‘Little Voice’ Canceled: Sara Bareilles Show Axed After One Season

Little Voice Shalini Bathina
Apple TV+

Romantic dramedy Little Voice will not be returning for a second season, marking Apple TV+’s first series cancellation.

The streamer has decided not to renew the Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson songwriting series, which was executive produced by J.J. Abrams. The first season premiered in July 2020 and followed the story of Bess (Brittany O’Grady), an aspiring songwriter from New York City, on a journey to find her authentic voice.

Little Voice also starred Sean Teale as Ethan, Colton Ryan as Samuel, Shalini Bathina as Prisha, Kevin Valdez as Louie King, and Phillip Johnson Richardson as Benny. Bareilles and Nelson served as executive producers alongside Bad Robot’s Abrams and Ben Stephenson.

While the series featured original music from Bareilles, the story was not based specifically on her start in the music industry. “We learned really early on that it was not helpful to the show to lock into this being my story,” the Grammy and Tony Award nominee said at the time.

Bareilles also stated that Nelson, with whom she collaborated on Broadway’s Waitress, once told her, “‘This is not you… We are creating [Bess’] world, and it’s inspired by you, but it has to have its own soul and its own universe to inhabit.'”

Despite the end of Little Voice, Bareilles still has a busy schedule, as she stars in Peacock’s Girls5Eva, which was recently picked up for a second season. Meanwhile, O’Grady has been cast in ABC’s fairytale drama pilot Epic, where she will play the lead role of Luna, a broken-hearted princess about to embark on a new love story.

The news of Little Voice’s cancelation came as a major disappointment to the show’s fans. Check out some of the reaction below:

Little Voice, Season 1, Now Streaming, Apple TV+