Noticias

Constance Wu is set to star opposite Randall Park in ABC’s single-camera comedy pilot Fresh Off The Boat, written/exec produced by Nahnatchka Khan and exec produced by Jake Kasadan. Based on Eddie Huang’s memoir, it is set in the 1990s and revolves around a Chinese family that moves to suburban Orlando. It centers on hip-hop-loving Eddie Huang, raised by an immigrant father (Park) who is obsessed with all things American and an immigrant mother (Wu) who is often bewildered by white culture. Mrs. Huang is no-nonsense pragmatic woman who believes in tough love. Wu, repped by Talentworks and Generate, starred in the Amazon comedy pilot Browsers and will next be seen in Fox Digital’s Parallels and feature Electric Slide. Body Of Proof alum Windell Middlebrooks has booked a series regular role in NBC‘s comedy pilot Mason Twins. Written/executive produced by June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson,...

It’s all Greek to Amazon — at least when it comes to the retail site’s first original series for adults.

The company announced today that it has chosen five of the 14 pilots it posted online in April to become full-blown series: Alpha House, a political comedy created by Doonesbury’s Garry Trudeau that stars John Goodman (and features a cameo by Bill Murray); Betas, a Silicon Valley-set comedy starring Ed Begley Jr.; and Annebots, Creative Galaxy, and Tumbleaf, three series aimed at kids.

Each show proved popular with Amazon customers, whose feedback was taken into account during the selection process.

By Alistair Barr

San Francisco (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday that it will make five original TV series, having used viewer feedback to pick the shows out of a group of 14 pilots filmed by the world's largest Internet retailer earlier this year.

The chosen pilots are: "Alpha House", a political comedy starring John Goodman; "Betas", a comedy about start-up culture in Silicon Valley; "Annebots", a kids' show about robots; "Creative Galaxy", an animated art adventure series; and "Tumbleaf", another kids' show about a small blue fox named Fig.

These are the first TV series ever made by Amazon and represent a major foray for the company into original programming delivered over the Internet, stepping up competition with Netflix Inc and Hulu.

The new series will be shown exclusively on Amazon's Prime Instant Video service later this year and in early 2014, the company said. Prime Instant Video is...

If Bebe Neuwirth’s performance of the gloriously profane “Someone With Whom …” in the Amazon original pilot Browsers reminded you of a certain Broadway classic, well, there’s a reason for that.

We asked Browsers creator David Javerbaum to tell us about that song and the rest of show’s soundtrack, which features music by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Brendan Milburn (and is available for free at Amazon MP3):

“My Life”

Music by Brendan Milburn, a wonderful composer and friend I have known for almost 20 years. It introduces the four interns both individually and as a group, so it had to be long – 3 1/2 minutes, much longer than the typical song in the show, but necessary to have a real “opening number” feel. The tune Brendan wrote is catchy and irresistible. As for the title, yes I’m aware of the Billy Joel song, but it was...

When the characters in Browsers feel something, they don’t just say it. You don’t just see it. They sing it. They even dance it. And they do it with such wit – almost like an 11-time Emmy award-winning writer for The Daily Show is putting words in their mouth.

And one is: David Javerbaum. He’s actually got a dozen Emmys, having picked up one for the song “Broadway: It’s Not Just For Gays Anymore,” which so memorably opened the 65th Tony Awards. And he’s also an author (The Last Testament: A Memoir By God; What to Expect When You’re Expected: A Fetus’ Guide to the First Three Trimesters).

Browsers, one of 14 Amazon original pilots now playing for free at Amazon Instant Video and LOVEFiLM, is about four interns at Gush, a content-aggregating website (a la The Huffington Post or The Daily Beast) founded and run...

With the recent release of House of Cards and Hemlock Grove, Netflix has established serious interest in the original programming market. Amazon, another major player in online streaming services with Prime Instant Video, has made the first major step to follow suit. Late last week, 16 pilots were made available for free streaming on Amazon – 8 comedies and 6 children’s series. Most buzz has surrounded the pilot for Zombieland, a series written by the creators of the 2009 film of the same name. But some of the other pilots feature experienced production and acting credits (notably John Goodman in Alpha House and Jeffrey Tambor in Onion News Empire). Amazon is letting viewers fill out mini-surveys for each pilot as a means of collecting feedback to help decide whether or not a series gets picked up for a full season. Sound On Sight is here to offer some feedback for the comedy pilots:

Alpha House...

Not since American Idol has the media industry offered TV lovers such an awesome choice. You’ve heard of choose your own adventure books? Well, Amazon Studios is inviting viewers to choose their own series. There are 14 pilots to choose from, and your vote will help Amazon decide which ones to order up for full series status to be available on Amazon Instant Video.

Accessing the hopefuls online is easy. Simply access the Amazon Instant Video app via the website amazonoriginals.com. Among your choices is the pilot we reported on previously, called Zombieland. And yes, its based upon funny zombie slaying film of the same name.

Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios, told EW, “Doing multiple pilots allows us to be experimental. If you put all your chips in on a small number of shows you’ve got to be psychic — we’re not psychic. But we do have...

Following their Friday debut, the new Amazon Originals TV pilots from Amazon Studios were the most watched TV shows across Amazon Instant Video over the weekend, making up 8 out of 10 of the most streamed episodes across the video service. Already thousands of customer reviews have been submitted with 80% at ratings of 4 and 5 stars.

“For the past year the Amazon Studios team has collaborated with some of the best actors and writers in Hollywood to produce top-quality shows. Now we’ve handed the remote to our customers to hear what they think,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “In just a few days the pilots have received thousands of helpful and sometimes hilarious reviews. Keep the feedback coming—and help us decide which pilots will be turned into full series.”

Here’s a sampling of feedback from customers since the pilots’ launch:

Alpha House: “I was extremely surprised at how much I liked this show.

About Zombieland: Four survivors are killin’ zombies and searching for a place to call home. Based on the movie of the same name. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CE18P0K

About Betas: In Silicon Valley, the right algorithm can make you a king. And these four friends think they’ve finally cracked the code. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CDBX1PA

About Alpha House: They work in the Senate. They live in the house – Alpha House. Created by Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury, Tanner ‘88). http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CDBTQCW

About Onion News Empire: The journalists at the Onion News Network will do anything to stay at the top of their game. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CDBUCOI

Browsers: Fresh-faced interns face the music – and sing along with it – as they launch their careers, and their grown-up lives in Manhattan.

AmazonStudios is taking a more unusual approach by letting viewers decide what they want to keep watching. The company has kicked off its screening process this weekend by unveiling its inaugural slate of 14 pilots — eight comedies and six kids shows, all made available for free on AmazonInstant Video, LoveFilm UK and LoveFilm Germany. Viewers are being invited to watch the pilots and Amazon is welcoming feedback from its audience. According to Deadline, the company will evaluate feedback from an online panel recruited on Amazon preview as well as traditional offline focus groups to decide if they greenlight a series or not. The highest-profile series is Zombieland, but the two that look most interesting are Alpha House, starring John Goodman with cameos by Bill Murray and Stephen Colbert; and Onion News Empire. Amazon has not yet decided how many of the shows will make the cut, nor when they will premiere.

Amazon Studios’ inaugural slate of 14 pilots are now available at Amazon Instant Video, through any Amazon Instant Video app and at amazonoriginals.com. All of the pilots can be accessed for free, and customer feedback provided after each pilot is viewed will help determine which shows Amazon Studios will order to series.

Among the prospective shows are eight adult comedies and six children’s programs. Amazon’s comedy roster, in particular, is packed with stars. Alpha House stars John Goodman and Mark Consuelos with an appearance by Bill Murray, the musical Browsers features Tony-winner Bebe Neuwirth, and Jeffrey Tambor is...

LOVEFiLM have revealed that the service will host 11 original TV series test pilots for members to stream for free. The never-seen-before children’s and comedy content is being produced by Amazon Studios – the original film and series production arm of Amazon.com.

LOVEFiLM members in the UK and Germany will be able to watch the content and viewer response will then help determine which series Amazon Studios take into full-season production. The move follows the announcement of Amazon Studios’ first pilot production commitment last December which gave six original comedy shows the green light. It brings the total number of Amazon Studios pilots currently in production to 11.

The eleven pilots include:

Creative Galaxy – Creative Galaxy is an animated interactive art adventure series, designed to inspire kids’ creative thinking through crafts, story, music and dance. The series was created by Angela Santomero, creator of Super Why!, the Emmy-nominated literacy series, Blue...

The newest kid on the original scripted series block, Amazon, is going after heralded comedy veterans for its first crop of pilots. I’ve learned that Emmy winner Bebe Neuwirth (Cheers, Frasier) is set to star in Amazon’s comedy pilot Browsers. Additionally, I hear former Roseanne star John Goodman and Frasier alum David Hyde Pierce had been approached for pilot roles too. In their casting strategy, Amazon is taking a page from TV Land’s playbook which too has been casting its comedy pilots with alums from iconic 1980s and 1990s sitcoms, starting with breakout hit Hot In Cleveland. With her extensive Broadway experience, Tony winner Neuwirth is a perfect fit for Browsers, a musical comedy set in contemporary Manhattan that follows four young people as they start their first jobs at a news website. ICM Partners-repped Neuwirth will play their boss. The pilot was written by Emmy-winning...