Originally filed Wednesday, September 19, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
After strong early ratings season three, OWN quickly gave “Greenleaf” a fourth season.
The megachurch drama, which is shot in metro Atlanta but set in Memphis, drew 2.3 million viewers last week (Live+3 DVR usage) and drew the most African-American viewers of any TV program that night.
The series is on Oprah Winfrey's network and she is an executive producer. Winfrey played a recurring character Mavis the first two seasons but is out of the picture this season. Her physical absence has not hurt the show in any way.
At the end of season two, Lynn Whitfield's character Lady Mae discovers her husband (Keith David) had a previously deeper relationship with her sister Mavis than she had realized. Plus, the Bishop is now having a dalliance with insidious Jezebel, Rochelle Cross (LeToya Luckett). Now the power couple's marriage is teetering and the church itself is in big-time tax trouble. Patti LaBelle is playing a recurring character as a motivational speaker and old friend of Lady Mae who is helping guide her decisions.
