Turning over a new leaf
It’s a red light for Greenleaf Wednesday as the OWN melodrama airs its mid-season finale before going on hiatus.
The series, about a predominantly black megachurch and the family that runs it, rolls out an episode titled And the Sparks Fly Upward. In it, eldest son Jacob (Lamman Rucker) makes rival pastor Basie Skanks (Jason Dirden) an offer to clear his debt and gain power.
Keith David stars as Bishop James Greenleaf, while Lynn Whitfield plays his manipulative wife Lady Mae.
In an interview with Parade, Whitfield spoke about the importance of the show’s sexual-abuse storylines and gay characters.
“I don’t think that it’s only important to get it out to the black community — I think they’re important topics in a Christian community, in a community of family. Funny enough, though, despite what Donald Trump has to say and the way African-American people are portrayed so often in media, African-American people can have a leaning to be very conservative,” she said.
“Not in their politics, but in the way they live their lives and the way that they’re able to accept new ideas or things that are enigmatic to some ... I think that molestation within families has very little to do with race and much more just to do with the human condition.”
Greenleaf premièred last June to more than three million U.S. viewers — it was the best series debut for the fresh-faced cable network. Ratings have dipped since then, but are holding steady with around 1.3 million U.S viewers per episode.
“We were trying to do so many different things. Trying, trying and trying things all the time,” Oprah Winfrey told The Associated Press in March. “When this worked, I thought, ‘OK, I now see that when you move and operate specifically from the core of what you believe is right, it works.’ ”
The media mogul is an executive producer of the series and acts in the recurring role of Mavis McCready.
EASY E
Netflix is repackaging its new Anne of Green Gables series, which just finished airing on CBC and stars Amybeth McNulty.
The big change? The streaming service would like to buy a vowel.
While the show aired as Anne on the national broadcaster, it will be titled Anne With an E when it debuts May 12 on Netflix.
“Fans of Anne Shirley know that if she couldn’t be named Cordelia, then she’d settle for her given name — but only if spelled with an E,” Netflix said. “Anne always insists her name be spelled properly and the title speaks to her plucky outspokenness.”