Why Amazon Canceled Alpha House Before Season 3
James Stevens Amazon’s first original series Alpha House ran for just two seasons. Here’s why fans of the political comedy won’t be seeing a third season.
Unfortunately for Alpha House fans, season 3 isn’t happening – here’s why Amazon’s political comedy was canceled. Written and created by Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau, Alpha House premiered on Amazon in 2013. The series was inspired by several real-life Democratic politicians who roomed together in a Washington D.C. row house but swapped its characters’ political persuasion to focus on four Republican senators, played by John Goodman, Matt Malloy (At Home With Amy Sedaris), Clark Johnson (Bosch) and Riverdale’s Mark Consuelos.
Alpha House was the first of Amazon’s original shows and proved a hit. Just how big a hit is unknown as Amazon doesn’t release viewership data, but Alpha House got good reviews and earned Goodman a Satellite Award for Best Actor. But after its second season premiered in 2014, Alpha House faded away without fanfare. There wasn’t much word on the status of the show until Garry Trudeau posted a letter to his Doonesbury readers on GoComics that provided an update on Alpha House, stating “We're talking to the studio about making some more episodes in time for the election, so if you share our dream of continuing, just let the Amazon exec in charge know…”
Though the 2016 presidential election would’ve provided rich comedy pickings, that potential third season never materialized. Here’s everything we know about why Alpha House was canceled.
Alpha House’s Producer Confirmed It Was Canceled In 2016
Although Amazon had yet to officially confirm the show’s cancelation, in May 2016 journalist and Alpha House producer Jonathan Alter was asked on Twitter whether a third season was on the horizon and he replied “Unfortunately not. Fun while it lasted.”
Amazon Once Seemed Open To Alpha House Season 3
In October 2016, Roy Price – then vice president of Amazon Studios – gave Alpha House fans some closure when he stated in a press junket it was “not a current show.” He was kind of vague, however, and hinted it could return at some point in the future. Price has since resigned from Amazon Studios following sexual harassment allegations made by a show producer, so he wouldn’t be instigating any potential Alpha House revival. That doesn’t mean his replacement Jennifer Salke couldn’t, however slim the chances are now.
Amazon Has Resurrected Other Shows
Amazon has been known to resurrect shows from other networks. After the BBC canceled crime drama Ripper Street in 2013 following its second series, Amazon resurrected the show and aired it for a further three seasons. More recently, Amazon saved sci-fi drama The Expanse after Syfy chose not to renew it and is set to air its upcoming fourth season.
That said, both Ripper Street and The Expanse were revived by Amazon not long after being canceled whereas it’s been five years since the last season of Alpha House. After half a decade, it seems unlikely Amazon would resurrect or reboot Alpha House now although stranger things have happened.
