Opinion
Could ‘My Lady Jane’ Be Saved? 3 Reasons Why It Deserves a Season 2
This is why we can’t have nice things.
Prime Video dropped all eight episodes of My Lady Jane on June 27, right before the Fourth of July weekend for those in the U.S. and smack dab in the middle of summer vacation. The series, based on the book written by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows, only had a few weeks to build momentum until the Summer Olympics began, which dominated all television coverage across the globe.
Less than two months after its release and in the midst of a tough summer TV landscape, My Lady Jane was cut off at the neck and canceled before it could really get a chance to thrive.
Could My Lady Jane get a second chance? Well, Dudleys never say die. I’m standing in solidarity with my fellow Lady Jane fans and manifesting the show being rescued just like Jane (Emily Bader) saved Guildford (Edward Bluemel) from burning at the stake. Here’s a full breakdown for why My Lady Jane deserves a Season 2 (and countless more)!
My Lady Jane could be a Bridgerton-level success
My Lady Jane was one of the most original shows of the year—and also one of the best. In an era of television that’s packed too full with spinoffs of spinoffs and basic, run-of-the-mill, male-driven IP projects, My Lady Jane was in a class all its own. This genre-bending, diverse, feminist spin on Lady Jane Grey’s tragic story was filled to the brim with imagination, comedy, and romance.
Unlike many shows that have dropped this year and have since been renewed, My Lady Jane dominated social media despite the projects they had to fight against. As someone who is chronically online and constantly scrolling TikTok, I saw more fan edits about My Lady Jane than Bridgerton Season 3, a show that likely had quadruple the marketing budget.
There were obvious comparisons between the period pieces online, but these two shows are vastly different in the best way. My Lady Jane is like Bridgerton’s quirky little sister with a wild streak. We’ve seen how successful romance-focused shows like Bridgerton can be. My Lady Jane has the potential to grab those Bridgerton fans but also nab unique viewers who love fantasy.
My Lady Jane‘s fanbase is also still growing. Several people I know just discovered the series last week. If every show that didn’t perform in the first month or so was immediately canceled, we’d be watching a lot less TV. There is a demand for more romance content, and the passionate response to saving My Lady Jane should not be ignored.
Emily Bader & Edward Bluemel’s chemistry shouldn’t end here
Bader and Bluemel’s chemistry as Jane Grey and Guildford Dudley was lightning in a bottle. They had the best chemistry on television this year, hands down. No one even comes close.
The magnetic pull between these two actors should be studied by PhD candidates in perpetuity. All TV (and even movie) stars should take notes from these two on how to build and ignite a proper slow-burn romance. The sexual tension was almost too hot for TV. Almost.
Emily Bader as Lady Jane Grey and Edward Bluemel as Guildford Dudley. (Prime Video)
And to top it all off, Guildford turns into a HORSE during the day. A horse! And it actually made the character even hotter! Bluemel could play any leading man role that’s currently on television, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a major TV actor who could play a character who turns into a horse as convincing as Bluemel did.
As for Bader, you know when you watch someone in their breakout role and just know they’re going to be a huge star? (She’s already been cast as the lead in the People We Meet on Vacation adaptation.) That’s what happened when I watched Bader as Lady Jane Grey. Her commanding and sparkling presence onscreen reminded me of a young Julia Roberts.
One season of Bader and Bluemel as Jane and Guildford is not enough. Even though they’ve already shown us the power they can create onscreen, it still felt like these two were just getting started. Let these two grab the reins and go supernova.
My Lady Jane deserves the You treatment
The state of streaming has become so fickle. If a streaming show doesn’t dominate the charts within the first couple of weeks, it’s seen as a failure. I’m a weekly drop truther. I firmly believe that the binge model hurts more than it helps new shows and impedes social conversations. Prime Video and other streamers have also started to abandon the binge method and opt for splitting seasons into two parts, like with Bridgerton and You, or weekly drops for romance-heavy shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty and Daisy Jones & The Six.
Prime Video’s premature axing of the show has left the My Lady Jane fanbase outraged. A Change.org petition has already garnered over 10,000 signatures in just two days. The website SaveMyLadyJane.com has been created to try to save the delightful rom-com fantasy series.
Most people forget that You was actually on Lifetime before it became a global phenomenon on Netflix. Penn Badgley’s drama series was canceled by Lifetime before being saved by the streamer, and the rest is history. The show has become one of Netflix’s most successful series. My Lady Jane should get that chance that so many other shows like You have gotten, whether it’s on Netflix or another streamer. My Lady Jane could explode with a second chance (and a weekly drop model).
Hopefully, the outcry for My Lady Jane Season 2 will get noticed by Prime Video or a rival streamer. It’s worked before! Putting the show out to pasture before it could flourish is a TV tragedy. Give Lady Jane Grey a chance to finish rewriting her own story, a chance she wasn’t given in real life.
Do you think My Lady Jane should be saved? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
My Lady Jane, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video
