Amazon’s Third Pilot Competition Has Arrived

As part of its continuing quest to become a major distribution of original content, Amazon has asked for viewer input on five new pilots. Starting today, viewers who head over to Amazon Originals can watch the debut episodes for five potential series: Hand of God, The Cosmopolitans, Really, Hysteria, and Red Oaks.

As with Amazon’s two previous pilot competitions, the majority of this batch features a half-hour comedy format. The Cosmopolitans, Really, and Red Oaks all resemble TV sitcoms, while Hand of God and Hysteria utilize hour-long runtimes.

It’s still very early, but if initial user reviews are to be believed, all five of the new pilots are strong entries. This would be a slight contrast to Amazon’s previous pilot competitions, where some users disliked pilots like Zombieland (which they found to be a pale imitation of the film that spawned it) and The After (which, perhaps aided by the name recognition of creator Chris Carter, got picked up anyway).

While Amazon decides on its new round of pilots, it will also keep viewers entertained with a steady stream of debuting series born from its last pilot competition. The first of those shows to arrive will be Jill Soloway’s Transparent on September 26th.

“We’re delighted to bring Amazon customers the work of these passionate and talented creators and are excited to get customer feedback,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios, in a statement. “It’s an exciting time at Prime Instant Video, with new, original shows coming to the service every month for the rest of the year.”

If, as the early reviews suggest, the third round is filled with quality across the board, Amazon will have a tough decision about which ones to green-light and which ones to cut. Of course, given the purported budget Amazon plans to spend on original video, it could always pick up all five. There’s always room for more quality content.