Woody Allen Signs as Writer, Director of Amazon TV Series

Woody Allen is a household name as far as films are concerned. However, despite an almost 40-year career in the industry, Allen can still branch out to other areas, and he's comingback to television... well, to streaming television.

On Tuesday, Amazon announced that Allen has signed on to write and direct his first ever television series, for a full season of half-hour shows, which as of now, is still yet to be given a title.

Few details have been given regarding Allen's project however, according to The New York Times, it will be making its debut next year.

Allen himself does not know much about the show that he's going to create. In a statement, he said, "I don't know how I got into this. I have no ideas, and I'm not sure where to begin."

The Times also suggested that with Allen helming a TV series for the company, Amazon is expanding its creative ambitions and pushing the envelope as far as it could go. Its original series, "Transparent," for instance, won a Golden Globes for its dark comedy about a family whose patriarch came out as transgender. It was noted to be the first time a streaming service won best-series for TV in the Globes.

Because it is a streaming service show, CNBC noted that the untitled Woody Allen project will be seen only to Prime Instant Video subscribers in the US, UK, and Germany.

Enlisting Allen for a television project caused a stir in the industry, considering that association with the director could be a risk for Amazon, considering that he came under great scrutiny again last February regarding the open letter his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow wrote, accusing him of sexually molesting her.

However, despite the claims, Allen was never charged of his alleged criminal wrongdoings, and in contrast to Bill Cosby's controversy, his career suffered minimal damage. A senior analyst for the television industry, from Rentrak Corp told Bloomberg, "No matter what you think of Woody Allen, his name is iconic and his brand is iconic, and it's a bold move by Amazon to associate with one of the most iconic filmmakers working today."

Besides, as the New York Times noted, it wasn't like Allen pitched making a series to Netflix or Hulu. It seems that Amazon really went all out to ask for him. Brian Wieser, a media analyst from Pivotal Research said, "Amazon has a formula; they know what sells. Presumably they are making a calculation in terms of not offending some of their customers while concurrently appealing to others.