Prime Video has cancelled Hannah Waddingham's spy comedy series Ride Or Die after one season, despite high viewing figures and critical acclaim.
The eight-episode show stars Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer as long-time best friends whose lives change when one is revealed to be an international assassin. Paramount Television Studios, the lead studio behind the series created by Tessa Coates, is now shopping the comedy to other buyers.
Industry news outlet Deadline reported that the reasons behind the cancellation remain murky, but suggested the focus of the show on middle-aged women may have played a role.
Nellie Andreeva, the editor-in-chief at Deadline, said Amazon executives may view that audience demographic as less valuable for growing subscriptions. "I hear that that demographic is not very desirable for Amazon executives as a lot of middle-aged women already have Amazon Prime for shopping, so a show targeting them would not bring new subscribers," Andreeva said.
Prime Video is the subscription streaming service operated by e-commerce giant Amazon, while Paramount Television Studios produces television content for multiple global networks and platforms.
Katy Brand comments on industry misogyny
Furious fans have called on competing streaming platforms to rescue the show, while writer and comedian Katy Brand said she was not surprised by the decision.
Writing on Instagram, Brand said, "it doesn't surprise me that 'Ride or Die' has been cancelled after one season even though it was a HUGE hit."
"The level of misogyny in the film and tv business is out of control," Brand wrote. "There was a brief period about 10 years ago when it felt like it was improving, but it is now worse than ever. You don't have to believe me; the statistics are there."
Brand urged female creators to find ways around traditional industry structures. "My advice to women is to try to by-pass the whole system," she continued. "I still have meetings with deeply mediocre men with a fraction of my writing experience who try to teach me how to write and if I don't listen obediently, I lose the job."
"I get told to take menopause jokes out of scripts because they don't like the word," Brand added. "I get told the female characters are too funny. No. We have to make our own way. Use whatever you have available to get your work out there."
Brand, 47, wrote the screenplays for the Netflix adaptation of Richard Osman's novel The Thursday Murder Club and the 2022 film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande starring Emma Thompson. Waddingham, 52, gained widespread fame in comedy series Ted Lasso, while Spencer, 56, is an Academy Award-winning actress.
Plot details and viewership performance
Ride Or Die follows long-time best friends Judith Burton, played by Waddingham, and Debbie Claybourne, played by Spencer. Their lives are upended when a botched hit reveals that Judith is actually a secret international assassin.
The series premiered in July and quickly achieved high viewership. Two weeks after its debut, the show led all original streaming series for the week of July 17 to July 23 with an estimated 1.6 billion minutes watched, according to data reported by Variety.
Globally, Ride Or Die was the number one most watched Prime Video original series for its first three weeks. In the United States, it registered nearly one million views within two days of release, achieving twice the viewership of Prime Video's Legally Blonde prequel Elle and almost four times the audience of teen ice hockey romance Off Campus.
The show holds a 96 per cent approval rating from critics on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, alongside an 85 per cent rating from audience members.
Critical reviews and fan reaction
Critics gave the series glowing reviews following its summer release. The Telegraph awarded the show four stars, writing that Waddingham's "charisma and energy power the whole adventure."
The Guardian also gave a four-star review, encouraging readers to "get Waddinghamed" and calling the show a "perimenopausal comedy thriller caper of your dreams." The publication noted how unusual it was to feature "two fifty-something actors playing fifty-something parts that allow them to be funny, dramatic action heroes?"
The Wall Street Journal praised the series as "compelling," adding that Waddingham possesses "actorly chops but also the physical attributes to be both a perfectly plausible thumper of bad guys and the proverbial bombshell when the situation demands."
The first season ended with several unresolved plot cliffhangers, leaving viewers disappointed on social media platform X. One fan wrote, "Terrible. This is why I rarely even look at shows anymore. But this was so good! I wanted more. But I guess I'll stick to movies. The idea of series seems dead."
Another viewer posted, "Good Grief!! It was hilarious AND scary!! Best combination!!" A third user commented, "It doesn't even make sense to get into a series at this point because successful or not, these executive are just gonna cancel it anyway!" Paramount Television Studios continues to shop the project to potential new distributors.
