Girls on the Bus’ Canceled After One Season at Max

By Joe Otterson

The Girls on the Bus” are not going round and round. Variety has learned that Max has canceled the political drama after just one season.

“While Max will not be moving forward with a second season of ‘The Girls on the Bus,’ we are grateful to have partnered with immensely talented Amy Chozick, Julie Plec, Rina Mimoun, as well as the teams at Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television,” Max said in a statement. “We are so proud of this powerful story of found family and the celebration of journalism, in all its forms. We thank them and our unrivaled cast for all their incredible work and collaboration.”

Thus ends the show’s long road to the screen. It was originally set up at Netflix with a series order in 2019, but was dropped by that streamer reportedly after production was pushed back because of the pandemic. It then moved to The CW for development in 2021 before landing at Max (then HBO Max) with a series order in 2022.

The show was inspired by co-creator Amy Chozick’s experiences as a political reporter on the campaign bus with multiple presidential candidates. It followed four reporters — played by Melissa Benoist, Carla Gugino, Natasha Behnam, and Christina Elmore — during their life on the campaign trail. Brandon Scott, Griffin Dunne, Mark Consuelos, and Scott Foley also appeared in the series.

Chozick and Julie Plec co-created the series and were also executive producers. Rina Mimoun was executive producer and showrunner. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman executive produce via Berlanti Productions, with Marcos Siega also executive producing. Jesse Peretz executive produced and directed the pilot. Benoist was a producer in addition to starring. Warner Bros. Television, where Berlanti Productions is under an overall deal, was the studio.