MOVIE NEWS – Outer Range, starring Josh Brolin, has ended after two seasons on Amazon Prime Video.
After just two seasons, Outer Range has ended on Amazon’s streaming service. The news came on Wednesday that the sci-fi western series led by Josh Brolin will not get a third season on Prime Video. Plus, there’s no sign of it being picked up on other streaming platforms. Opening in 2022, Outer Range starred Brolin as farm owner Royal Abbot. He discovers a mysterious black “hole” on his farm, which brings a lot of trouble, including the disappearance of his daughter-in-law and a rival family trying to take over his land.
According to Variety, the channel confirmed on Wednesday that Outer Range will be cancelled after two seasons. They mentioned that while Amazon doesn’t release viewership figures for its series like Netflix does, Outer Range managed to find itself in the top 10 original streaming rankings according to Nielsen, peaking at number three. The Outer Range received generally favourable reviews during its run – we also wrote about both the first and second seasons.
The first season received a 79% and the second season a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, giving the two seasons an average rating of 85%.
In addition to Brolin, Outer Range also starred Imogen Poots, Lily Taylor, Tamara Podemski, Lewis Pullman and the incomparable Will Patton. The series marked the return of Josh Brolin to the television role after nearly 20 years. Before that, he last played Senator Bill Sterling in the 2003 drama Mister Sterling, which ran for one season on NBC.
Why the Amazon Outer Range Failed to Retain Its Audience
The Outer Range debuted shortly after the end of Yellowstone’s fourth season. It seemed that he could become successful by capitalizing on the popularity of the modern western. Unfortunately, the series encountered extreme competition. However, while most of these series were grounded in reality, Outer Range tried to separate itself from the field by somewhat following in the footsteps of another sci-fi western, HBO’s Westworld.
They are obviously two very different series, with Westworld set in a dystopian future where androids have become self-aware, and Outer Range set in the present day.
But there’s no denying that Amazon’s series certainly hoped to capture some of the sci-fi elements that drew audiences to HBO’s creation. However, with its mix of sci-fi, family drama and mystery, Outer Range never entirely defined itself. In some ways, it was a mess, like a young adult trying to find his place in the world. While it did have a fan base, it wasn’t as big as Amazon hoped to justify the reported $6 million in production costs for each episode.
Source: Variety
