Unfortunate news for fans of ABC’s musical comedy-drama, Queens. After just one season, the show has been canceled.
Starring music and television veterans Brandy, Eve, Naturi Naughton, and Nadine Velazquez, the show premiered to intense buzz and fan expectations in October 2021. However, the show had several hurdles to cross. Airing Tuesdays in the network’s 10 PM slot, the show was often outperformed by its competitors according to viewership data reported by Deadline.
Next, one of the show’s core cast members, Eve, stepped away from the show mid-season due to her big pregnancy news.
The show followed the story of long-estranged friends and former members of a huge 90’s hip hop girl group, formerly known as the “Nasty Bitches,” reuniting and reconnecting with the goal of reclaiming their former glory and inadvertently, their individual power.
Featuring original compositions from legendary producer Swizz Beatz, the show allowed the real-life rappers and singers in the cast and a string of guest stars like Jadakiss, Remy Ma, and Fivio Foreign, among others, to create songs just for show fans.
While speaking with ESSENCE during the show’s sneak peek discussion in the summer of 2021, Brandy described the opportunity to play Naomi aka Xplicit Lyrics as a “dream role,” given that she was able to put all of her skills to work.
“Music is my first love, so this is a dream role to actually be able to sing, rap, and do all the musical elements that come with this show,” Brandy said. Naughton, who came with a prominent history with 90’s girl groups of her own, told us that the experience of filming was nostalgic for her.
“It was so much fun,” Naughton said. “It kind of took me back to when I was doing music videos, being in a girl group, being in the music business, and reliving some of that was definitely a little nostalgic for me, but fun!”
