‘Jane deserved more’: George R.R. Martin just made an appeal for a Prime Video series canceled too soon
Most of us are kinda annoyed that George R.R. Martin is writing blogs, not books. (Sir, please, where is The Winds of Winter?) But with his recent blog post, the man just earned a temporary respite. Why? Because he has advocated for the renewal of My Lady Jane on Prime Video.
Last week on his Not A Blog, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire and Fire & Blood had some thorny opinions about House of The Dragon season 2 and everything that, according to him, the series was doing wrong, and the repercussions of those decisions on later season. This week, however, he has decided to talk about another show with two warring queens. Although, he has some pretty lovely things to say about this one. And good, because this show, which has been canceled after one season by Prime Video, deserves to grab the right eyeballs and spark a possible renewal.
In his new blog post, George R.R. Martin talked about a couple of shows like Dark Matter and The Great. But it would make The Lady Janies squeal with delight to know how the author described their favorite little show. He wrote that he “really enjoyed MY LADY JANE,” and called it “a clever and original historical fantasy.” GRRM also revealed that he had previously worked with Meredith Glynn, one of the showrunners, on a Game of Thrones spin-off that was later shelved by HBO, and it came as no surprise that My Lady Jane was so good!
“Witty and original, it reminded me a bit of THE GREAT, a show I loved. Alas, THE GREAT is gone, and it appears MY LADY JANE is too. Amazon did not renew it for a second season. The show has a lot of fans, though, and they have launched a petition to get Amazon to order more. (Got to love the fans).”
The moment that really earned GRRM those extra brownie points from me (and possibly other MLJ fans too) was when he not only lamented the show’s cancellation but he also shared a link about the fan petition to renew the series and expressed his own hope that the series gets more than the eight episodes we got to see!
“I wish them luck. Jane deserved more than nine days, or eight episodes.”
– George R.R. Martin on ‘My Lady Jane’
My Lady Jane, a rousingly feminist reimagining of the real life nine-day reign of Queen Jane Grey Dudley based on the book of the same name by Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton, and Cynthia Hand, arrived on Prime Video amidst comparatively less fanfare in the end of June this year. The Tudor Era romantasy created by Gema Burgess starred Emily Bader and Edward Bluemel in the lead, alongside Jordan Peters, Anna Chancellor, Dominic Cooper, Kate O’Flynn, Rob Brydon, Abbie Hern, Isabella Brownson, Henry Ashton, and Robyn Betteridge. And it reviewed incredibly well, with some deeming it superior to Bridgerton season 3.
However, in August, merely two months after its release, it was canceled by Prime Video for not enough viewership. The news came as a shock to fans, but it was an even bigger shock to others because they didn’t even know such a show existed! The marketing for My Lady Jane was clearly ineffective, because many people found out about the series only after social media chatter grew around its cancellation and a fan petition gathering signatures for its renewal got covered by major news portals.
The fan petition to Save My Lady Jane, which was shared by several of the show’s cast members, has already received more than 65,000 signatures on change.org and continues to grow. With more people finding out about the show, watching it, and loving it, My Lady Jane’s viewership numbers and Rotten Tomatoes scores have also seen a drastic pull up. Earlier this month, the runners of this campaign, in a hilarious and rather apt stroke of inspiration, sent 1000 toy horses to Chris Bird, managing director at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios UK at their London office.
And now, with George R.R. Martin’s support, here’s hoping someone in the big offices is listening. My Lady Jane’s Guildford Dudley actor Edward Bluemel shared GRRM’s blog post on his social media, thrilled to read such praise for the series.
Honestly, George R.R. Martin making an appeal for the renewal of My Lady Jane was not on my 2024 bingo card, but I’m so glad he did. Come on, now, Prime Video, maybe it’s time you admitted you messed up and un-cancel this superb series so we can get more of this feisty heroine and her handsome horse-husband?
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