Amazon’s Woody Allen-Scripted TV Series to Premiere in 2016
When last we heard from Amazon’s Woody Allen-scripted series, the revered (as well as reviled) filmmaker amusingly expressed his regret and reticence over the deal, noting that he’d never written for television before. Well, ol’ Woody appears to have made some progress, as Amazon execs claim the majority of scripts have been completed, with the series likely to bow in 2016.
Although we don’t yet know the subject matter, Amazon executives at the ongoing TCA press tour panel updated that the series would likely shoot in either late 2015, or January 2016, aiming for a premiere later on in the second half of the year. Boss Roy Price also notably ducked questions of working with Allen, given his allegations of child abuse, to which Price offered “I think you have to look at the whole picture,” touting Allen’s excellence as a filmmaker.
Allen himself previously said of the series:
I have regretted every second since I said OK. It’s been so hard for me. I had the cocky confidence, well, I’ll do it like I do a movie…it’ll be a movie in six parts. Turns out, it’s not. For me, it has been very, very difficult. I’ve been struggling and struggling and struggling. I only hope that when I finally do it — I have until the end of 2016 — they’re not crushed with disappointment because they’re nice people and I don’t want to disappoint them.
I am doing my best. I fit it in between films, so it’s not like, no film this year, I’m doing Amazon. It’s a job within my usual schedule. But I am not as good at it as I fantasized I might be. It’s not a piece of cake; it’s a tough thing and I’m earning every penny that they’re giving me and I just hope that they don’t feel, ‘My God, we gave him a very substantial amount of money and freedom and this is what he gives us?’
And during its initial announcement:
I don’t know how I got into this. I have no ideas and I’m not sure where to begin. My guess is that [Amazon VP] Roy Price will regret this.
Given the way pre-production has been going with the press, he just might. What should we hope for, as Allen makes his 2016 foray into television?