ABC is shooting a pilot in Atlanta for a new drama called “Queens,” starring two well-known female celebrities known by one name: Eve and Brandy.
Eve and Brandy play two of four women who reunite for a chance to recapture the fame and swagger they had when they were part of a popular 1990s hip-hop quartet.
The other two actresses in this fictional group are Naturi Naughton and Nadine Velazquez.
Since this is a pilot, ABC will consider what is created and decide by May whether to include “Queens” in the 2021-22 broadcast schedule or not.
Eve, 42, whose full name is Eve Jihan Jeffers Cooper, has had a successful career as a rap star with multiple hit records, as an actress in the “Barbershop” film series and her own UPN sitcom and as a talk show host on CBS’ “The Talk.”
Brandy, 42, whose last name is Norwood, had a run of huge pop and R&B hits in the 1990s and 2000s, her own hit UPN sitcom and an array of reality shows, Broadway, film and TV roles over the past two decades. She has shot several TV shows in Atlanta over the years, including “The Game,” “Zoe Ever After” and “Star.”
Naughton, 36, was part of an R&B group 3LW in the early 2000s and most recently starred in the Starz drama “Power” and the spin-off “Power Book II: Ghost.”
Velazquez, 42, has had a wide variety of acting roles over the years on shows such as “My Name is Earl,” “The League” and “Major Crimes” and played opposite Denzel Washington in the 2012 film “Flight,” shot in Atlanta.
Taylor Sele plays Eric Jones, the manager of the original 1990s group whose dalliances with the women contributed to its breakup. Eric is in the throes of a midlife crisis as he takes stock of his life, past mistakes and the woman that got away. Driven by nostalgia, he sets the wheels in motion for a reunion of the group. Sele most recently had a recurring role in the Starz drama “P-Valley,” also shot in Atlanta.
ABC is also shooting in Atlanta a pilot reboot of the 1980s show “The Wonder Years,” but this time it will be focused on a black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama, during the turbulent late 1960s.
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