Social media has been a frequent source of comedy — it’ll even be a pretty central aspect to ABC’s upcoming sitcom Selfie. But later this year, Amazon is planning to turn social media into a source of terror. In its next pilot season, a show called Hysteria will follow a town where a strange “psycho-physiological illness” causing violent fits and spasms appears to be spreading through social media. How is that possible? It’s entirely unclear for now, but perhaps it’s something like a really bad meme.
Amazon orders TV pilot about a sickness spreading over social media
is The Verge’s executive editor. He has covered tech, policy, and online creators for over a decade.
"His script immediately hooked us."
The show will be an hour long, and, like other Amazon pilots, whether or not it gets turned into a full series depends on viewers’ response. “[Hysteria writer Shaun Cassidy] is known for creating shows with layers of mystery, depth of character, and topical themes,” Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios, says in a statement. “His script immediately hooked us, and we can’t wait to hear what customers think.”
Hysteria’s pilot will premiere alongside the hourlong drama Hand of God (about a judge on a “vigilante quest” to track down a rapist), and the half-hour long dramatic comedies The Cosmopolitans (about young American expats in Paris) and Really (about life in Chicago).
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