A League of Their Own’s season two ‘renewal’ leaves fans outraged: ‘We deserve so much better’
A League of Their Own gets a controversial season two renewal. (Nicola Goode/Prime Video)
Prime series A League of Their Own has only been renewed for a four-episode second season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The comedy, based on the 1992 film about an all-women’s baseball league, featured a stand-out line-up of queer, non-binary and trans characters and quickly became a fan-favourite.
Season one, co-created by Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham, first aired in August 2022 and ran for eight episodes. It received one of the best Rotten Tomatoes scorings, at 94 per cent, for the streaming platform.
For the past seven months there has been a dedicated fan base campaigning for its renewal and pointing to the vital stories it has told, especially for the LGBTQ+ community.
Now, negotiations are under way to secure a shortened second season to wrap up the series. Some are branding the move a “consolation prize”. Amazon and Sony are yet to comment on the “limited series” format being talked about by insider sources.
Graham said: “The stuff that came out today is a leak and it isn’t official, which is why we aren’t saying anything. So, if you want to see more episodes or more seasons of this show, now is your moment. People are listening.”
A League of Their Own a touching sapphic love story for one of the characters, Max Chapman (Chanté Adams). There was also romance for Greta (D’Arcy Carden) and Carson (Jacobson) and a tender exploration of love, and family acceptance of a trans man, thanks to Bertie (Lea Robinson), Max’s uncle.
It becomes the latest LGBTQ+ series under threat on Prime, after The Wilds and Paper Girls were both axed, and joins a wider trend of sapphic shows, such as Netflix’s Warrior Nun, not being renewed.
A campaign, #MoreThanFour, has ensued on social media to hold Prime to account and encourage them to reconsider its latest decision.
“We deserve more than pity, we deserve more than fear of backlash, we deserve more than the bare minimum, we deserve full stories and we deserve respect. Prime, we deserve better and you know it,” one fan wrote.
Many, including Graham, have hit back against the claim that these shows are “niche” and only have a small fan base, explaining this is a disservice to the huge impact they have.
“Please stop reinforcing the narrative that POC/Queer shows are inherently niche or small if you don’t have data,” he tweeted.
One fan agreed, saying: “I’m just so f**king angry. So sick of anything diverse being treated as small, niche, or less important. I have loved lots of stories about straight people and people of colour even though I am neither. Good stories are universal.”
Others have also shared their anger and frustration.
“It’s really heart-breaking that part of me is like ‘four final episodes of A League of Their Own, yay closure’, because the bar is legit on the ground when it comes to LGBTQ+ and diverse TV shows getting even a second season. It shouldn’t be this hard,” a disgruntled fan argued.
Many have re-shared a speech made by Adams and Jacobson during a Human Rights Campaign event, in which the latter said: “If I had seen our show as a kid it would have changed my whole life. Seeing whole, complicated characters that look or love or live like you do, I cannot convey what that can do to change the course of someone’s life.”
A League of Their Own season one is available to stream on Prime.
