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Amazon kills 'Zombieland' series, picks 'Betas' and 'Alpha House' for original programming

Amazon kills 'Zombieland' series, picks 'Betas' and 'Alpha House' for original programming

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Amazon Alpha House
Amazon Alpha House

After leveraging its customers as a test audience, Amazon has begun choosing which of the 14 pilots it will produce as part of the company's first major foray into original programming. Viewer feedback and engagement have led to Alpha House (starring John Goodman) and Betas (centered around a Silicon Valley startup) being the final picks. The latter was easily our favorite among the potential candidates, though we found the field as a whole to be rather lacking. Amazon has said it aims to pick "somewhere between" zero and seven shows to produce for full-length seasons.

The company isn't revealing its entire list of greenlit projects just yet (nor which children-oriented shows will make the cut), but we know that Zombieland won't be among them. Writer / producer Rhett Reese confirmed as much via Twitter last Thursday, squarely laying blame on viewers who in his eyes never gave the show a fair shot.

Deadline originally reported that Zombieland stood a good chance of being picked up for full production, despite a blisteringly negative response to the initial trailer. Browsers has also been given the axe as Amazon works to create programming that rivals Netflix's original shows like House of Cards.