'The Other Black Girl' Cancelled After One Season at Hulu

The Big Picture

Hulu cancelled
The Other Black Girl
after one season despite critical acclaim.
The show explores race and workplace inequities within the white-dominated publishing industry in NYC.
Producers expressed optimism for a potential second season post-writer’s strike.

Following its premiere in September, Hulu has pulled the plug on the workplace comedy thrillerThe Other Black Girl after just one season. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series launched all 10 episodes to critical acclaim. However, despite earning an impressive 86 percent rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics, its audience score fell short at 50 percent.

Adapted from Zakiya Dalila Harris’s novel of the same name, The Other Black Girlexplores the intricate web of race, identity, and workplace inequities within New York City’s predominantly white publishing industry. Sinclair Daniel leads the cast as Nella Rodgers, a fed-up 26-year-old editorial assistant at Wagner Books, grappling with constant microaggressions as the sole Black employee. Enter Hazel-May McCall (Ashleigh Murray), a fellow Black woman from Harlem who’s joined the company. While Nella is initially ecstatic over Hazel’s arrival, the former can’t help but suspect something sinister going on in the office.

Development on The Other Black Girl commenced in April 2020, prior to Tara Duncan’s appointment as president of Disney’s BIPOC-focused studio, Onyx Collective. The series marks the first cancellation for Onyx. Other Disney-run originals canceled by Hulu include Death and Other Details, The Great, This Fool, and How I Met Your Father. Amidst the deflation of the Peak TV bubble, streaming platforms industry-wide are pivoting towards streamlining their scripted offerings and budgets.

Producers Were Optimistic For Season 2

the-other-black-girl-social-feature — Image via Hulu

Following the 2023 writer’s strike, producers Jordan Reddout and Gus Hickeyshared their optimism for the show’s second season with Collider. They expressed that the team has not stopped thinking about season two for a good year. Additionally, with the show’s change to the book’s original ending, the duo saw the new season as an opportunity to unveil new developments in the storyline.

The Other Black Girl is helmed by executive producer Rashida Jones, best known for her roles as Ann Perkins in Parks and Recreation and Karen Filippelli in the U.S. version of The Office. Jones’s producing credits extend to projects like the film Hot Girls Wanted and the series Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On. Initially slated as showrunner, Danielle Henderson of Sorry For Your Loss was later succeeded by Reddout and Hickey. Joining the production team are executive producers Duncan, Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, Adam Fishbach, and Harris.

The series also stars Brittany Adebumola as Malaika, Hunter Parrish as Owen, Bellamy Young as Vera Parini, and Eric McCormack as Richard Wagner.