‘Sweet Magnolias’ Author Weighs in on the Fate of the Show
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The No. 1 question Sweet Magnolias fans have after the Season 3 finale isn’t whether Helen and Erik will give their relationship another go (although that’s certainly at the top of the list)—it’s whether Netflix will give the show itself another go. The streamer has yet to green light Season 4.
It was under the banner of such uncertainty that Parade called up executive producer Sherryl Woods, author of the 11 Sweet Magnolias books on which the show is based, to see if she had any insight into the fate of the series. While we were at it, we got her thoughts on the latest installment as a whole, what she’s reading these days and more. Read on for our exclusive interview with Woods.
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Sweet Magnolias is already No. 1 in U.S. and Canada since its first day of streaming. How are you feeling?
It's absolutely amazing and rewarding, particularly this year, that the fans figured out to come back to it with a writers’ strike and an actors’ strike and all of the roadblocks to doing certain kinds of publicity.
Initially, I was a little edgy, thinking, What if nobody knows the series is returning this summer? Because I was doing posts on Facebook and a lot of the comments I was getting were, “We didn’t realize it was coming back.” I was thinking, We’re only three days out and people don’t know we’re coming back yet. So getting that audience back really means a great deal to all of us.
I’m certainly hopeful that the decision-makers at Netflix will be looking positively at us [for a Season 4], because we’ve had such a nice strong start.
Related: 7 Burning Questions Fans Need Answered After the 'Sweet Magnolias' Season 3 Finale
Did you visit the set for the filming of Season 3?
I was there [in September 2022] for the filming of Episodes 7 and 8, and it was the first time that I had actually been on set during the three seasons. And the exciting part for me was that we actually were able to have lunch at Sullivan’s. Obviously, Dana Sue was not in the kitchen cooking for us, but Brooke [Elliott, who plays the character] was able to join us that day. Then we were on location when they were filming a farmer’s market storyline with Jeremy (Chase Anderson) and Noreen (Jamie Lynn Spears). So I got to meet quite a few of the cast members and that was great fun for me.
What would you say are the prevalent themes in Season 3?
What I’m seeing a lot are people who are evolving and relationships that are tested, and how people are handling the resolution of those tests. And that applies to romantic relationships and friendships, and they’re all stressed from different angles.
I think something that’s very relatable to all of us is that, no matter how deep our friendships have been over the years, there may come a point where there’s some struggle and you have to find a way to do better, and work around it. And you certainly see that with the three Sweet Magnolias in this season.
Courtesy of Netflix
Were there any scenes from the last 10 episodes that made you laugh, cry or have a major reaction?
The hardest scene for me to watch was the scene about the stress among the three Sweet Magnolias. Even though I was fairly confident—because I had read scripts—that they were all going to be OK again, you just feel bad for them. It’s hard to imagine friends getting to that point, but it can happen. We all go through tests at one time or another; sometimes over small things and sometimes over misunderstandings. Hopefully, you’re strong enough to get to the other side, but it can sometimes take a while.
Related: All About JoAnna Garcia Swisher's Home-Run Marriage
Photo credit: Netflix
What are the big departures from your books that we see in Season 3?
The whole character of Ryan (Michael Shenefelt) was new to the series. It was strictly a television thing; he did not exist in the books. The tests between Helen and Erik (Dion Johnstone) were not related to a love triangle, so that is completely different. And that’s just the nature of things. Because one of the [realities of] television that I was very well aware of going into both Chesapeake Shores and this series is you have to have conflict.
As human beings and as readers, we want [characters] to live happily ever after. But for good television, there need to be challenges of one kind or another. It doesn’t have to be a love triangle, necessarily, but there certainly have to be challenges in order to keep that spark going and keep viewers invested in getting couples back together and things like that.
For me, of course, I’m very much Team Erik from the get-go because he was my character and he and Helen are a couple who I think ought to be together and I like them together on screen. So it’s been hard for me to watch that play out because I’m thinking, Get over there where you belong!
I think the other interesting aspect of the season is that [Maddie’s ex-husband] Bill Townsend (Chris Klein) has a bunch of twists, and those are not from the book.
Photo credit: Netflix© 2023
Was Ronnie’s sister Kathy a character in your books?
No, Kathy was not in the books. It’s been interesting to me to watch what showrunner Sheryl Anderson has done in terms of bringing in new characters and how that allows deeper explorations of some of the regular characters from the series.
Related: How to Read the Sweet Magnolias Books in Order
You’re the author of 150 books. What are you reading now?
I’m reading one of the Louise Penny Three Pines mysteries. I think her books are intriguing. They’re good, psychological, and she does a fabulous job with characterizations and things like that. I’m also reading All the Devils Are Here, which I think came out in 2020.
I just read a book by Kristan Higgins that I really liked and Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews, which combines a bit of romance with a lot of mystery. I was enjoying Homewreckers so much I was forcing myself not to read as fast as I usually do; I didn’t want to get to the end.
Are there any other books of yours that are being considered for TV or streaming?
Dan Paulson and I, and some of the writers that I’ve worked with, have several other projects that we're at various stages of looking at. Again, we’re dealing with various strikes…so we’re not in a holding pattern exactly, but we’re not exactly speeding along with anything. There is nothing that I can talk about yet. Stay tuned.
Getting back to Sweet Magnolias: What do you make of the cliffhangers from Season 3?
There are many storylines that leave room for discussion—Cal and Maddie, Helen and Erik, Noreen and Jeremy, and Bill and Kathy, to name a few. There are so many things that could be done and there are so many things [where you think], Wait, what happens next in this? And you always hope that people are wanting more and wanting the next stage of things.
I don’t think we’ve explored the older generation, Paula’s generation, in any depth yet. But then also the teens have very relatable stories, too.
Photo credit: Netflix
Like the budding romance between Ty and Annie.
Yes. The one storyline I seem to get a lot of comments about—and of course, it was dealt with in the books—is Maddie's son, Ty Townsend (Carson Rowland) and Dana Sue's daughter, Annie Sullivan (Anneliese Judge). From the books, everybody thought they should be together right from the beginning. Even when I was writing the books—they appeared and their relationship flowered a little bit as teenagers in Dana Sue’s book, which was A Slice of Heaven—everybody was saying, “We want a book about Ty and Annie.” And I replied, “They’re too young to have their own stories yet, they need to go out and have experiences; they need to live life.”
So I didn’t write about them right away. Eventually, they did have their book, which was Home in Carolina, but I wanted them to be adults. I think that is a storyline that resonates across the board in all of the generations.
What is your final message to Sweet Magnolias fans as we wait to hear about Season 4?
I want to say that all of us are incredibly grateful for the support they’ve shown us through very erratic scheduling, just because of the various sundry things that have happened. And to see the kind of support we’ve had has just been amazing, and we are all so grateful for that, we really are.
Next, Sherryl Woods Hints at Possible Chesapeake Shores Movies
