Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens (or simply Nora from Queens) is an American comedy television series starring Awkwafina that premiered on January 22, 2020, on Comedy Central, with a sneak peek episode airing on January 20, 2020. The series was renewed for a second season before the series premiere, and received generally favorable reviews from critics. The series is available on HBO Max, with the second season airing on the service following a first run broadcast on Comedy Central.
Premise
Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens follows a “20-something woman in Queens who strives for a larger-than-life existence.”
Cast
Main
- Awkwafina as Nora, a fictionalized version of herself
- Lori Tan Chinn as her grandmother who helps raise her
Recurring
- Chrissie Fit as Melanie
- Jonathan Park as Doug
- BD Wong as Wally, Nora’s father
- Bowen Yang as Edmund, Nora’s cousin
- Jennifer Esposito as Brenda
Guest starring
- Ming-Na Wen as Sandra, Nora’s aunt
- Laverne Cox as the voice of God
- Jaboukie Young-White as Daniel
- Michelle Buteau as Margaret
- Natasha Lyonne as Woman in hair salon
- Jamie Chung as Young Grandma
- Stephanie Hsu as Young Shu Shu
- Simu Liu as Garbage Boy
- Harry Shum Jr. as Doc Hottie
- Alan Kim as Young Wally (season 2)
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S viewers (millions) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Pilot” | Lucia Aniello | Awkwafina & Teresa Hsiao | January 22, 2020 | 0.489 | |
| After her grandmother chastises her for being a hoarder, Nora decides to move out of the apartment she shares with her grandmother and father. However, after moving in with her friend Chenise, she accidentally burns her friend’s apartment down, and has to move back home. | ||||||
| 2 | “Atlantic City” | Jamie Babbit | Cherry Chevapravatdumrong | January 29, 2020 | 0.435 | |
| Nora and her grandmother travel to Atlantic City for a day. Nora learns how to play blackjack, and becomes a big winner because she is counting cards. Nora’s grandmother and her Chinese friends get into a disagreement with a senior citizen Korean group of women for access to an outlet to charge their equipment. | ||||||
| 3 | “Savage Valley” | Jamie Babbit | Emily Goldwyn | February 5, 2020 | 0.399 | |
| Nora begins a job as a real estate assistant and relies on Adderall to remain awake and focused. | ||||||
| 4 | “Paperwork” | Natasha Lyonne | Awkwafina & Teresa Hsiao | February 12, 2020 | 0.373 | |
| Nora has difficulties cashing a check at her bank. She later joins focus groups to make some extra money. | ||||||
| 5 | “Not Today” | Steven Tsuchida | Sarah Peters | February 19, 2020 | 0.346 | |
| After getting into an argument with her Dad, Nora decides to go to a hair salon and get her hair dyed blonde, which leads to disastrous results. Nora is jealous of her successful cousin, who comes back to live in New York and has raised $15 million dollars for the company he is starting. Nora’s Dad feels bad about yelling at Nora, and goes to a meeting of single parents. | ||||||
| 6 | “Vagarina” | Anu Valia | Samantha Riley | February 26, 2020 | 0.338 | |
| Nora’s Aunt Sandra comes to pay a visit, and drops off her son with them for a couple of days. During a sugar rush, Nora’s cousin accidentally hits Nora in the vagina, causing her to queef on a regular basis. When Nora is visiting Rat Lung, the rapper who is her friend’s boyfriend, she queefs, and he persuades her to let him sample her queef for his songs. | ||||||
| 7 | “Grandma Loves Nora” | Anu Valia | Karey Dornetto | March 4, 2020 | 0.347 | |
| Nora feels threatened by Edmund spending so much time with their Grandma. Edmund later reveals to Nora that he doesn’t have a good idea for an app, and he’s meeting with investors the next day. Nora brainstorms a few ideas for him, and they both meet with Edmund’s investors. Wally joins Instagram to try to meet women. | ||||||
| 8 | “Grandma & Chill” | Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan | Kyle Lau | March 11, 2020 | 0.384 | |
| Through the framework of a Korean drama, Nora’s grandma explains to Nora how she met and married her husband/Nora’s grandfather. | ||||||
| 9 | “Launch Party” | Lucia Aniello | Cherry Chevapravatdumrong | March 18, 2020 | 0.451 | |
| Edmund and Nora have a disastrous launch party for their “Scrubr” app by going along with a so-called marketing expert. However, investors from China are intrigued by the app and want to purchase it, as well as have Edmund and Nora work for them in China. | ||||||
| 10 | “China” | Lucia Aniello | Awkwafina & Teresa Hsiao | March 25, 2020 | 0.442 | |
| Nora arrives in Beijing, while Edmund is still stuck in America. Nora is given an assistant by the company named Grace, who is overly familiar with Nora. Grandma nurses a pigeon back to health that flew into her home. Grace is about to be arrested for drug possession at a bar, but Nora takes the blame for her, causing Nora to be sent back to Queens. | ||||||
- ^ A sneak peek of the show’s sixth episode aired on January 20, 2020, before the premiere of the pilot in its regular timeslot on January 22, 2020.
Production
Development
On April 17, 2018, it was announced that Comedy Central had given the production a pilot order. The episode was written by Awkwafina and Teresa Hsiao. Executive producers were set to include Awkwafina, Karey Dornetto, Peter Principato, and Itay Reiss. Dornetto was also expected to serve as showrunner and Hsiao as a co-executive producer. Production companies involved with the pilot were expected to include Principato-Young Entertainment, later rebranded as Artists First.
On November 29, 2018, it was announced that Comedy Central had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. Awkwafina, Hsiao, and Dornetto were set to write for the series and Lucia Aniello was expected to direct and executive produce. The series is set to premiere on January 22, 2020. Ahead of the series premiere, on January 14, 2020, it was reported that Comedy Central renewed the series for a second season. In August 2020, it was announced that the series will be on HBO Max, with the second series airing on the service after its first run broadcast on Comedy Central.
Casting
Alongside the pilot order announcement, it was confirmed that Awkwafina would star in the production. Concurrent with the series order, it was announced that BD Wong and Lori Tan Chinn would star in the series. In July 2019, Chrissie Fit and Jonathan Park joined the cast in recurring roles. On August 14, 2019, Jennifer Esposito was cast in a recurring capacity. On March 24, 2021, Alan Kim was cast in a guest starring role for the second season.
Filming
Principal photography for the pilot began on July 20, 2018 in Queens, New York City, New York. In the last episode of season one, part of the story’s background is set in Beijing, China, but it was actually filming at Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei, Taiwan without the city government’s permission.
Reception
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 80% with an average rating of 6.75/10, based on 30 reviews. The site’s consensus states that “Nora From Queens showcases Awkwafina’s charming brashness and surrounds her with an equally delightful cast—especially scene stealer Lori Tan Chinn—but it could stand to walk a less familiar comedic beat.” On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”. Linda Holmes of NPR states “There’s a lot of pressure on creators of color to be groundbreaking — to sell their shows as both good and somehow ethically nutritious. Awkwafina’s place in that calculus is complicated by legitimate questions about her own treatment of cultural traditions she’s not part of. But it’s also fair to evaluate Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens as an entry in a line of single-camera comedy series amplifying one distinctive sensibility (Insecure, Louie, Chewing Gum, Broad City, even Portlandia). And as part of that line, it holds up well.”
Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens has been compared to the fellow female-driven Comedy Central hit Broad City, which ran for 5 seasons.
Ratings
The series premiere obtained 0.49 million viewers, making it the highest rated season one premiere for Comedy Central since 2017.
According to IMDb, “Grandma and Chill” is the highest-rated episode of season one, followed by the season finale, “China”.