CW cancels 'Life Sentence' after just one season, leaving its star Lucy Hale "shell-shocked"
Stella Abbott from 'Life Sentence' may have had her cancer cured but, looks like the show got a death sentence yesterday. Lucy Hale, the actress who plays Stella Abbot took to Twitter to announce The CW will not be renewing the show for a second season. The season one finale, now serving as the series finale, is slated to air on June 15.
Lucy wrote that she was "shell-shocked" on hearing the show would not be coming back since she was "emotionally attached to this story and to everyone involved." However, she said she felt "fortunate" that she got to tell a "really beautiful story."
"Sometimes things don’t resonate with the audience and shows just don’t work, but I’m so proud of what we accomplished & for the experience I had."
The meaningful comedy-drama that first aired on March 7, 2018, narrates the story of a young girl who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and had been living a day at a time as though she was dying for the last eight years. On finding out that her sickness was cured, she is forced to adjust to her post-cancer world and amend the self-destructive choices she made.
The show full of laughter and folly explores how a new lease of life isn't always as expected. The ratings are currently averaging fewer than 500,000 total viewers along with a 0.15 demo rating, which is incredibly unfortunate.
"Life Sentence was a show that a lot of us needed and I am beyond grateful for those who gave our show a chance," Lucy said. "Somewhere in the universe, the Abbotts will continue their dysfunctional lives & Stella will continue to be a manic pixie dream girl. That chapter is closing before I want it to, but taking this as a life lesson. Things don’t always work out in our favor & it’s up to us what we do with it," the 28-year-old actress added.
"It’s been a helluva last year for me and I want to give a huge thank you to the support I’ve been shown! Love love love to all of you. We created something important and pure an no cancellation can take that away,” she concluded.
The CW previously renewed eleven of its series for the 2018-19 television season, including 'Jane The Virgin,' 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,' 'Riverdale' and 'The 100.' Though the ratings of these shows were better than Lucy Hale's 'Life Sentence', mainly because the Pretty Little Liar's actress's fanbase has an age target audience, does not mean the show was a flop scene. The fans have been tweeting;
The show meant a great deal to cancer survivors and resonated with many but looks like ratings are more important than the connections a show makes. Looks like a show without controversy and ratings are not worth the renew.
Bad news that the show was not coming back was hinted when the show was moved to a Friday night from Wednesday night, soon after its first episode. The same was done for the show 'Dynasty' which was, however, renewed.
Fans have taken to social media for a strong #RenewLifeSentence campaigns but looks like the declaration has been made.
Many hit TV shows we binge on today did not always have a great start. The ratings of 'Breaking Bad,' 'Bones,' South Park,' 'Parks and Recreation,' 'Supernatural' were just as bad. But they were lucky enough to get a second chance. In this case, as ironic as it is, Stella got a second chance, Lucy didn't.
