Bad news for fans of Amazon Prime Video’s “Motorheads” as the streamer has decided not to move forward with a second season of the show. The YA series premiered on Prime Video back in May and has remained in the streamer’s top 10 most-watched shows ever since. Even so, the brass decided it wasn’t worth the squeeze, so the series is joining the likes of “Paper Girls” as Amazon shows that were canceled after one season. But why, exactly, was it canceled? And is there any hope for the future?
“Motorheads” is set in a once-thriving rust-belt town that’s now searching for a glimmer of hope, with the larger story focusing on a group of outsiders who form an unlikely friendship over a mutual love of street racing, all the while navigating the hierarchy and rules of high school. According to Deadline, the 10-episode first season will be the only one produced for Prime Video.
John A. Norris (“All American”) created the series in addition to serving as its showrunner. The cast includes Ryan Phillippe (“Cruel Intentions”), Nathalie Kelley (“Dynasty”), Michael Cimino (“Love, Victor”), Melissa Collazo (“Freaky”), Uriah Shelton (“Girl Meets World”), Nicolas Cantu (“Skull Island”), Drake Rodger (“The Winchesters”), Josh Macqueen (“Significant Others”), Mia Healey (“The Wilds”), Matt Lanter (“90210”), Audrey Gerthoffer (“Party of Five”), and Johnna Dias-Watson (“Wednesday”).
As for the decision to cancel the show? “Motorheads” never made Nielsen’s weekly Top 10 streaming rankings, despite charting specifically on Prime Video. The fact of the matter is that streaming services have been canceling TV series early in recent years, as the economic realities of the business have come more into focus. Hence, this show didn’t make the cut for a second season, at least based on whatever metrics Amazon uses to determine such things. The good news is that fans of the series can hold out hope that it will live on elsewhere.
Motorheads may find a new home beyond Amazon
Again, “Motorheads” is far from the first Prime Video series to be canceled in short order, but it is one that seemed to be doing well with subscribers. Not to mention that it also fared pretty well with critics and audiences alike. It holds a 78% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it also boasts a great 95% audience score.
That’s precisely why, with permission from Amazon, the show’s producers are looking to see if they can find a new streaming service or network willing to make “Motorheads” season 2. Executive producer Jason Seagraves confirmed to Deadline that the show’s creatives are, indeed, currently seeing if they can find a new home for the series. Here’s what he had to say about it:
“We set out to make a show with no agenda and a lot of heart, to give families something they can watch together. While Johnny and I are disappointed ‘Motorheads’ won’t be continuing at Prime Video, we couldn’t be more proud of what the team created. Despite going into release with impossibly low audience awareness, our passionate and vocal fan base led the charge and made the series impossible to ignore. Their enthusiasm has energized us and we’re optimistic we’ll find a home that believes in and supports the show.”
Every company in the streaming game has their own equation for what works and what doesn’t. Despite strong reviews and an audience that stuck with the show, “Motorheads” didn’t work for Prime Video’s business model, it seems. But that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work somewhere else. For the moment, it isn’t clear who might be interested, but there are options.
Netflix has saved more than a few shows from being canceled over the years, but it is also being a bit more selective these days, as is the rest of Hollywood. We’ve also seen shows go from network TV to streaming, such as “The Mindy Project,” which went from Fox to Hulu. Who knows? Maybe this one could go the other way around, making the jump from Prime Video to a network hungry for YA programming such as Freeform? Maybe even MTV? Under the right circumstances, the show could still continue on. We shall see what happens in the coming weeks/months.
“Motorheads” is streaming now on Prime Video.
