Amazon could be changing the game in their efforts to present a selection of pilots so that the general public can weigh in before they make their final decision on which of them will go to series. Whether any of the networks or streaming video services decide to follow suit in the future remains to be seen, but it's certainly an interesting and interactive way to bring the viewers in earlier in the process of taking a pilot to series or inevitably scrapping it. According to Amazon's update today, thousands of customer reviews have been submitted since the pilots launched, and eight of the pilots were among the ten most-streamed episodes on Amazon Instant Video over the weekend.
The plan is to let viewers watch the eight comedy pilots and then submit their reviews as they would a product review for anything else available for sale at the site. Only, the pilots are free and viewable to those within the available region, with access to an internet connection and a device capable of streaming Amazon's Instant Video player. I have a blu-ray player with the Amazon app, so I was able to watch the pilots through my TV. Others may have accessed them from their computers or portable devices.
in addition to eight comedy pilots - among which are the Zombieland pilot, a political comedy starring John Goodman, and a great stop motion animated comedy - there were also six children's show pilots. Amazon says the new TV pilots comprised 8 of the 10 most streamed episodes on Amazon Instant Video this weekend. They don't specify which of the fourteen pilots made the cut or where they ranked, but it's still an indication that this move to give the viewers a sample buffet of their comedy and children's original programming slate has yielded the attention they were hoping for.
And now we're left to wait and see which of the pilots are given a series order. Once the cuts are made and the series are produced, viewers will need to be an Amazon Prime subscriber to access the shows. A Prime membership, which - at present - costs $79/year (that breaks down to less than $7 a month), not only includes access to Amazon Prime's selection of streaming movies and TV shows, but also free two-day shipping on Amazon sold products with no minimum order size, a discounted overnight shipping rate, and a Kindle book to borrow for free each month from Amazon's Kindle Owner's Lending LIbrary. Like the available videos, the Lending Library is limited to certain books. But it's an added perk if you own a Kindle. For those of you who are frequent shoppers at Amazon, Prime's a good deal. And it'll hopefully it'll be an even better deal if the right pilots go to series.
We weighed in on the comedy pilots this weekend. Read the reviews for for them here.
