Amazon has ordered “I Love Dick,” “Jean-Claude Van Johnson” and “The Tick” to series. The new shows will debut next year in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria and Japan.
“These pilots were vast in scope, disruptive in tone, challenging in story and sometimes even funny,” Joe Lewis, Amazon Studios’ head of half-hour series, said in a statement. “It’s rewarding to see customers embrace them in such a huge way. We can’t wait to premiere these series next year on Prime Video.”
Below are their official descriptions, all in Amazon’s own words.
“I Love Dick”
Adapted from the cult classic, “I Love Dick” — referred to as “the most important book about men and women written in the last century” (Emily Gould, The Guardian) — is set in a colorful intellectual community in Marfa, Texas. Chris (Kathryn Hahn, “Transparent”) and Sylvere (Griffin Dunne, “Dallas Buyers Club”) arrive in Marfa when Sylvere is offered a fellowship to finish a book he’s been writing on the Holocaust. When they meet Dick (Kevin Bacon, “The Following”), he taunts their imaginations and upends their preconceptions about love and monogamy.
An exploration of the female gaze and how we tell stories about love and desire, “I Love Dick” charts the evolution of a marriage, the awakening of an artist and the deification of a writer named Dick. “I Love Dick” is executive produced by Jill Soloway (“Transparent”), Andrea Sperling (“Transparent”), and Sarah Gubbins (“Ten Aker Wood”). The pilot was directed by Soloway and written by Gubbins.
“Jean-Claude Van Johnson”
If you need to eliminate a political rival, debilitate a multinational corporation, or overthrow an entire government — and you need it done with the utmost secrecy — there’s only one person to turn to: one of the most internationally recognizable movie stars in the history of film. “Jean-Claude Van Johnson” stars Jean-Claude Van Damme (“JCVD”) playing Jean-Claude Van Johnson, a global martial arts and film sensation … and, operating under the simple alias of “Johnson,” the most dangerous undercover private contractor in the world. Lucky for the world’s bad guys, he’s been retired for years … unlucky for them, a chance encounter with a lost love is about to bring him back to
The pilot for “Jean-Claude Van Johnson” starred Van Damme along with Kat Foster (“Your Family or Mine”), Moises Arias (“The Middle”), and Phylicia Rashad (“Creed”). The show is executive produced by Peter Atencio (“Key and Peele”), Ridley Scott (“The Good Wife”), David W. Zucker (“The Man in the High Castle”) and Van Damme. From Scott Free Productions, the pilot was directed by Atencio, and written and created by Dave Callaham (“Mortal Kombat”).
“The Tick”
In a world where superheroes have been real for decades, an underdog accountant with zero powers comes to realize his city is owned by a global super villain long-thought dead. As he struggles to uncover this conspiracy, he falls in league with a strange blue superhero. The pilot for The Tick starred Peter Serafinowicz (“Guardians of the Galaxy”), Griffin Newman (“Vinyl”), Jackie Earle Haley (“Watchmen”), Valorie Curry (“House of Lies”), Yara Martinez (“Jane the Virgin”) and Brendan Hines (“Scorpion”).
“The Tick” is executive produced by Ben Edlund (“Supernatural”), Barry Josephson (“Bones”) andBarry Sonnenfeld (“A Series of Unfortunate Events”), directed by Wally Pfister (“The Dark Knight”), and written by Edlund. “The Tick” is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television.