In an unexpected twist, The Other Black Girl will not be returning for a second season. Hulu has decided to cancel the show, which is based on the critically acclaimed book by Zakiya Dalila Harris, after just one season.
Development and Ambitions
First put into development in April 2020 before Tara Duncan was appointed as president of Disney’s BIPOC-focused studio Onyx Collective, The Other Black Girl premiered its 10-episode season in September. It received glowing reviews from critics, currently holding an 86 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Unfortunately, the audience rating failed to parallel this acclaim, languishing at a mere 50 percent.
To be fair, the critical response to High Fidelity wasn’t uniformly perfect, with some noting that the series offered more style than substance. Style, however, has been reason enough to keep plenty of shows on the air before…
A Peek Behind the Scenes
The show’s adaptation from the novel highlights issues like race and workplace disparities within NYC’s white-dominated publishing industry. Sinclair Daniel stars as Nella Rodgers, who faces microaggressions as Wagner Books’ sole Black employee. Despite high hopes following Hazel’s (played by Ashleigh Murray) arrival, Nella begins to suspect a dark underlying plot at her workplace.
Danielle Henderson was initially set to serve as showrunner before being replaced by Jordan Reddout and Gus Hickey. Executive producers included Onyx’s Duncan, Rashida Jones, Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, Adam Fishbach, and author Harris herself.
Our brains are spinning. They’ve been spinning on season two for a year. It’s something we constantly talk about and would be very exciting to do…
The Impact of External Factors
The decision comes amidst a re-evaluation of streaming content across platforms due to the waning peak TV bubble. Streamers aim to right-size their scripted slates and budgets. The ongoing writers’ strike has also played a role in recent production decisions.
A Harsh Reality in Streaming
The cancellation of The Other Black Girl follows that of other Hulu originals like Death and Other Details, This Fool, and How I Met Your Father. Despite its high critical praise, there remains a notable gap between critics’ and audiences’ perceptions of the show.
I was always fond of the 1997 A&E adaptation with Ciaran Hinds and Samantha Morton…
A fortunate few series like Ramy and The Orville find themselves stuck in limbo regarding their future on the platform. For Onyx Collective, this marks their first scripted series cancellation. Nonetheless, shows like Reasonable Doubt and Unprisoned have secured renewals.
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