Remember when everyone was new to being stuck at home and Netflix surprised us all with the wonderful world of Tiger King? That seems like a lifetime ago, and one of those 2020 moments we’d like to forget. That’s probably why Amazon Studios is killing off its Nicolas Cage-starring scripted series before it even starts.
The project was conjured up more than a year ago (back when Tiger King was still very much a thing) and was set to be based on the Texas Monthly article “Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild,” by Leif Reigstad. The story would focus on Joe Shreibvogel, the adventures that led him to become Joe Exotic, and his struggle to keep his exotic animal park up and running. However, the series didn’t even make it beyond script-form.
The Tiger Kingdom craze definitely had a moment in 2020, and production studios clearly wanted in on a piece of the action as evidenced by Amazon jumping on the bandwagon and concocting its idea for a scripted series. Carole Baskin even got her 15 minutes of fame extended a little bit with a short run on Dancing With The Stars.
But NBC hasn’t taken the hint that the Tiger King craze is over, and its series starring Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin is still ago. That series will air on NBC and USA, along with streaming on Peacock.