Pioneering gay Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie to end after seventh season
Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterson and Martin Sheen in Grace And Frankie (Netflix)
Pioneering gay sitcom Grace and Frankie is set to come to a dignified end after seven seasons, having earned the distinction of being Netflix’s longest-running show.
Stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda confirmed in a statement alongside the show’s creators that the show would be drawing to a close.
The statement said: “You have laughed with us, cried with us and grew old with us.
The show’s stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda (Netflix)
“Today we announce Grace & Frankie has been renewed for what will be our seventh and final season.
“This will make Grace & Frankie the longest running series in Netflix history.”
The sixth season of Grace and Frankie arrives on Netflix in January, with just one more season to follow it to draw the show to a close.
Grace and Frankie was one of few shows to portray elderly LGBT+ people
Tomlin and Fonda said: “We’re so grateful that our show has been able to deal with issues that have really connected to our grand generation. And their kids, and amazingly, their kids as well!
“We’ll miss these two old gals, Grace and Frankie, as much as many of their fans will, but we’ll still be around.”
Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen (Netflix)
Creators Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris added: “It’s thrilling and somehow fitting, that our show about the challenges, as well as the beauty and dignity of aging, will be the oldest show on Netflix.”
The statement added: “We’ve seen Ryan Gosling chairs, yam lube, vibrators, broken hearts, new loves and a whole lot of weed, and we still have so much more to share with you.
“Grace and Frankie Season 6 and 7 coming soon.”
A lot of big LGBT+ shows are ending, but some are coming back
The show’s new title as the longest-running show on Netflix comes after Orange is the New Black drew to a close in July, also after seven seasons.
Both Orange is the New Black and Grace and Frankie have won acclaim for their portrayal of LGBT+ characters.
In Grace and Frankie, Tomlin and Fonda’s later-in-life characters are drawn together when their husbands Sol and Robert, played by Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen, come out as gay and get married to eachother.
The show has been praised as one of the rare depictions of elderly LGBT+ characters on TV.
The sitcom’s end comes weeks after news that the Will & Grace revival would also be bowing out, this time for good.
However, fans of LGBT+ TV institutions still have revivals The L Word and Queer as Folk to look forward to, in addition to a whole host of new projects coming soon.
