A League of Their Own's season 2 commission is a huge problem

A League of Their Own season one was exceptional. Period. Underscore. Exclamation mark! We confidently state this with our whole chest.

The reboot of the 1992 film centres on the formation of women's pro baseball team the Rockford Peaches in 1940s America, starring Abbi Jacobson, D'Arcy Carden and Chante Adams as Carson, Greta and Max respectively.

Despite the familiar and well-liked source material, it took big risks, with densely packed, complicated themes: it explored feminism, queerness and Blackness in a historical context with all the burdensome disadvantages and discrimination that come along with each.

If that weren't enough to chew through, A League of Their Own still found the time to include the lived experience of someone on the autistic spectrum.

From the outset it appears as though its co-creators Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson got their hands on A Woke Guide To Television, tore out the checklist and began ticking off the boxes.

Ahhh, but this, in fact, is not the case.

There is a certain mastery to the way in which they interweave these themes so authentically: less force-fed representation and more a kaleidoscopic blend of how these very real, relatable issues impact the hopes and aspirations of our protagonists and by extension us, paralleled in the present day.

The news then, that A League of Their Own will be renewed for season two does nothing to wash away the bitter taste in our mouths after learning that it is probably its last, and may not even be granted a full run of episodes.

The announcement, via The Hollywood Reporter, means it will likely follow Paper Girls into the wastepaper basket of shows that had no business being cancelled – shows that added value to the conversation of female representation and queerness.

If that isn't hard enough to digest, it has been speculated that the number of episodes for season two have been slashed in half, dropping from a respectable eight to a pitiful four.

Squeezing the complexities of these women's storylines into a measly few episodes does the show a massive disservice and will likely impact the quality of the narrative.

Given that there are so few shows that tackle all of these issues so well it would be utterly disappointing to watch that quality slip into mediocrity knowing that it has the capability to be more. It would be especially heartbreaking given how important it is to continue to give a true voice to underrepresented communities.

Fans of the show have already taken to Twitter to express their displeasure.

"That's highly unfortunate! The series was impeccable!" one fan tweeted, while another said:

"I've been looking forward to #ALeagueOfTheirOwn renewal day for over 200 days. I thought the fight would be over and we would all be celebrating. Instead, we have to fight for #MoreThanFour. @PrimeVideo - you're breaking our gay hearts."

Another fan made note of the disappointing lack of lesbian representation for the Black community elsewhere on TV, stating:

"These two [Abbi Jacobson and Chanté Adams] deserve #morethanfour because black WLW [Women Loving Women] representation on TV is near to none. 1940's black WLW existed back then just like it does today! Diversity matters and #ALOTO brings that."

*Clears throat loudly* They're not wrong.

The fact that Jacobson was subject to trolling for daring to create a show that challenges the expectations of mainstream television content only goes to support the fact that A League of Their Own was game-changing.

It was pushing bigots out of their comfort zone whilst celebrating facets of society that have been marginalised by what used to be deemed 'the norm', ie no Blacks, no queers and all must adhere to their gender-stereotypical roles, thank you very much.

In response to the hate Jacobson fought back saying:

"I have seen a lot of people angry and mad at our inclusion of more experiences (POC, QWOC, queer) and that anger (aka fear) has only made me more sure about why this reimagining needed to be made. Why representation matters so much."

Which begs the question, isn't this a show we should be championing? One that shouldn't have to fight for air time against the tidal wave of average that gets given the rubber stamp.

The creators continue to fight for the survival of the show and with that there is comforting news from Graham, who tweeted:

"The stuff that came out today [regarding the show's second season] is a leak and it isn't official, which is why we aren't saying anything."

Graham also encouraged fans to rally around the show saying: "If you want to see more episodes or more seasons of this show, now is your moment. People are listening."

Well 'People', we object! A League of Their Own deserves a richer future beyond season two and we'd like our full eight episodes while you're at it too.

A League of Their Own is streaming on Prime Video.

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