It’s official, filming for the fifth and final season of Freeform’s Switched at Birth has ended. Creator Lizzy Weiss made the announcement via twitter where she shared a photo of the last shot outside of the Kennish family home.
The family drama stars Vanessa Marano, Katie Leclerc, Marlee Matlin, Constance Marie, Sean Berdy, D.W. Moffett, Lea Thompson, Lucas Grabeel, Ryan Lane, and Ivonne Coll. Switched at Birth is also executive-produced by Paul Stupin (Dawson’s Creek) and Linda Gase (ER).
Switched at Birth is about two adolescent girls (one deaf, one hearing) who discover that they were switched at birth. The two families are from “different worlds,” one daughter grew up with an affluent lifestyle while the other grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood. The two families work together to overcome multiple challenges as they attempt to blend into one close-knit family.
The series was groundbreaking in the sense that it was one of the first shows to actively incorporate American Sign Language, discuss deaf culture, and tackle some of the issues they face in everyday life.
Switched at Birth was renewed back in October for a fifth season with ten episodes. The last season of Switched at Birth will debut in 2017. Fans were upset after finding out the series would be canceled and in response made a petition to save the show on change.org.
Several of the Switched at Birth stars including Marlee Matlin and Constance Marie shared the petition on twitter:
But unfortunately for fans of the series and the cast & crew, the series will end after Season 5.
Weiss tweeted this message to fans:
“Last night we completed filming Switched at Birth forever. We shot the final scene of the series as the actual final scene of the series in the same place we shot the first scene of the pilot, five and a half years ago. The weather was perfect. The house was stunning against the night sky. All of my writers drove in for the final shot. Cast who weren’t in the scene or even in the episode came in to be part of the moment. Everyone’s family came by. There were flowers, bottles of wines, homemade necklaces, and lovely thank you cards handed out. Crew who worked together thousands of hours hugged and teared up and took selfies. We all stood on the magnificent front lawn of the iconic Kennish house clapping and marveling at the once in a lifetime experience this was for all of us. There may be shows that had bigger budgets or higher ratings, but there is no show with more love and warmth and camaraderie behind the cameras than this one.
The episodes will air in 2017 and you will see our final 10 stories and how we send off these characters. As for the people who made it all happen, I couldn’t possibly have scripted a more perfect ending than last night. It was just a little piece of magic.”
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