Lea Thompson on The Spencer Sisters cancellation: "we just got in the crossfire of too much change"

It’s the end of the line for The Spencer Sisters as the CW/CTV series looks to be another casualty of chaos behind the scenes! Lea Thompson has some views on how this happened!

The CW has been in a major state of flux in the last few years thanks to the sale to Nexstar and the axing of scores of original programming. The network has been relying on fare from Canada such as Sullivan’s Crossing (which is coming back for a second season) and the legal drama Family Law. 

Among the acquired shows was The Spencer Sisters, which premiered on the CW in late 2023. The show follows the Spencers, who aren’t actually sisters. Darby (Stacey Farber) is a cop fed up with her superiors ignoring her and quits. She moves back to her hometown and reunion with her mother, Victoria (Lea Thompson), a mystery novelist with writer’s block. After solving a crime, the pair form a detective agency on the idea folks mistake them for sisters. 

The show’s ten episode run aired when the CW, like all networks, was affected by the 2023 strikes and needed programming. However, the ratings were a bit rough, often only about 600,000 viewers--which is solid by CW standards if the number increases to 1 million views with the Live+7 ratings factored in but underperforming by the other networks' metrics. 

The writing was on the wall for the show as it wasn’t on the CW’s 2024-25 schedule, and Thompson had just booked a leading role on the upcoming Hallmark series The Chicken Sisters. So, it’s no surprise the show seems to have come to an end.

Why is The Spencer Sisters being canceled?

TVLine reports a representative of Canada’s CTV Television Network shared that a second season for the show has not been picked up. As the CW acquired the show from CTV, that means it's coming to an end with the network, too.

Thompson herself chimed in with an Instagram post on how circumstances just worked against the series. 

"Thank you friends who enjoyed our little show! I am sad we won’t make more of #thespencersisters I loved so much working in beautiful #winnepeg and acting with the wonderful @staceyfarber and the rest of our cast and crew. We had such joy acting together. Hoping to make you laugh with the wonderful words of our writers. When we got a late time slot on Friday night I was worried. And It’s a weird time with companies changing staff. Strikes. And the recalculating of our business. And we just got in the crossfire of too much change I guess. Our wonderful executives at @eone_tv fought the good fight! And It was fun to be on @thecw as well. With a better time slot. And we did well. But alas. On to new frontiers. Its always sad to say goodbye to a great character. And a fun job. And to the fans who rooted for us. thank you!!!"

It is a shame, although at least the show ended wrapping up the main plots with Victoria and Darby overcoming issues like Victoria revealing Darby’s late father wasn’t the wonderful man Darby thought he was. There was potential for a second season with the fun mysteries, but the show’s ratings combined with the CW issues made it unlikely to build the kind of audience to sustain it for another year.

The series just didn't connect with viewers like the CW hoped for, maybe because it was a bit too quirky and light-hearted. The series didn't have the same draw as Sullivan's Crossing which added in its renewal prospects stateside as CW is now a co-producer of the show. As Thompson said, regarding CTV, a better timeslot could have aided it, one similar to the slot the series had on The CW.

But, nonetheless, The Spencer Sisters is a sadly one-and-done show, although hopefully, in the future, folks can hook onto it for an underrated gem of a mystery show.

The Spencer Sisters is streaming on CWTV.