Timeless season 3: Why there is an interesting case at Amazon
Yesterday, we wrote about a list of possible contenders for the show in the wake of the cancellation, though admittedly there was one possible home that we stored in our back pocket for a later date — and for good reason. Amazon is a home really like no other for the series, largely because there is someone heading Amazon Studios now in Jennifer Salke who knows and understands Timeless in a way few other executives do. Back when the show first started, she was one of the top programming executives over at NBC. She believed in the show then, and it was only after her departure that the series was canceled for good.
In addition to working at networks, Salke has also worked within studios, which may give her a sense of perspective when it comes to negotiating with them. The studio for Timeless in this particular case is Sony Pictures TV.
Now, we don’t want to be completely reckless here and think that Timeless is likely going to happen at Amazon just because an executive there is familiar with the show. We just think that these sort of relationships do help since it’s easier to make pitches and you have someone at the top who already knows and understands it. There are some clear hurdles with Timeless at Amazon, starting with the fact that Hulu has the streaming rights and not them. Lucifer was able to navigate this leading up to the show heading over to Netflix, but typically this does complicate negotiations in a big way. It just comes down to how much a network / streaming provider really wants the show to navigate this. Beyond just this, Amazon already saved one show this year in The Expanse and there may be a resistance to the idea that they are just out to scoop up other canceled shows.
What we know is this: Salke and Amazon Studios are looking to be a little bit more mainstream, and to deliver their shows to a much larger audience than we saw under previous head Roy Price. While Timeless may have been low-rated for NBC, if many of these viewers stick around at Amazon it could be one of their larger shows. That’s especially true when you consider all of the Timeless viewers who weren’t watching live, let alone around the world.
Watch this space for more updates — for now, Amazon does seem to be one of the more intriguing homes, though executive producer Eric Kripke noted yesterday that the likeliest scenario for the show is to just get a series finale movie over at NBC.
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