Amazon Studios to Give Netflix a Run for Its Original Programming Money with 6 New Pilots They're giving the viewer the final say.

Amazon Studios has announced that is has given the greenlight to six original comedy pilots from a pool of talent ranging from The Daily Show's Kristen Schaal, The Onion's Will Graham and Dan Mirk and The Big Bang Theory's Kevin Sussman and John Ross Bowie, THR reports.

The studio’s plan is to make the pilots available on Amazon Instant Video for free viewing once they are complete, and then utilize viewer feedback to select which of the contenders will receive a full series order. The shows that make it through will be available exclusively to Amazon Prime members.

“Since launching our original series development effort, we have received more than 2,000 series ideas from creators around the world with all different backgrounds, and we are extremely excited to begin production on our very first set of pilots. The six comedy pilots will begin production shortly, and once they are complete, we plan to post the pilots on Amazon Instant Video for feedback. We want Amazon customers to help us decide which original series we should produce,” Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios said.

Amazon's plan is interesting in a couple of different respects:

First, Amazon clearly plans to actively compete with Netflix as a source for high-quality original programming online. Netflix is of course pushing hard into original content creation with a fourth season of Arrested Development expected to arrive this spring, along with new shows such as David Fincher’s House of Cards, Eli Roth’s Hemlock Grove, Lilyhammer, Orange Is The New Black and Derek.

Second, in a model that is similar to Dan Harmon’s online comedy network Channel 101, viewers will ultimately decide which pilots go to series. Many television viewers have hoped to see networks adopt a similar method. It will be interesting to see how the fan-selected shows ultimately perform. Amazon likely hopes to lure in a few more Amazon Prime members along the way.

THR describes the pilots as follows:

Alpha House will center on four senators who live together in a rented house in Washington DC.

Browsers, written by Emmy-winning comedy David Javerbaum (The Daily Show), is a musical comedy set in contemporary Manhattan that follows four young people as they start their first jobs at a news website. 30 Rock's Don Scardino is set to direct.

Dark Minions, an animated workplace series from writers Sussman and Bowie and producer Principato-Young, is about two slackers just trying to make a paycheck working an intergalactic warship.

Supanatural, an animated comedy series from writers Lily Sparks, Price Peterson and Ryan Sandoval, centers on two outspoken divas who are humanity's last line of defense against the supernatural, when they're not working at the mall. Jason Micallef (Butter) and Schaal will produce.

The Onion Presents: The News, from The Onion's Will Graham and Dan Mirk (The Onion News Network), is a fast-paced scripted comedy set behind the scenes of The Onion News Network that shows just how far journalists will go to stay at the top of their game.

Those Who Can’t, penned by Andrew Orvedahl, Adam Cayton-Holland and Benjamin Roy (Grawlix), revolves around three juvenile, misfit teachers who are just as immature -- if not more so -- than the students they teach. The comedy entry was discovered through Amazon Studios' online open door process.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com