Some of the biggest recent TV trends include classic sitcom revivals and true crime projects, but one of the more unexpected super-specific trends can be boiled down to "shows that have lost Bryan Fuller as a showrunner and/or executive producer." The latest case just went down at Apple, where Fuller has dropped out of the upcoming Amazing Stories anthology series reboot. Following Fuller's exit, Bones creator Hart Hanson also exited his role as Amazing Stories' executive producer. It's suddenly a not-so-amazing situation.
Amazing Stories first went into development at NBC over two years ago, with Bryan Fuller set to handle showrunner duties, and it later moved to Apple with Steven Spielberg signing on, which is when Hart Hanson was brought in to help steer the ship. According to THR, Fuller's voluntary exit was an amicable one, with creative differences cited as the reasoning. It's reported that Fuller had a darker and more Black Mirror-esque trajectory for Amazing Stories, while Apple's sights were on something far different. Which isn't so surprising, since previous reports claimed that Apple was looking to keep its original programming on the more family-friendly side of the content spectrum, and we all know Bryan Fuller likes to get a little more extreme at times.
Hart Hanson's Amazing Stories exit was announced not long after Bryan Fuller's, and according to Deadline, this was similarly due to a creative rift with Apple and Amblin. So the situations are apparently quite comparable, and it would appear that Hanson and Fuller shared ideas about what Amazing Stories should be for 2018 audiences and beyond. At this point, it's reported that Apple and Amblin are on the search for a replacement showrunner, so let's hope everyone puts their creative ideals right up front here to keep future exoduses from happening.
As Bryan Fuller fans are well aware, the past few years have been quite hectic for the celebrated storyteller. Following Hannibal's cancellation, Fuller went into development on both Starz's American Gods and CBS All Access' Star Trek: Discovery, though he ended up stepping down from the latter for various scheduling issues and more. After a successful first season of American Gods, Fuller and co-creator Michael Green vacated the show in the middle of writing Season 2, with budget concerns and storyline disputes reportedly the cause. Then, Fuller's Amazing Stories absence was partially foreshadowed when he signed on to help develop the in-the-works TV series based on Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles novels. At the time of this writing, he's still involved with that.
While Amazing Stories might be facing some delays, Apple is chugging along with its growing lineup of other original programming projects. Not only will Apple be the place to find Jennifer Aniston's return to TV alongside Reese Witherspoon, but subscribers will also find Ron Moore's new sci-fi project, Kristen Wiig's new comedy and Stephen S. DeKnight's new drama.
Now without two of its biggest creative minds, Apple's Amazing Stories still has a ways to go before getting to a point where we can watch it. In the meantime, though, you can check out our midseason premiere schedule to see all the new and returning shows hitting the small screen soon.
