Netflix Cancels ‘Sweet Magnolias’ After Five Seasons — But JoAnna Garcia Swisher Isn’t Going Anywhere

Pour one final margarita for the ladies of Serenity.

Netflix has canceled Sweet Magnolias after five seasons, officially bringing the long-running romantic drama to an end following the release of Season 5 in June. The cancellation means there will be no Season 6 for Maddie, Dana Sue, Helen, and the rest of the Serenity crew.

The series starred JoAnna Garcia Swisher as Maddie Townsend alongside Brooke Elliott as Dana Sue Sullivan and Heather Headley as Helen Decatur. Since premiering in 2020, Sweet Magnolias built its story around the trio's friendship, families, romances and plenty of margarita nights in their small South Carolina town.

Season 5 arrived on Netflix on June 11 and expanded the show's world beyond Serenity, with Maddie's new publishing job taking the Magnolias to New York City. The season also continued several long-running stories, including Helen and Erik's relationship and Dana Sue questioning what the next chapter of her marriage to Ronnie might look like.

Unfortunately, there had already been a warning sign that the show's future might be in trouble.

Season 5 opened with 2.8 million views during its first four days of availability, landing at No. 4 on Netflix's weekly English-language TV chart. That represented roughly a 30% decline compared with the previous season's opening performance, while Netflix had also opted not to open a Season 6 writers room ahead of the premiere as it waited to see how the new episodes performed.

The audience did grow during the following week, with Season 5 pulling another 3.5 million views and climbing to No. 3 on the English TV chart. Still, that wasn't enough to get another round of margaritas ordered.

There is at least some good news for fans of Garcia Swisher and Sweet Magnolias showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson. Their partnership with Netflix isn't ending along with Serenity.

Netflix has ordered Ladies of the House, a romantic drama based on Lauren Edmondson's novel of the same name. Garcia Swisher and Anderson are involved with the project, which follows the wife and adult daughters of a senator as they attempt to balance their private lives with their very public identities after the senator dies under compromising circumstances.

The project has actually been in development for some time through Garcia Swisher and Kate Gordon's THP Entertainment, with Black Label Media also producing. Garcia Swisher previously selected the novel for her THP Reads book club before developing it for television, making Ladies of the House a very different kind of family drama while keeping some familiar Sweet Magnolias creative DNA.

Still, for viewers who have spent six years hanging out in Serenity, this one is going to sting. Five seasons is a solid Netflix run, but after following Maddie, Dana Sue and Helen through marriages, breakups, career changes, deaths and enough personal drama to keep those margarita glasses permanently occupied, saying goodbye without another season isn't exactly the toast fans were hoping to make.

All five seasons of Sweet Magnolias are streaming now on Netflix.