Amazon axes Kevin after one season, Aubrey Plaza weighs in

Well, it’s happened. Amazon has pulled the plug on Kevin, the adult animated comedy with Aubrey Plaza at the helm, after just one season. I’m not exactly losing sleep, but come on – it deserved more of a shot than it got. The series had a genuinely strange charm (that’s a compliment in this context), and for such a stacked cast, you’d think we’d at least get to see where things might go with a second series.

Aubrey Plaza reacts (with class, and a bit of bite)

Plaza didn’t hide her disappointment, posting a frankly honest message on Instagram to put the news out there and thank those who tuned in:

"Amazon Prime is not picking up 'Kevin' for another season. Very disappointing since we were just getting going. I want to say thank you to all the fans that watched our show and all of the incredible cast and crew that worked so hard to make this dream come alive."

"I remember on the early days of 'Parks & Rec' when we all thought we would be cancelled because our ratings weren't great. Our numbers. But we had some special humans over at NBC that believed in the show and let us grow and let audiences fall in love with our characters. I was hoping for this for 'Kevin' but sadly we are living in a different time in our industry. I hope the machines won't ruin everything. Maybe Kevin will find a new owner someday. Love you all very much. Meow."

No drama, no slagging Amazon off, just some honest frustration and a bit of nostalgia about shows being given time to breathe (an alien notion, apparently, to modern streamers).

What was Kevin, anyway? (And yes, it actually was good)

If you didn’t catch it (and let’s be honest, you easily could have missed it with the whimper of promotion that surrounded it), Kevin was Plaza’s oddball animated series featuring a group of animal misfits. The show was smarter than your average talking animal fare, sending up everything from self-help to politics through a motley crew that deserved way more love than they got.

• Bear the dog – with an unexpected right-leaning perspective
• Glen, the squirrel with a basket case energy and long list of anxieties
• Peter the rat – yes, in a dog costume, and no, the joke never wore thin

That’s just a taste. Honestly, the cast gave absolutely everything, managing to wring both laughs and occasionally a weird little hint of emotion out of this thoroughly unhinged lineup.

Promotion? You must be joking

Here’s where I get a bit unimpressed with Amazon’s effort (and I can’t be alone). I review this stuff for a living, and I barely saw any marketing – a random newspaper writeup, a billboard somewhere in LA, and that’s your lot. For a show this bonkers and potentially loveable, would it have killed them to actually tell people it existed?

In short: the show deserved better

I said in my original review that Kevin was a standout among the current glut of adult animation, and I stand by it. People who saw it, loved it. But apparently, getting the word out was just too much to ask this year at Amazon HQ.

Here’s hoping Plaza and co. find some new backers for this very oddball, very fun series. Until then… we’ve got one short season to rewatch.