Amy Schumer Now Streaming on Amazon Paramount+ Channel
Plus: Reissued Paramount Originals, Disney Plus, The Tourist, and more!
This article covers a whole bunch of streaming-related things that don’t fit neatly into one topic, including the availability of Inside Amy Schumer on Amazon, the reissuing of removed Paramount Plus originals in other formats, and weird things I’ve noticed about the international distribution of Streaming Originals.
In addition to Paramount, Disney+ and HBO Max will be discussed.
ContentsAmy Schumer on Amazon
The first time I heard about Inside Amy Schumer was when I read a Deadline article earlier this Summer about it being the latest victim of the Streaming Purge, with the Paramount Plus streaming service following in the footsteps of HBO Max.
From what little I’ve seen, Schumer is a sketch comedy series following the title character that had ended several years prior to being revived for a new season specifically for Paramount+, which is why it was branded as a “Paramount+ Original“. Deadline used it as the headliner for its article, listing a number of other Originals such as From Cradle to Stage and Tell Me a Story. Naturally, a lot of other sites picked up the news about the removal. And the way it was reported, you’d think Amy Schumer had vanished into the digital ether, never to be seen again.
Well, as I was working on my previous article about erased streaming originals, I made a couple of interesting discoveries. For one thing, most of the aforementioned Originals including Schumer are available in full on physical or digital home video.
For another, Inside Amy Schumer is actually STILL available for streaming on Paramount Plus… if you’re subscribed to the Amazon Prime Video Channel version of it.* Did you even know that rather than go to a separate app or website to sign up for Paramount Plus, HBO Max and other streamers, you can do so via Amazon? It occurs through a feature of Prime Video called Amazon Channels.
“This service allows Prime subscribers to subscribe to a number of outside rival subscription products, with Amazon taking a fee off the top.”
Source: Rick Ellis, All Your Screens
In theory, you should receive access to all of the Streaming Service’s content within Amazon’s interface. However, in practice, this is not necessarily the case. Inside Amy Schumer was indeed removed from the main version of Paramount Plus and cannot be accessed on the platform. But it has not been removed from the Amazon version, resulting in a discrepancy between the offerings.
So, if you subscribe via Amazon to Paramount Plus, you can see all 5 seasons of Schumer, including the streaming-exclusive fifth season.*
*This comes with a caveat, however - unlike the first four, the fifth season is not there in its entirety. The first two episodes of S5 are missing, but the latter three are still accessible. Still, you can purchase all the episodes via Amazon or Apple Digital Video.
How could this happen and what does it mean? I can only offer a couple theories:
This is a simple mistake and Paramount hasn’t pulled these from the Amazon Version because it hasn’t noticed that they are still there.
There are nuances or provisions in the licensing agreements between Paramount Plus and Amazon that allows this show to remain there for a while longer. At some point, the Amazon channel license will expire and it’ll be removed.
Whatever the actual reason is, the availability of Schumer here illustrates that there can be differences in the content offerings between the main and Amazon versions of the same streaming platform. It’s not within my power to make an in-depth comparison, but the fact that the Amazon Version can have individual shows or episodes that the main version doesn’t suggests that the opposite can be true as well.
Removed Paramount Plus Originals Available In Other Formats
Now, as I’ve said earlier, Schumer is actually one of several removed Paramount Plus Originals that were made available outside of streaming, a fact that was largely underreported when news broke of the removals earlier this Summer. So, I’ve compiled a Table of the Removed Originals and their alternate availability.*
*Again, I should note that I’ve strived to make the information in these tables as accurate as possible but there is always the possibility that some details may have been overlooked. If I later locate any errors, I will make the necessary corrections.
Findings and Annotations:Out of 18 total removals, 13 are wholly or partially available in other formats: all 13 on Video, 3 both on video and moved to new networks. This makes 72 percent of removed Originals.
Of the 5 Unavailable Originals, 2 are unscripted, 3 are scripted.
The most widely available series is The Twilight Zone, which was reissued on Amazon Freevee and on the SyFy channel.
Many originals currently on Paramount Plus are also available on home video platforms, both physical (DVD/BluRay) and digital (Amazon/Apple). This includes the multiple Star Trek and Yellowstone series, Tulsa King, and School Spirits.
From all this, it seems Paramount has not lost interest in the home video market and currently supports both physical and digital formats.
A New Home: Star Trek Prodigy
Remember Star Trek Prodigy, the Paramount Plus/Nickelodeon animated series that was removed from streaming earlier this Summer? Well, there are some interesting things happening with the former Original’s distribution. At the time it was pulled, only the first 10 episodes of the series were available on digital video.
After first getting exposed to it while flying Delta, I purchased Season 1 Part 1 on Apple TV so I could finish the remaining 5 or so episodes I hadn’t seen.
The US release of S1 Part 2, however, has been a bit confusing. Initially, it seemed that Part 2 would only get a physical Blu-Ray release on Sept 26. However, it was apparently added to Digital Video back on July 21, allowing for all 20 S1 episodes to be purchased via Apple, Amazon, and other TVOD retailers.
What I haven’t seen anyone comment on is that Paramount actually added Part 2 to the Part 1 collection, changing it into a Complete Season 1 release. So, if you purchased Prodigy S1 Part 1 previously, you should now have received a free upgrade. I realized this when I checked my Apple purchase and found all 20 episodes are there!
Plus, just as I was writing this, it’s been confirmed that Prodigy has been picked up by Netflix for distribution.* S1 is set to premiere later this year, while S2 (another 20 episodes) will show up later in 2024. Last I checked, S2 was still nearing completion, according to co-executive producer Aaron Waltke, who also mentioned that whoever picks up the series will have the option of ordering additional seasons.
*Some might wonder why a House Original like this might be sent to a rival streamer. I can think of several reasons: Prodigy didn’t fit the brand identity of Paramount Plus and likely wasn’t performing that well in the ratings. Now Paramount can get licensing revenue from Netflix, in addition to potentially increased video sales.
So, if Prodigy performs well on Netflix - and there are actual streaming ratings we can consult to get a sense of that, you can bet there will be episodes of Prodigy beyond S2. And its return indicates that, much like WBD, Paramount is removing Originals not just to save money on Streaming but to also make money off streaming.
The Disney Plus Floodgates Have Opened
In my last article on the subject of streaming, I was planning to include a section that explained why it was inevitable that Disney would start releasing some of its paywalled Original Streaming Content on other platforms. The signs were all there: Disney Plus was losing money and/or subscribers and the company was clearly following WBD’s strategy when it came to removing content.
So, it only made logical sense for it to similarly re-embrace the logic of repurposing and sequencing content across multiple platforms and exhibition windows. In other words, if Disney wanted to make money, it would have to make its Streaming Originals, removed or not, more accessible. But then, Disney beat me to the punch by announcing on Aug 21 the release of several Streaming Originals on BluRay.
Subsequently, I resolved to use my article to predict that the Originals Disney had previously removed from D+ would return in other formats as well. So, you can imagine that I was kind-of elated to see the new headline from The Wrap about D+ Original movies showing up on digital video.
This time, I could say I called it!
As it turned out, I was wrong. Though The Wrap had just picked up on it, the reissuing of the removed D+ movies actually occurred a while ago, as early as September 26. This is when the independent blog What’s On Disney Plus first noticed that Disney had stealth-dropped these titles on Apple TV and Amazon.
Damn you, Disney, couldn’t you hold off a little longer?!I’ve learned this news on the heels of reading about ROKU picking up The Spiderwick Chronicles series, which D+ had commissioned from Paramount for a 2024 release. This means Roku now has something of a name series when it comes to its own Originals.* Presumably, when it premieres in 2024, the show will be an AVOD offering, meaning one can watch it for free with ads.
This is basically a win-win situation for all involved. Paramount will get a licensing fee from Roku while the series could potentially be seen by a much larger audience than it would on D+, as there is no paywall to limit its accessibility.
*Most of its previous offering came from the defunct Quibi platform. It apparently didn’t do much in terms of viewership, so Roku decided to dump it earlier this Summer.
What all this means is that the Disney Plus floodgates are now open.
Stuff that used to be or was meant to be exclusive is now trickling out and making its way to us through other means. I am excited because really, this is just the beginning. Disney pulled a lot of content earlier this year, and now we’re just seeing the beginning of the return. So, I’m gonna call it now: Willow, the Original Series that was controversially pulled from Disney Plus earlier this year, will be back.
Heck, showrunner Jon Kasdan said as much at the time on Twitter:
“I grew up at a time when Disney movies were periodically re-released and not available to own, and it made them… more special… I worry about many things… but NONE of them are that Willow will never be available again, either on Disney+ or perhaps… someplace else, & ya never know where that could lead… stranger things have happened.”
Source: JoBlo
It’s probably not gonna get another season but the series will have a new home. Maybe on another, more easily accessible streaming platform, such as Netflix, ROKU or TUBI. Or maybe it will become a home video exclusive. This all depends on where Disney determines the series can make the most money.
How soon will it happen? I don’t know. Deals take time. Some take more than others. But I wouldn’t be surprised if a re-release date is set before the year is over.
I don’t know why the stuff that has been reissued already had been stealth-dropped though. You’d think the company would want to openly promote the reissue, given that their revenue depends on consumer awareness. Maybe they’re waiting for some big new deal to close so they can announce everything all at once?
Whatever the case is, these events overall bode well for both those who never bothered to subscribe to D+ and those that want the D+ content back.
HBO Max is still alive in international markets
Did you know that the streaming service HBO Max, the one with the purple back-ground and HBO in the title, still exists? This was a surprise to me, as I came to believe that once (WBD) Max launched this May that HBO Max was well and truly gone. Or rather, replaced by the newer, bluer incarnation.
As it turns out, this was true only for the United States. Internationally though, HBO Max is still alive and well. You can find it in both Europe and Latin America. Heck, even the Twitter accounts for both versions are still active.
And some iterations of HBO Max currently might have or previously have had unique Original Content that we never see in the States. For example, there was apparently an original animated series available in Latin American and other Spanish-speaking territories called Frankelda’s Book of Spooks. I think it was removed from HBO Max LA, though it was also on Cartoon Network Latin America.
Anyway, I’m sad we never got it over here in the States, cause the (stop-motion, I think) animation looks gorgeous! Would’ve been cool to watch around Halloween.
UPDATESo, it looks like some developments have occurred to again change things up on me. Frankelda’s Book of Spooks actually just made it to the US Max, as a commenter helpfully informed me, and there is a movie in development. I guess then they were saving it indeed for the ‘spooky season’ and/or Halloween! Will watch it pronto!
Also, it wasn’t removed from HBO Max Latin America after all!
END UPDATEInterestingly, WBD won’t start rolling out Max internationally until 2024 (there don’t seem to be any firmly set dates yet according to the help center), meaning that HBO Max will continue until then to serve as its access point in those territories. My conjecture is that WBD for one reason or another wasn’t ready to launch Max there but also didn’t want to interrupt existing service. This, however, did not prevent the company from removing a whole bunch of its international Originals.
Case in point:
The Tourist
The Tourist opens with a really cool sequence that references Steven Spielberg’s Duel. A British man (Jamie Dornan) is driving somewhere in the Australian outback only to be pursued by a giant menacing truck. He is eventually run off the road and left for dead. When he wakes up, he has no memory of who he is. He then sets out to uncover his past with the help of a local policewoman, and people are clearly after him.
An international co-production commissioned by BBC, The Tourist is an enthralling sorta-thriller, sorta-comedy. Honestly, it’s a little hard to classify as it plays with very conflicting tones. If anything, it is consistently fun and entertaining, even as it never quite manages to make all of its parts gel. The cast is really good and Dornan manages to sell the confusion and predicament of his character quite well.
Arguably, the best episode of the breezy 6-episode first season is the fifth, which not only delivers a payoff to the many questions plaguing the season but does so in a weird, trippy and stylistically inventive way that I hope the series does more of in its second season. Here’s the funny thing: going forward, The Tourist will no longer be considered a Max Original. For although it was renewed, Max decided to cut ties with the show and so is no longer one of the producers.* So, from the second season onwards, there is no guarantee it will even receive a US release.
*Apparently it was a hit for BBC but a low-performer for Max.
An even funnier thing: The Tourist was formally removed from Max on September 8. But much like Amy Schumer, it is also still available on the Amazon Channel version of Max.* Having stumbled upon it in the course of research, I signed up out of curiosity for a Max trial on Amazon (even though I’m subscrubed already to the main version) and watched it during the week-long trial period. If you’ve never used the Amazon Max trial and you want to still catch this show before it expires, you can do the same.
*There is no option to buy the show on digital or physical video, however.
I’m not going to declare it a masterpiece, but seeing The Tourist made me sad that WBD and Max are winding down their international content offerings.
But what do you think? Do you subscribe to any Streaming Services via Amazon? Have you noticed any discrepancies between the main version and the Amazon version? Any thoughts on ‘Amy Schumer’, ‘Prodigy,’ or ‘The Tourist’? Is it more comfortable to have one interface for everything?
Do you know any cool Streaming shows that are only available overseas and/or exclusive to international versions of Streaming Services we have here?
Finally, any info you’d like me to correct? Please,
If you find this article informative, then please consider sharing or cross-posting it to spread awareness of this publication!
I'm planning on dropping Disney+ once my annual plan ends next month. There's just nothing there to hold me. Coincidentally, I'm thrilled Disney is finally putting out Mando on Blu-ray.
Frankelda's Book of Spooks actually just dropped on the US Max feed and as far as I know never left the Latin American version. Guillermo del Toro's a big fan and apparently used his clout to give the show and its studio more support in order to grow Mexico's animation scene and there's actually a Frankelda movie on the way.