EXCLUSIVE: Prime Video is not moving forward with the previously ordered second — and final — season of comedy-drama A League Of Their Own, co-created and starring Abbi Jacobson, Deadline has learned.
It joins fellow Prime Video/Amazon Studios hourlong freshman series The Peripheral, which also had its Season 2 renewal reversed.
As Deadline reported earlier today, both cancellations are believed to stem from the length of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which have delayed TV production, creating large gaps between seasons and making shows miss their target release dates.
In a story earlier this week, Deadline reported that there may be more series whose renewals could be rescinded or pending pickups not happen if the work stoppage stretches past Labor Day, with freshman series going into Season 2 the most vulnerable. There was a similar string of unrenewals during the pandemic.
A League of Their Own, an adaptation of the 1992 film of the same name, premiered last summer; after months of negotiations, the series received an order for an abbreviated four-episode second and final season in April. I hear the show was slated to begin filming before winter this year.
Due to the strikes, production on both A League Of Their Own and The Peripheral was delayed and could not start before 2024, pushing the Season 2 premieres to 2025. That would create a logjam in Amazon’s 2025 pipeline and would stretch the gap between A League Of Their Own‘s first season and the four final episodes to three years.
Still, the baseball comedy-drama developed a modest but very passionate fan base, so the news that they would not be getting closure will likely resonate in a big way.
But, being an elaborate period piece, A League of Their Own is expensive, and a delay is incurring charges that are being added to its budget while also creating the need for a new marketing campaign around the relaunch.
Series renewed for a second season comprised the bulk of pickup reversals and cancellations during the pandemic, when Covid shut down production for months, leading to big gaps between seasons. The list included Netflix’s The Society and I’m Not OK With This as well as Showtime’s On Becoming a God in Central Florida and ABC’s Stumptown.
A League Of Their Own, created by Will Graham and Jacobson, follows the formation of the WWII-era women’s professional baseball team weaving in the experiences of both diverse and queer women at the center and earning the show a devoted cult following.
Jacobson stars in A League of Their Own alongside Chanté Adams, D’Arcy Carden, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Roberta Collindrez, Kelly McCormack, Priscilla Delgado, Molly Ephraim, Kate Berlant, Melanie Field, Nick Offerman, Rosie O’Donnell, Patrick J. Adams, Patrice Covington, Sadiah Ekulona, Lea Robinson, Andia Winslow, Rae Gray, and Lil Frex.
Season 1 won for Outstanding New TV Series at the GLAAD Media Awards, and received Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series Independent Spirit Awards nomination for Gbemisola Ikumelo.
A League of Their Own is from Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television in association with Field Trip Productions. The series is co-created and executive produced by Graham and Jacobson. Field Trip’s Hailey Wierengo, Desta Tedros Reff and Jamie Babbit also executive produce. Maybelle Blair, a 95-year-old original All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player, served as a consultant on the series.
Graham also is executive producing Amazon Studios’ praised limited series Daisy Jones & The Six whose production was significantly delayed by the pandemic. It is currently nominated for nine Emmy Awards.