Amazon blames “A League of Their Own” cancellation on SAG & WGA strikes

Amazon Prime Video has scrapped the abbreviated second and final season of queer-centric dramedy A League of Their Own, reportedly blaming the ongoing Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes.

The decision has series co-creator and star Abbi Jacobson calling “bulls**t.”

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LGBTQ+ actors get loud about the massive Hollywood strikes

Like the WGA, actors are fighting for better pay in the streaming era. They also have some big name LGBTQ+ actors supporting them.

Last Friday, Deadline reported that the streamer would not move ahead with the four-episode final season as planned. The entertainment industry trade had previously reported in March that Prime Video had renewed the series for a shortened second season to wrap up storylines and give fans closure.

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Over the weekend, Entertainment Weekly confirmed that the decision to reverse the season 2 renewal was due to the ongoing strikes, which have ground TV and film production to a halt. In July, the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) — the union representing film and television actors — went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Hollywood studios, joining the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which went on strike in May. Both unions are demanding better working conditions and livable wages for working artists who may not be household names, among other demands, as the shift to streaming reshapes the film and TV industry.

Jacobson, who co-created A League of Their Own with Will Graham, responded to the show’s cancellation in an Instagram post over the weekend.

“What luck I have had to get to tell these stories and play this character I love so much. What a rare thing in life. And so I am sad today,” she wrote. “To blame this cancellation on the strike, (which is an essential fight for fair wages, protections and working conditions, etc…) is bulls**t and cowardly.”

Jacobson noted that the series, which gained a small but devoted fanbase and was praised for its focus on Black and LGBTQ+ characters, had been “put through the ringer.”

But, she wrote, “This post isn’t about all that.”

“This post here is about the special show I was lucky to make with so many incredibly talented artists and actors and writers and crew,” she continued. “A show I’m so proud of. Filled to the brim with stories worth telling. Full of so much heart and soul and value.”

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A League of Their Own is just the latest LGBTQ+-centric series to be canceled recently. Over the past year, streaming platforms and networks have conducted what some have characterized as a “purge” of queer and queer-inclusive shows, including Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q and Work in Progress, Paramount+’s Queer as Folk reboot, Hulu’s Love, Victor, and Netflix’s First Kill and Uncoupled (which was later picked up by Showtime for a second season).