We Speak Entertainment
‘Being Mary Jane’ To End In 2018 With 2-Hour Series Finale Movie On BET
BET’s signature drama series, Being Mary Jane, starring Gabrielle Union, is coming to an end. The network has ordered a two-hour movie, which will serve as a series finale. It will air in 2018.
A series finale movie makes for a full circle, giving Being Mary Jane fitting bookends. The series started with a highly-rated TV movie, which drew 4 million viewers for its July 2013 premiere, jump-starting the series, which premiered the following January
The decision to go with a movie in lieu of a fifth-season pickup comes three weeks after Being Mary Jane‘s Season 4 finale aired on Sept. 19. Union, who stars as successful TV news anchor Mary Jane Paul, is set to return for the finale. It is unclear yet who else from the cast will be back, with the movie’s producing team also TBD. For the first three seasons, Being Mary Jane was run by creator Mara Brock Akil who, along with her husband/fellow Being Mary Jane executive producer Salim Akil, left last year for an overall deal at Warner Bros. TV. (They remained as exec producers.) Erica Shelton Kodish, who served as showrunner on the supersized, 20-episode Season 4, which she executive produced alongside fellow new addition Will Packer, recently departed for an overall deal at CBS TV Studios.
“Being Mary Jane has been a landmark series not only for BET, but for African American women around the world who saw themselves in Mary Jane, her family, friends and coworkers. From the captivating storytelling, to the richly complex characters, to the powerful issues tackled on the series, we remain immensely proud,” said Connie Orlando, EVP and Head of Programming, BET Networks. “We are grateful to the cast and creators of Being Mary Jane, who have worked tirelessly to bring this world to vivid life over the past 4 seasons. We also thank the many loyal viewers whose hearts and minds were captured every week, and kept Mary Jane trending worldwide. We look forward to closing out Mary Jane’s journey with a series finale that is sure to blow fans away!”
Season 4 of Being Mary Jane was executive produced by Packer and Shelton Kodish who joined Union, Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil as executive producers, with Jeff Morrone co-executive producing for BET, Will Packer Productions and Akil Productions. Korin D. Huggins, Head of Television for Will Packer Prods., oversaw for the company.
While it’s pretty rare because it is an expensive proposition, a few series have gotten a series finale movie to wrap up their storylines. The list includes Hello Ladies on HBO, CSI on CBS and Sense8 on Netflix.
The end of Being Mary Jane leaves BET’s drama The Quad, which is coming back. There has been no renewal decision yet on fellow freshmen Tales and Rebel. BET’s scripted series portfolio recently got a boost with two high-profile transfers from VH1, The Breaks and Hit the Floor. On the comedy side, new BET series The Comedy Get Down premieres tonight.
Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with renowned actor, writer & producer, Dan Lauria.
Dan Lauria is a highly popular and beloved actor, writer and producer who became a household name for his portrayal of “Jack Arnold”, the stern, gruff but loving father of “Kevin”, played by Fred Savage, on the hit TV series “The Wonder Years”, for which he was nominated for an American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV series.
You also remember him as “Jack Sullivan”, Steve Byrne’s father in another great sitcom, “Sullivan & Son”. And of course, he played “Al Luongo”, manager of the San Diego Padres, in the best TV series ever made about major league baseball, “Pitch”. And he played “Leonard Fero” the angry head coach of the New England Knights basketball team, in yet another TV series about professional sports, “The Hoop Life”.
But beyond those iconic roles, Dan Lauria has brought us countless memorable performances on the stage and screen. You’ve seen him in many great movies including “Without a Trace”, “9 ½ Weeks”, “Stakeout”, “Another Stakeout”, “Independence Day”, “Wide Awake”, “Total Stranger”, “The Signs of the Cross”, “Miranda’s Victim”, and most recently, he played Tipp O’Neill in “Reagan”.
On television, in addition to the TV shows already mentioned, he’s appeared in dozens of classic series including “Hill Street Blues”, “L.A. Law”, “Cagney & Lacey”, “NYPD Blue”, “Touched by an Angel”, “ER”, “Law and Order”, “JAG”, “The Good Wife”, “Shameless”, “This is Us” and many more.
Dan Lauria also starred in a number of terrific TV movies and miniseries including “At Mother’s Request”, “David”, “Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story”, “The Great Los Angeles Earthquake”, “Overexposed”, “Terror in the Family”, and “From the Earth to the Moon”, to name only a few.
And on the stage, he’s appeared on Broadway in “Lombardi” and “A Christmas Story: The Musical”. And off-Broadway, he’s appeared in many shows including “Game Plan”, “Dinner with the Boys” and “Just Another Day”, ALL of which he also wrote.
And if all of that weren’t enough, Dan Lauria has also written 3 children’s books in a series called “The Godfather Tales”.
Harvey Brownstone is a retired judge of the Ontario Court of Justice and was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He is also the bestselling author of “Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles and the Bitter Realities of Family Court” and hosted “Family Matters with Justice Harvey Brownstone,” a television talk show on matters involving the family justice system.
After a distinguished legal career, Harvey was appointed a judge at the age of 38 in 1995. He has presided in family and criminal courts. He has been a trailblazer in several ways. He was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He was the first sitting judge in the world to write a national best seller and to host a TV talk show.
Harvey has been a role model and icon in the LGBTQ community. When same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada in 2003, he was the only judge to make himself publicly available to officiate at weddings for lesbian and gay couples travelling to Toronto from all over the world to get married. In 2007, he officiated at the wedding of Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, the American couple whose marriage triggered the 2013 United States Supreme Court decision overturning the definition of “spouse” in the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
In February 2021, Harvey launched his online talk show “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” on his own YouTube channel. He saw this as an interesting hobby. Within several months, the show attracted hundreds of thousands – and then eventually, millions – of viewers. Because of the overwhelming success of the show, Harvey decided to retire from the judiciary on December 31, 2021 after having presided as a full-time judge for 26 1/2 years. Free from the constraints imposed upon judges regarding the expression of opinions and the endorsement of private enterprise, Harvey now happily devotes his full-time attention to hosting “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” as a regular member of the public – albeit one with a rather illustrious and unique career history.
Watch Dan Lauria on Harvey Brownstone Interviews on Youtube here:
The official website for Harvey Brownstone Interviews may be found at https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com
Get “The Talk Show Blend” – Coffee For The Modern Day Trailblazer! By Harvey Brownstone from Breakfast At Dominique’s available at https://www.HollywoodBlends.com
For more information about Harvey Brownstone, here’s his Wikipedia page:
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