Why Marsai Martin can’t discuss her canceled Disney show ‘Saturdays’ without getting emotional
“Saturdays,” starring Marsai Martin, was canceled in November 2023 after debuting on the Disney channel in March 2023.
When Marsai Martin launched her own series on the Disney Channel and Disney + in 2023 — and when it was canceled within the same year — she learned firsthand just how challenging it can be for Black-led shows to survive.
During a recent appearance on Keke Palmer’s “Baby, This is Keke Palmer” podcast, the 20-year-old actress discussed what happened to the short-lived show “Saturdays.”
“Girl, only God knows,” the “Black-ish” alum said initially when Palmer asked her what happened to the series, which debuted on the network in March 2023 with six episodes before it was canceled.
“I think it’s because they never really know how to promote Black television or films,” Martin continued, adding, “It just kind of got overshadowed with a bunch of other projects in the lineup.”
The show, executive produced by Martin along with Norman Vance, Jr., Nicole Dow, and Martin’s parents, Joshua and Carol Martin, followed a Black teen girl named Paris living in Chicago with her family and friends as they all just did their best to make it to Saturday nights at their favorite roller rink. The series starred Danielle Jalade in the lead role alongside Omar Gooding, Golden Brooks, Jermaine Harris, and Daria Johns.
In 15 episodes, including a crossover with “Raven’s Home,” the show “Saturdays” quickly gained a fanbase among Black viewers and received favorable early reviews. While the “Little” star admitted she handled the cancellation well personally, she became emotional when she confessed she thought about how the cancellation could have impacted the show’s young Black stars.
“I’m like, ‘OK, it is what it is,’” she said. “We know what happened. But, you know, I think that for our Black girls, our three main leads, that for this show to be like their breakthrough, in a sense, for being seen, I can never talk about it without getting emotional.
Palmer noted it’s because “we all know what it feels like to be let down.”
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