'Sweet Magnolias' Achieves a Rare Feat For Middling Netflix Shows: Season 4 Renewal
Netflix announced Thursday that romanic-drama series Sweet Magnolias has been renewed for a fourth season.
Like the first three seasons, season 4 will consist of 10 episodes. The renewal comes three months after Season 3 of the series, which is based on Sheryl Woods’ collection of eponymous novels, debuted in July to a middling audience that was slightly smaller than the season 3 premiere tally.
In the past, abrupt cancellations of other niche series on Netflix, including GLOW, Sense8, The OA and The Santa Clarita Diet have annoyed viewers, leading to the creation of #CancelNetflix, which trended on Twitter continually last year.
For its part, Sweet Magnolias' third season debuted to just under 40 million streaming hours on Netflix's global platform for the week of July 17-23. It's audience performance was roughly on par with season 2, so while the series isn't drawing specular numbers, it's not necessarily losing popularity.
Sweet Magnolias is part of what Netflix calls its “comfort” lineup of lighter scripted dramas. Also in the lineup are Virgin River (renewed through season 6), The Lincoln Lawyer (renewed through season 3), Ginny & Georgia (renewed through season 4) as well as Firefly Lane and the anthology Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings.
Set in the fictional South Carolina town of Serenity, the feel-good series centers around best friends, Maddie (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), Dana Sue (BrookeElliott) and Helen (Heather Headley) as they juggle relationships, family, and careers in the small town.
Chris Klein, Jamie Lynn Spears. Justin Bruening, Carson Rowland, Logan Allen, Chris Medlin, Anneliese Judge, Brandon Quinn and Dion Johnstone will join Garcia Swisher, Elliot and Headley among the cast.
Season 3 saw Maddie working on her relationship with Cal (Burning) while Dana Sue enjoyed her reinvigorated marriage with Ronnie (Quinn) and Helen called it quits on fiancé Ryan (Michael Shenefelt). The season also brought the group’s first internal conflict, and fans worried if they would be able to repair their dynamic.
Unlike previous seasons, this latest finale didn’t end on a cliffhanger, leaving some fans uncertain about the fate of the show — especially considering the streamer’s tendency to cancel fan-favorite series.
Creator Sheryl J. Anderson returns as show-runner and executive producer, alongside Dan Paulson, whose company Daniel L. Paulson Productions is producing. Series author Woods also oversees the adaptation as an executive producer.
Also from Paulson Productions is Chesapeake Shores, a six-season multi-generational family drama for the Hallmark channel. The soapy series has been Hallmark’s highest rated show since 2016.
