Our own Tom Joyner may have a Tyler Perry production in his future. When Perry called into The Tom Joyner Morning Show today, he was laughing at the proposed plays Tom featured in his latest blog post. “At Least I Got A Man,” was just one of the titles, along with “That Negro Can Pray.” But while Perry said he’d be happy to take a meeting about the proposals, his real purpose was to call in and thank his viewers for the success of his latest productions on the OWN Network.
“I just wanted to call in and say thank you to all the people. In your blog, you start talking about where we all come from. And for Oprah and I to team up and for the people to be standing with us and putting us up on their shoulders and showing up for “The Haves and the Have Nots” and ‘Love Thy Neighbor” last week like never before, it was really, really phenomenal. The OWN Network doesn’t want to scream too loud because they don’t want to backlash against the success in cable but it was huge, man. I just want to say thank you to all the people who showed up and watched it. It really, really makes me feel good. It’s the highest rating on the network with the exception of the Bobbi Kristina/Whitney Houston family interview right after she passed.
We as Black people don’t come together. That’s been our problem. That’s why it’s been so easy for us to never really see tremendous success in Hollywood or in other places because we don’t put our resources together like all of our other brothers and sisters do. We’d rather stand on our own and be selfish – I got this, I got that, rather than coming together to make it happen. [This success is] a history making moment.”
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Perry says that his personal success notwithstanding, he’s happy that he helped Oprah turn around the struggling OWN Network, which has found hits in shows like “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” and “Iyanla, Fix My Life.”
“It makes me feel really good to be able to help a friend. In the beginning it was very difficult for her. To watch her change this thing around and pull out of it, I’m grateful to God for it.”
Perry says that now that the first episode has aired, viewers should brace themselves for the drama to come, especially on “The Haves and the Have Nots.”
“Let me tell you about “The Haves and the Have Nots,” you just need to hold on. You ain’t seen nothing yet. I didn’t want to go too racy with the sex. At one point on “Scandal,” they’re in the show and the wife disappears below the frame. I’m like what the hell? This is television. This is regular television. It’s a ride, man. Tonight, you went on the ride last week, but this is when it really starts. Every Tuesday night we’re going to blow your mind.”
Perry says you can join him the cast and Oprah on Twitter and Facebook, during the show. Last week, “The Haves and the Have Nots” was second in social media activity only to the NBA playoffs. “The Haves and the Have Nots” airs on OWN Tuesday nights at 9 p.m.
