Two birds with one stone: Disney cancels The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers and Big Shot
Following two seasons on Disney+, the much-anticipated Mighty Ducks series and a John Stamos vehicle have been canceled
Aux News The Mighty Ducks
While Disney triples down on sequels and remakes, not all of them get the star treatment. First on the list, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers will not return to the ice. Per Deadline, Disney canceled Mighty Ducks and the John Stamos-vehicle Big Shot after two seasons.
The much-anticipated return to the magical world of kids’ sports movies was not the must-watch series the studio hoped for, and its production wasn’t so easy either. Aside from a hectic shoot at the beginning of the pandemic, Emilio Estevez, the star of the Mighty Ducks and, really, the only pull for aging and nostalgic millennials to check out the show, left after one season. While the terms of his exit were never clear, Estevez publicly responded to rumors that he left the show due to his stance COVID vaccines, which he denied. In the end, he said, “a good old-fashioned contract dispute” led to his exit. Estevez maintained that he was not anti-vax and disclosed that he suffered from long COVID. Nevertheless, the series continued without him, allowing Lauren Graham and Josh Duhamel to take over coaching duties.
Meanwhile, Big Shot came with a high pedigree. From the twisted minds of David E. Kelley, Dean Lorey, and Brad Garrett, Big Shot starred Stamos as a disgraced NCAA basketball coach who, get this, finds redemption coaching a high school girls’ team. Season two of Big Shot premiered just four months ago.
None of this is shocking. Disney’s glut of reunion shows with pricey stars is probably going to start winding down, with the company looking to offset losses from its pivot to streaming. So pour one out for the Bash Brothers, who will spend eternity in the penalty box—or, more likely, until Disney decides to reboot the franchise.
10 Comments
Maybe Joe can give him a leg up over at the HEI Network
I would love it if they scrapped Season 2 of The Santa Clause, and then Tim Allen could complain about Disney ‘cancelling’ him while simultaneously working on Toy Story 5.
So glad the BS with Pamela Anderson didn’t ruin his career, good for him on getting to voice Buzz Lightyear again. Hopefully the movie does well because I’m sure it would piss people like you off.
I watched all of Big Shot last fall. It’s perfectly watchable, but nothing truly stellar. The whole second season being added at once was probably not a positive sign.
I may be the only person who watched and liked all of it but due to the closing teaser I need more Willow
Disney has been putting some VERY middling stuff like this that it advertises as if it’s at all worthy of being compared to most of its competition. We’re relatively lucky that the MCU stuff, and Mandalorian and Andor, was as quality as it was (ymmv of course).
Celebrities need to learn that they should only air their opinions if they align with the views of the folk at AV Club. Otherwise best to just shut up and act.
Does Disney+ cancel things? Most of what I’ve watched from them have been mini-series so it hasn’t really come up- or I hadn’t noticed. (Edit: They cancelled The Right Stuff. It wasn’t bad, but it was so serious it felt off-brand for Disney)
I enjoyed Season 1 of Mighty Ducks, but Estevez as “the only pull for aging and nostalgic millennials to check out the show” is the truth. With him out, Season 2 was a non-starter for me. But I bet it still would have been canceled even if he stayed. The show had 0 attitude. Yes, I’m calling it ‘soft.’ There was always a mischievous edge to the Mighty Ducks movies that the series lacked. Both versions really embody their respective time periods.
There’s been a few shows that haven’t been outright cancelled, but a renewal has not been acknowledged, so we can just assume their cancelled.
Disney + cancelled The Mysterious Benedict Society, which was a pretty great show. Bummed me out.