Orphan Black to Stream Exclusively on Amazon Prime

Amazon has made a deal with BBC to exclusively carry the Orphan Black series starring Tatiana Maslany for Amazon Prime Customers. Season one is already available to stream and future seasons will be added as they air.

If you haven’t yet watched the first season of the series, now’s the time as season 2 starts April 19th.

The deal is the latest in the Amazon/Netflix/Hulu war to get exclusive shows in the hopes of gaining more customers. Amazon is already the exclusive subscription streaming home of PBS’ Downton Abbey, FX’s The Americans, CBS’ Under the Dome and upcoming Extant as well as hit shows like Veronica Mars and Justified. Prime Instant Video also has an exclusive collection of kids shows from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. including SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues.

In addition, Amazon has also recently gotten into the ‘original series’ market adding many shows created exclusively for the service. If you haven’t yet checked them out, it’s a good time to do so. We recently watched the whole series of Alpha House (starring John Goodman, Clark Johnson, Matt Malloy, Mark Consuelos with cameos by Bill Murray) and loved it.

Are you planning on catching up on Orphan Black? Have you watched Alpha House? Let us know in the comments below!

Say What?! Dora Sues Nickelodeon

Ok, well maybe not Dora herself. Caitlin Sanchez, the voice of Nickelodeon’s Dora on Dora The Explorer, has filed a lawsuit against the network with the support of her parents. Sanchez, 14, has voiced Dora since the show hit the airways in 2007. According to a report from the New York Daily News, Sanchez and her parents claim that she was pressured by Nickelodeon into signing a complicated contract that has ripped her off millions of dollars. The suit claims that they were rushed into signing the contract without consultation of a lawyer. Sanchez’s agent, Jason Burcy, allegedly gave the family 22 minutes to look over the contract mentioning that if they didn’t sign quickly Nickelodeon would pass on the offer for Caitlin to voice the cartoon character. The contract would allow Nickelodeon to exploit her as her alter-ego, Dora. The suit claims that Sanchez was not compensated for hundreds of hours of recording sessions and was compensated only $40 a day for travelling around the country promoting Dora The Explorer. She was also promised $5,115 per episode and compensation in residuals and merchandise. Nickelodeon, MTV Networks, and Viacom International are named as defendants in the suit who “”used Caitlin, unjustly enriching themselves of millions of dollars in profits from the series and branded products, which Caitlin performed and promoted.”

Nickelodeon has released the following statement in response: “The claims being made are baseless. Unfortunately, Caitlin’s voice changed and she was no longer able to portray the Dora character, as happened with the actress who originated the role. Caitlin’s contract was extensively negotiated through her agent and in compliance with her union. She was well-compensated for her work and for personal appearances. We have enjoyed working with Caitlin on Dora the Explorer these past three years, and we did in fact offer her a contract for other work with us.”

So what do you think? Are you heartbroken to hear this beloved cartoon character is turning on Nick? Let us know in our FORUMS or just comment below!