Sweet Magnolias season 4 is not coming in 2024 and we truly don't understand why

Someone better start pouring, because I’m going to need a few margaritas to accept the news that Netflix has sprung upon us regarding the next season of Sweet Magnolias.

In a shocking decision, Netflix has announced that the fourth season of Sweet Magnolias will not be coming in 2024. Instead, Sweet Magnolias is among a large list of beloved Netflix original series that are being delayed to 2025, a list that includes several female-driven hits with Virgin River, Ginny & Georgia, and XO, Kitty all being held for Netflix’s 2025 slate. 

The news broke hours after Netflix previewed its 2024 slate, a slate that included many hit series but had left fans worried after series such as Sweet Magnolias were MIA. The original hope was that perhaps Netflix was trying to keep at least a few surprises up its sleeves, but it seems the surprise was that the shows not included were excluded because they’d been delayed to 2025. 

Netflix misses the mark in delaying Sweet Magnolias season 4

To be honest, there has been no confirmation regarding the exact reason Sweet Magnolias is among the many shows pushed to 2025. Unlike other series on the list which require extensive post-production special effects such as Wednesday and Stranger Things, Sweet Magnolias is a very grounded series. While we understand that the show takes months to film, we can’t imagine a world in which it should take Netflix several additional months to finalize – after all, Hallmark Channel has had no trouble turning out new seasons of its hit scripted dramas every year. 

Take When Calls the Heart or The Way Home for example. These two hit dramas have been able to produce 10+ episode seasons every year during their runs thus far without any delays or setbacks, and the shows’ qualities have in no way been impacted as both series have delivered strong seasons which fans have deeply enjoyed. So why is it that Netflix can’t seem to turn around a new season of Sweet Magnolias annually and has left fans waiting over a year between seasons? 

The longer breaks might work for some shows, but Sweet Magnolias lost a lot of momentum between seasons 2 and 3 and we have a fear the same will happen with the delayed release of season 4. While audiences remain invested in the show, it’s hard to keep up with shows that release 10 episodes every few years. 

Season 2 at least had the benefit of ending with a shocking cliffhanger that kept fans talking between the break, but season 3 went out with a quieter season finale that didn’t exactly leave us with too much to ponder. 

By taking a longer break, we fear the show could begin to lose fans’ attention as they seek new content elsewhere and we can’t fault them for that. Perhaps it's time Netflix took a page out of Hallmark’s book and started prioritizing shows such as Sweet Magnolias so that fans aren’t waiting over a year for new seasons of a show that should not take over a year to produce.