Prime Video Pulls the Plug on ‘It’s Not Like That’ Despite Critical Acclaim and Strong Viewership

EXCLUSIVE: The star-crossed romance between Malcolm and Lori will remain forever suspended in the amber of a cliffhanger. It’s Not Like That, the faith-based family drama that captured hearts and garnered a pristine 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, will not return for a second season on Prime Video, Deadline has learned.

The decision to shutter the series comes just six weeks after its wide release on the platform, leaving fans of the heartfelt drama—and the central pairing played by Scott Foley and Erinn Hayes—without the resolution they were promised by the show’s final moments.

A Sudden End to a Promising Chapter

The cancellation arrives as a jarring note in what was otherwise a successful rollout for the series. Created by Parenthood alumni Ian Deitchman and Kristin Robinson, It’s Not Like That was designed to be a cornerstone of the burgeoning partnership between Amazon MGM Studios and the faith-focused production house, Wonder Project.

The series followed the complex, interwoven lives of Malcolm (Foley), a widowed pastor and father of three, and Lori (Hayes), a newly divorced mother of two teenagers. The narrative, lauded for its grounded take on modern single parenthood and faith, resonated with audiences who appreciated the slow-burn chemistry between the two leads. However, the show’s finale—which saw Malcolm mentally rehearse a confession of love that ultimately remained unspoken—now serves as a permanent, bittersweet endpoint rather than a bridge to a sophomore season.

The Chronology of a Faith-Based Launch

The trajectory of It’s Not Like That is emblematic of the unique distribution strategies currently being employed by Prime Video to cater to specific audience segments.

January 25, 2026: The series made its debut exclusively on the Wonder Project add-on subscription channel, a targeted service intended to aggregate faith-forward content.
May 15, 2026: Following its initial run on the niche channel, the series saw a wider global release across the standard Prime Video library, allowing it to reach a broader, mainstream audience.
June 3, 2026: Prime Video began publishing its inaugural weekly Top 10 rankings. To the surprise of industry observers, It’s Not Like That secured the No. 9 spot on the global series list, indicating strong momentum.
Present Day: Despite maintaining a consistent presence on the U.S. Daily Top 10 list—often hovering around the No. 5 position—the decision has been finalized to cease production.

In contrast, the sibling series House of David, also produced by Wonder Project, continues to thrive. Having premiered its second season on the add-on channel last November and arrived on the main platform in March, it has been officially greenlit for a third season, underscoring the streamer’s continued commitment to the genre, if not to this specific title.

Analyzing the Disconnect: Data vs. Decision

Industry analysts are left scratching their heads at the cancellation of a series that appeared to be performing well by traditional streaming metrics. In an era where "viewership numbers" are guarded with extreme secrecy by streamers, the public-facing Top 10 lists provided by Prime Video were the only barometer for the show’s health. By all accounts, the show was a "sticky" title, maintaining its relevance on the platform’s daily charts long after its mid-May release.

Why, then, pull the plug? The answer likely lies in the shift in the Prime Video executive suite. While both It’s Not Like That and House of David were commissioned under a previous regime, the current landscape of Amazon MGM Studios is being steered by Head of Global TV Peter Friedlander.

Friedlander, who maintains a deep professional history with Wonder Project CEO Kelly Merryman Hoogstraten dating back to their tenure at Netflix, is currently restructuring the studio’s output. It is possible that while It’s Not Like That found an audience, the production costs—coupled with the strategic direction of the new administration—rendered the project an outlier in a portfolio that is increasingly pivoting toward high-budget, broad-appeal tentpoles or specific, long-term franchises like House of David.

The Creative Team and Production Footprint

The series was a heavyweight effort in terms of talent. Showrunners Ian Deitchman and Kristin Robinson, working alongside Garrett Lerner, crafted a narrative that relied heavily on character-driven emotional stakes. The production was a complex collaborative effort, with executive producers including Jon Erwin, Justin Rosenblatt, and Jon Gunn for Wonder Project, alongside Scott Foley himself, Brad Silberling, and Alex Goldstone of 42 & Anonymous Content.

The cast, which featured J.R. Ramirez as David Soto, as well as young talents Caleb Baumann, Cary Christopher, Leven Miranda, Liv Lindell, and Cassidy Paul, helped ground the show’s high-concept premise in a believable family dynamic. The loss of the show marks not only the end of the Malcolm-Lori romance but also the dispersal of a cast that had developed a distinct rapport over the course of the first season.

Implications for the Faith-Based Streaming Market

The cancellation of It’s Not Like That serves as a case study for the volatile nature of "niche-to-mainstream" programming. When a streamer utilizes an add-on channel as a "proving ground," the data generated there is often subject to different standards of success than the wider, global platform.

For Wonder Project, the survival of House of David suggests that their partnership with Amazon remains intact, even if the "one-in, one-out" approach to series renewals becomes the norm. For viewers, the news is a stark reminder of the "streaming cliffhanger"—a phenomenon where series are canceled after building high audience engagement but failing to meet the rigorous, behind-the-scenes financial thresholds required by modern studio heads.

As for the fans, the finality of the decision leaves them with a narrative void. In the final scene, Lori was left to grapple with the decision of whether to pursue a new relationship or return to her ex-husband, while Malcolm’s internal monologue remained private. Without a second season, the characters are effectively frozen in their dilemma—a fitting, if unintended, metaphor for the unpredictable lifecycle of today’s streaming content.

Looking Ahead

While It’s Not Like That will not return, the conversation regarding the show’s performance is unlikely to die down quickly. As Prime Video continues to refine its global strategy and its relationship with external production partners, the lessons learned from the short-lived but critically lauded run of this series will likely inform future commissioning decisions.

For now, the 100% Rotten Tomatoes score stands as a testament to the quality of the work produced by Deitchman, Robinson, and the rest of the team—a high-water mark for a show that, despite its critical success, couldn’t quite clear the final hurdle of the corporate streaming machine.

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