Scream Queens is an American satirical dark comedy slasher television series that aired on Fox from September 22, 2015, to December 20, 2016.

The first season stars an ensemble cast consisting of Emma Roberts, Skyler Samuels, Lea Michele, Glen Powell, Diego Boneta, Abigail Breslin, Keke Palmer, Oliver Hudson, Nasim Pedrad, Lucien Laviscount, Billie Lourd, and Jamie Lee Curtis, with Niecy Nash, Ariana Grande, and Nick Jonas in supporting roles.

[4] Roberts, Michele, Powell, Breslin, Palmer, Hudson, Lourd, Nash, and Curtis reprised their roles from the first season, while John Stamos, Taylor Lautner, James Earl III, and Kirstie Alley were added to the cast.

[6] The first season focuses on the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority at Wallace University, led by Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) and her fellow Chanels #2 (Ariana Grande), #3 (Billie Lourd), and #5 (Abigail Breslin), that are threatened by Dean Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Events reignite a 20-year-old murder mystery, with the reemergence of the serial killer dressed as the Red Devil mascot, who begins targeting the sorority members.

While handling different medical cases, Cathy and the Chanels end up encountering a new serial killer called the Green Meanie.

The series will not be completely anthological in nature with Murphy stating, "Whoever survives—and there will be people who will survive—they will go on next season to a new location and a new terror.

"[33] Falchuk talked at length about the decision making processes as to who will die in each episode, "It's harder casting and directing actors you know you're going to have to kill off.

[36] In January 2015, Lea Michele, Joe Manganiello, Keke Palmer, and Abigail Breslin joined the series' main cast, as well as actress/singer Ariana Grande in a recurring capacity.

[39][40] Later in the month, Niecy Nash joined the recurring cast as Denise,[41] and British actor Lucien Laviscount, Diego Boneta and Glen Powell were confirmed as regulars.

[44] On March 13, previously cast Manganiello was forced to depart the series, due to publicity obligations for his film Magic Mike XXL.

[45] On June 24, it was announced that Charisma Carpenter and Roger Bart would portray Chanel #2's (Grande) parents.

Curtis filmed an intricate homage to her mother's, Janet Leigh, classic shower scene in Psycho.

Curtis bought out a greeting card company that had the image of her mother screaming, and placed one near the monitor.

She viewed the Psycho scene several times between takes, matching the smallest details, such as which hand reaches for the bar of soap, and twitches of the eye.

"[60] The second season saw production move from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Los Angeles, California; after scoring a significant tax credit.

[61] The title sequence for the series was designed by Kyle Cooper and features Roberts, Michele, Samuels, Palmer, Boneta, Powell, Breslin, and Lourd in an homage to 80's horror flicks.

[62] The title sequence only appeared in the fifth episode "Pumpkin Patch", though it was trimmed down to under a minute due to time constraints.

After the season two hiatus, the show moved to a late night timeslot, airing Thursdays at Midnight.

[74] In Australia, the series debuted on Ten on September 23, 2015, before moving to its sister channel, Eleven, with episode two on the same day.

[75] Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, Scream Queens was made available internationally on Disney+ under the dedicated streaming hub Star on February 23, 2021.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Too tasteless for mainstream viewers and too silly for horror enthusiasts, Scream Queens fails to satisfy.

From the acting to the costuming to the writing, everything about this concept and execution works [and] offers up enough mystery and intrigue to keep even the biggest skeptic entertained.

[83] Brian Lowry of Variety, remarked in his review of the finale, "Murphy's real genius stems from an ability to promote his shows through concept and casting, the tradeoff being that those qualities have a bad habit of trumping execution", earlier noting "The big reveal in the finale wasn't particularly revealing, mostly because the narrative had been such a madcap mess in the preceding weeks that any suspense had dissipated long ago.

[78][79] Orly Greenberg, from the Observer, gave a mixed review of the second-season premiere, complimenting the casting of John Stamos as a positive addition but noted problems in the overall execution, stating "season two feels just slightly stronger than the previous semi–disaster of a season last year ... Its tone is scattered [and] its acting is inconsistent at best.

[Scream Queens] at its best [is] a campy treat that doesn't need logic because it has smarts, sass, and plenty of bitchiness to keep everything humming.