The author of Sweet Magnolias has broken her silence on the show’s shocking cancellation — and the subsequent backlash.
“So many of you have expressed your disappointment about not just the cancellation of #Sweet Magnolias Netflix,” Sherryl Woods, who wrote the books that inspired the show, captioned an Instagram post on Monday, September 21. “But [also] that you’ll never know exactly what happened next for Annie and Ty.”
Woods weighed in on where she thought Annie (Anneliese Judge) and Ty (Carson Rowland) would have ended up.
“While the storylines between TV and books never match exactly, they do get their happily-ever-after in the books,” she noted. “Home in Carolina is their story.”
Sweet Magnolias, which premiered in 2020, is based on Woods’ novels about three women who have been best friends since childhood as they navigate their romantic lives, careers and family.
Before season 5 premiered in June, Us broke the news that Rowland, 28, wouldn’t reprise his role as Ty. Showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson exclusively told Us that the actor made the “decision” to sit out.
“In his leaving, we wanted to make the best of the situation,” she shared. “And look at what happens when people leave the people they love to chase a dream.”
Anderson later told Deadline that the door was open for the actor to return.
“We’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?” Anderson teased about how the writers wanted to “give that story emotional weight, stakes, consequences” for Annie. “To just pretend that nobody thinks about him, nobody asks about him, and that he’s not thinking about them would have been insincere, I believe.”
Anderson added: “He’s still out there trying to figure out what happens next, she’s still in Serenity trying to figure out what happens next. And again, open doors we hope will lead to new information, different resolutions. Love isn’t cut and dry. You don’t just wake up one morning and say, I don’t love this person anymore, and move on. It takes time.”
News broke earlier this month that Netflix chose not to renew Sweet Magnolias for a sixth season. Instead, the streaming service ordered a new drama series from Anderson — with JoAnna Garcia Swisher set to executive produce and potentially star.
“All grand adventures must eventually end,” read a post from the show’s official Instagram account on Friday, September 18. “And here, dear friends, is where ours goes. Sweet Magnolias is now complete with five seasons streaming on Netflix.”
Rowland reacted to the decision, writing via Instagram, “End of an era.”
Sweet Magnolias is now streaming on Netflix.
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