-fi show The Peripheral at the streaming service. It is not be the only Amazon scripted series whose renewal has been rescinded—the A League of Their Own television adaptation, co-starring and co-created by Abbi Jacobson, was also previously renewed for a second season and was recently also canceled.

The Peripheral starred Chloë Grace Moretz and was loosely based on the book of the same name. It had been renewed for season 2 in February, though the high budget may have proven to be an issue due to current events. Per Deadline, "According to sources, the cancellation stems from the length of the work stoppage due to the ongoing WGA strike, now in its 109th day, and the SAG-AFTRA strike, in Day 36, which have delayed production, creating large gaps between seasons and making shows miss their target release dates." The outlet added that the series was supposed to go into production this year for a 2024 release and was already in early pre-production when the Writer's Guild of America strike commenced on May 2nd.

Amazon, like other streaming services, does not release official viewership statistics, but it is believed that The Peripheral had performed well on the platform.

Prime Video Also Recently Canceled Three Pines

Three Pines, based on Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache book series, was also recently announced to not be renewed for a second season. The first and final season, which was available exclusively on Prime Video, ended on December 23 of last year. A Prime representative said in an email to Variety that the team is "proud of the work done on the series and the opportunity to work with great partners."

The show starred Rossif Sutherland, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, and Sarah Booth. It chronicled multiple murder mystery cases pulled from Penny's novels, all taking place in the fictional town of Three Pines. Unfortunately, the final episode ended on a cliff-hanger that we'll never see the end to.

Louise Penny herself made a statement about the cancelation on Facebook: "Despite achieving #1 for Prime in U.S., Canada, U.K. and other markets, and top 10 wherever it was broadcast, Amazon has decided to cancel [Three Pines]. I am shocked and upset," she wrote. "Like any show, it had growing pains, but it was only going to get better and better." The author asked fans to email Prime Video expressing their disappointment over the show ending.

Although fans were only able to get a glimpse of what could have been with eight episodes, the viewers who loved the mystery are sad to see it go. "Such a shame!! I grew to love the show, I loved the space it held for Native actors and the plot line, and I loved Alfred Molina as Gamache," one fan commented on Penny's post. "I will write for sure and urge others to do the same!!"

However, many also expressed that they felt the show fell flat when compared to the books. "I read all your books Louise, and really enjoy them," one chimed in. "I must be honest though, I wasn’t thrilled with the series. I watched every episode hoping it would get better, but for me, I’m sorry to say, it didn’t." Maybe this disappointment from fans has something to do with the fact that the series was canceled prematurely. Regardless, it's sad to see a project with so much potential come to an end. Fans of the series can only hope that Prime will bring it back. Anything is possible!