Prime Video has canceled successful fantasy drama My Lady Jane after one season, but I think the streaming service is making a huge mistake by ending one of the best Prime Video shows so early. The news comes two months after all eight episodes of the show’s first season landed on one of the top streaming services in June, earning an impressive 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
My Lady Jane took a creative risk by mixing genres that don’t normally coexist. It wasn’t just another hot period drama like Bridgerton, it was also historical romance, fantasy, adventure, and farce. This obviously paid off, as it was one of the highest rated shows of the year and generated a lot of excitement on social media (trust me, I saw all the fan edits on Instagram), but that obviously wasn’t enough to save this damsel in distress.
According to Deadline My Lady Jane never made the top 10 of Nielsen’s weekly streaming rankings for original series, so despite the hype on social media and the unique twist on the Tudor story, it seems that not enough people watched the series to prompt a second season. The series was a lot crazier than the trailers suggested, so it’s possible that if Prime Video had revealed more of its fantastic premise when promoting the series, more people would have been encouraged to watch.
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What is My Lady Jane about?
My Lady Jane is based on the book of the same name by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows, which takes an alternative approach to the 16th century story of Lady Jane Grey, also known as the Nine Days Queen, who was given this name because she ruled England for only nine days. But nothing is as it seems in My Lady Jane because the series focuses on Ethians, people who can take on animal form and are controlled by the ruling class of normal humans, the Verity.
My Lady Jane Season 1 ended with the possibility of a renewal, hinting that there was more to come when the narrator shared, “Our story is not over yet.” Although the love story of the main couple, Lady Jane Grey (Emily Bader) and Lord Guildford Dudley (Edward Bluemel), had a happy ending, the cancellation is still a disappointment for those who enjoyed the outrageous, quirky approach to a period drama.
Now that we’ll never get to see the next chapter in the story of Lady Jane Grey, who couldn’t lose her head, watch these three period dramas to help you cope with the loss of another beloved series.