Here’s why one of the best comedies on Netflix is leaving soon

Jane the Virgin has enjoyed a long stint on Netflix but is now preparing to leave the streaming, leaving some viewers curious why.

Jane the Virgin premiered on The CW in 2014. The rom-com series follows the story of a young woman who finds herself in a nightmarish scenario. Jane Gloriana Villanueva (Gina Rodrigue) works at a hotel to pay her way through school. She is in a relationship with Michael Cordero (Brett Dier) and plans to remain a virgin until marriage in order to avoid becoming a teen mother like her own mom. However, her life is flipped upside down when she becomes pregnant after an appointment to the gynecologist results in her mistakenly being artificially inseminated. On top of that, the baby’s biological father happens to be her boss, Rafael (Justin Baldoni).

The show received high praise due to its performances and because the satirical premise, which pulls from telenovela tropes, makes the rather disturbing premise palatable. All five seasons of Jane the Virgin have been streaming on Netflix since 2019 and both new and long-time viewers continue to enjoy the show. However, it is expected to leave the platform next month.

Why is Jane the Virgin leaving Netflix?

Jane the Virgin is one of many CW shows leaving Netflix due to the network’s contract with the streamer ending. In 2011, CW and Netflix signed a deal allowing CW shows to go to the streamer after airing on the network. Each show’s entire season would arrive on Netflix shortly after the season finale’s premiered on CW. In 2016, the streamer and network renewed the contract. However, by 2019, CW and Netflix chose not to renew the contract.

Hence, all shows released after 2019 would go to Max instead of Netflix. The contract wasn’t complete, though, because numerous current shows had just started their run on Netflix. The licensing agreement between the streamer and network stipulated that all shows had to remain on Netflix for at least five years after the final season arrived on Netflix. For shows that were currently on air in 2019, like The Flash and Riverdale, they would continue going to Netflix for streaming, and the five-year countdown would not start until whenever their final seasons arrived on the platform. So, some CW shows will remain on the platform until 2028.

Unfortunately, Jane the Virgin is one of the CW shows that ended the same year Netflix and the CW chose not to renew their contract. As a result, its five-year countdown started on August 8, 2019, and it’s one of the first CW shows expected to leave the platform on September 6.