Disney+ Cancels ‘Big Shot’ & ‘Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’ After 2 Seasons
Disney has decided to end two of its sports dramedies, as they announce both ‘Big Shot‘ and ‘Mighty Ducks: Game Changers‘ will not return after two seasons each.
‘Big Shot’ starred John Stamos as a temperamental college basketball coach who gets fired from his job and must take a teaching and coaching job at an elite all-girls private high school. He soon learns that the teenage players require empathy and vulnerability – foreign concepts for the stoic Coach Korn. The series was created by David E. Kelley, Dean Lorey and Brad Garrett, with Lorey serving as showrunner.
‘Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’ continued from the movies, and saw the Mighty Ducks evolve from scrappy underdogs to an ultra-competitive, powerhouse youth hockey team. After 12-year-old Evan Morrow (Brady Noon – ‘Boardwalk Empire’) was unceremoniously cut from the Ducks, he and his mom, Alex (Lauren Graham – ‘Gilmore Girls’), set out to build their own team of misfits to challenge the cutthroat, win-at-all-costs culture of youth sports today. The second season saw the team win the rights to use the Mighty Ducks name, and attend an intense summer hockey institute in California run by charming yet hardcore former NHL player, Colin Cole, played by Josh Duhamel (‘Transformers’ films, ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’).
There are a number of big changes happening behind the scenes at Disney right now. Bob Iger, the former CEO who retired in 2021, was coaxed back into returning to the role in late 2022, replacing his replacement, Bob Chapek, following some less-than-satisfactory earnings reports. Iger has since set about making sweeping changes across the company to get it back on track. Part of that is cutting $3 billion In content costs, alongside a massive restructuring of the business. In a recent earnings call, Iger talked about Disney focusing “even more on our core brands and franchises,” (i.e. Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel), meaning some of the shows outside of that are likely to get the axe.
These two series cancellations follow in the footsteps of ‘The Mysterious Benedict Society‘, which was axed in January after two seasons. We’ll have to wait and see what else fails to make the renewal list as Disney continues its belt-tightening.
Both seasons of ‘Big Shot‘ and ‘Mighty Ducks: Game Changers‘ can be found on Disney+ UK and worldwide.
