#Amazon Confirms ‘A League of Their Own’ Ending With Four Episodes

It’s official: Amazon’s A League of Their Own reimagining is ending with an abbreviated run.

As The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reported March 14, the beloved women in baseball series will conclude with a four-episode run that Amazon is billing as a limited series. The news, which sparked online outrage and prompted a fan campaign for #MoreThanFour, was formally announced Wednesday in a press release from Amazon that followed months of negotiations with Sony Pictures Television and after the cast and creatives had to ink new deals for the abbreviated run.

“We’re deeply proud of the work that Abbi, Will, the cast, and crew have done reimagining A League of Their Own which has produced an incredibly loyal fan base as well as achieved numerous, well-deserved recognitions and accolades,” said Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon and MGM Studios. “After hearing what Abbi, Will, and the writing team have planned for the new story within this wonderful series, we are excited for our fans to see what comes next.”

As THR previously reported, the retail giant/streamer renegotiated with Sony to lower the show’s licensing fee. A writers room has been hard at work on the “limited series” second season of League for the past month.

The series, co-created by star Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham (Daisy Jones and the Six), puts its focus on queer and Black stories from the real All American Girls Professional Baseball League and counts former player Maybelle Blair among its consultants.

“Making this show and seeing the impact it has had in the world has been an incredible joy,” Graham and Jacobson said in a joint statement Wednesday. “While obviously we were hoping for 11 seasons, we’re grateful to be able to continue to tell the story of these characters and this world.” 

In the works since early 2018, Graham recruited Jacobson (Broad City) for the more modern take on Penny Marshall’s beloved 1992 feature film that starred Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell and Tom Hanks. Graham and Jacobson received Marshall’s blessing on their updated take before she passed away. The duo also recruited several members of the former AAGPBL to serve as advisers — including the legendary Blair, who at age 95 came out as gay during the press tour for the show.

The series starring Jacobson, D’Arcy Carden, Chante Adams, Melanie Field and Kate Berlant builds on the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nods to sexuality and racism that were briefly featured in Marshall’s movie. In addition to featuring stories of queer players from the league, the Amazon take also examines the plight of Black women who were not permitted to join the league and were part of another contingent of teams that traveled the country.

The eight-episode first season bowed at once in August to positive reviews; it currently boasts an impressive 94 percent rating among critics and 87 percent score with viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. The show also has earned recognition from GLAAD (outstanding new TV series), the Independent Spirit Awards (for supporting actress Gbemisola Ikumelo) and with the NAACP Image Awards (costume design). It was also honored by the Critics Choice Association, earning the women’s committee seal of female empowerment in entertainment, the National Visibility Award from the Human Rights Campaign, and the Voice and Visibility Award from the National Council of La Raza.

As THR reported earlier this month in a larger look under the hood at Amazon, several insiders at the retail giant/streamer said its reliance on testing and data led to a clash last summer between Graham and marketing execs after data showed audiences found League’s queer stories off-putting and suggested downplaying those themes in materials promoting the show. Graham expressed concern about bias built into Amazon’s system for evaluating shows, which multiple sources said often ranked broad series featuring straight, white male leads above all others. One executive calls A League of Their Own “a proxy for how diverse and inclusive shows are treated.” Graham subsequently launched into an interrogation of the system, questioning multiple executives about it. Amazon took the issue seriously and dropped the system of ranking shows based on audience scores.