Netflix Ends ‘Sweet Magnolias’ and Orders ‘Ladies of the House’

Sweet Magnolias will not return for a sixth season. Netflix has ended the romantic drama after five seasons while ordering Ladies of the House, a new series from showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson and actor-producer JoAnna Garcia Swisher.

The decision closes a 50-episode run that began in 2020 with Swisher, Brooke Elliott and Heather Headley as three longtime friends navigating family, work and romance in the fictional South Carolina town of Serenity. The fifth season arrived in June, and its finale now serves as the series ending.

A new female-led drama takes its place

Anderson will serve as showrunner on Ladies of the House. Swisher is executive producing with Kate Gordon through their Rolling Clover company and is also being considered for an acting role. Black Label Media is part of the producing team.

The project is loosely inspired by Lauren Edmondson’s novel. Its story centers on a winery owner’s widow and two adult daughters, who must confront tensions inside their family while trying to preserve the business after his unexpected death. The premise keeps the focus on complicated relationships among women, but moves the setting from a small Southern town to a family winery.

Why Netflix made the switch

Deadline reported that Netflix weighed a final season of Sweet Magnolias against moving ahead with the new project. The fifth season opened with 2.8 million views in its first partial week and rose to 3.5 million in its first full week before leaving Netflix’s global Top 10 after three weeks. The show’s writers later confirmed on social media that the five-season run was complete.

Sweet Magnolias had built a steady audience as one of Netflix’s warm, relationship-driven dramas. Its conclusion leaves some continuing story threads unresolved, although the finale preserved the show’s familiar emphasis on friendship and community rather than ending with a single major shock.

For Anderson and Swisher, Ladies of the House offers continuity behind the camera without extending the same characters indefinitely. Netflix has not announced a production schedule, premiere date or complete cast for the new series.