How about some exciting news to kick off 2025?! If you're a fan of Courteney Cox's Starz horror-comedy series Shining Vale, then you were sad to learn in December 2023 that the series had been canceled after two seasons. Not only that, the series was also stripped from the cable network's streaming service, leaving the underrated series in limbo.
Well, you don't have to worry about not being able to watch the show anymore. In a surprise announcement on New Year's Day, Shining Vale seasons 1 and 2 arrived on Max for streaming. As a series produced by Warner Bros. Television, the series ending up on the Warner Bros. Discovery streaming platform makes so much sense. If only it had happened sooner!
In the series, Emmy Award nominated-Friends star Cox plays writer Pat Phelps, who relocates with her husband (Greg Kinnear) and teenage children from Brooklyn to a seemingly haunted house in Connecticut. The dysfunctional family's problems only seem to get worse as the hauntings drive Pat to an unthinkable act by the end of the first season.
Where to watch Shining Vale
As mentioned above, both the first and second seasons of Shining Vale are now available to stream on Max. Each season contains eight episodes for a combined series total of 16 episodes. If you have already watched the series, 16 episodes is light work for a rewatch, and if you didn't manage to catch the series the first time around, it's a super quick binge worth checking out.
The series was co-created by Jeff Astrof and Sharon Horgan and was officially canceled ahead of Christmas in 2023. Astrof was said to have begun writing season 3 in hopes of the series being saved, but the show remains canceled one year later. The reason for the cancellation was — what else? — a lack of viewership. Simply, not enough people watched Shining Vale.
Astrof revealed that he'd been working on season 3 in his post-cancellation statement provided to Variety in December 2023:
"Given all the real heart-breaking news going on in the world right now, it would be inappropriate for me to say I’m heartbroken about Starz not picking up Shining Vale for a Season 3. However, I have no problem saying I am crushed and deeply saddened by the news. For the actors, it has been a year since we wrapped, but I have been working on writing Season 3 up until I heard the news last week."
The cancellation was certainly a disappointment for viewers who actually had been watching and enjoying the series. It's just an unfortunate reality that with so many shows on so many streamers, not all of them will get the chance to thrive for their full potential, no matter how deserving. By the end of season 2, it was clear that there was plenty more story to tell for the Phelps family.
If you're hoping that Shining Vale's arrival on Max will lead to a comeback in a real way, don't get too excited yet. While anything could happen, especially since a WBTV series landed on a WB streamer, history tells us that a revival is unlikely. The show would have to be huge on Max. It's already #3 on the Max top 10 most popular shows ranking (as of Jan. 2), so there's a glimmer of hope... but just a glimmer.
Watch both seasons of Shining Vale now on Max.