ABC is not moving forward with Queens, cancelling the music drama after its freshman run.
The series, headlined by Brandy, Naturi Naughton, Eve and Nadine Velazquez, was one of the hottest pilots last season and carried a lot of expectations heading into the fall. It had an OK premiere in October, earning 0.4 demo rating and 1.78 million viewers in Live+Same Day. But throughout the season, Queens, which aired Tuesdays the 10 p.m., was often bested by competing programing. Possibly factoring into the show’s ratings performance was the fact that, during its run, Queens had to overcome the departure of one of its stars, Eve, who took a break from the series upon announcing her pregnancy. In January, Queens creator Zahir McGhee spoke with Deadline about whether Eve would return.
In Queens, created by McGhee and directed by Tim Story, four estranged and out-of-touch women in their 40s — Naomi (Brandy), Jill (Naughton), Brianna (Eve) and Valeria (Velazquez) — reunite for a chance to recapture their fame and regain the swagger they had as their ’90s group that made them legends in the hip-hop world.
The cancellation comes nearly three months after the Season 1 finale in February (0.2, 1.00M). At the time of the finale, star Brandy mused on the prospects of a sophomore season.
“I know I would love to see more performances, more rapping, and more stage stuff if there is a Season 2. We didn’t really get a chance to do a lot of the stage performances that I wanted to do this year,” she said. “I hope we get to tell more great stories and have a lot more entertainment in terms of the group. Fingers crossed.”
McGhee, Story and Wind executive produced. ABC Signature, part of Disney Television Studios, was the studio.
Nellie Andreeva contributed to this report.