Abbi Jacobson Honors 'A League of Their Own' While Slamming Cancellation Excuse

Abbi Jacobson, the co-creator and one of the stars of the Amazon Prime series A League of Their Own, says blaming its cancellation on the actors’ and writers’ strikes “is bullsh*t and cowardly.” But she’s also paying homage to the LGBTQ-inclusive show.

News broke Friday that the show would not have its previously announced second season, which was to be just four episodes instead of the first season’s eight. Fans definitely wanted more. But sources told Variety that the strikes would cause such a delay in production that a new season couldn’t be released before 2025, and the first season ran in August 2022.

“To blame this cancellation on the strike, (which is an essential fight for fair wages, protections and working conditions, etc…) is bullshit and cowardly,” Jacobson wrote on Instagram over the weekend. “But this post isn’t about all that.”

“This post here is about the special show I was lucky to make with so many incredibly talented artists and actors and writers and crew,” she continued. “A show I’m so proud of. Filled to the brim with stories worth telling. Full of so much heart and soul and value.”

The series was an adaptation of the well-loved 1992 film of the same name about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, founded while men were away in World War II. It featured several LGBTQ+ characters and was created by the queer duo of Jacobson and Will Graham. Jacobson also appeared in the series, portraying Carson, who falls in love with fellow player Greta (D’Arcy Carden). Chante Adams played Max, a Black queer woman who is turned away from the all-white women’s league and seeks opportunities with men’s Black teams. Other LGBTQ+ characters in the show included Max’s transgender uncle, Bertie, played by nonbinary actor Lea Robinson. Executive producers Desta Tedros Reff and Jamie Babbit (who also directed) are queer as well.

Maybelle Blair, now in her 90s, played in the All-American Girls league and came out while promoting the series, on which she was a consultant.

"I haven't put anything out into the world that felt like I put so much of myself into it in a number of years," Jacobson told The Advocate in 2022. "I'm feeling all the things and very excited because I feel really proud of it."