OWN TV’s breakout summer hit, Greenleaf, has added a new Executive Producer, to the team for Season two. Already a runaway success, the network hopes that Kathleen McGhee-Anderson can take the gospel family drama to heavenly heights!!!
McGhee-Anderson has been named EP of OWN’s new original drama series Greenleaf. Previously, she has worked on Soul Food, Lincoln Heights and Madiba, The Nelson Mandela Story. She joins Greenleaf executive producers Craig Wright (Lost, Six Feet Under), Oprah Winfrey (Selma) and Clement Virgo (The Book of Negroes) for Season Two, which starts production in the fall.
Last week, Greenleaf set a network viewership record, attracting 2.3 million total viewers. The show also ranks as the summer’s number one new cable series among women and total viewers. Created by Wright, last week’s episode was the most watched since the series’ record-setting premiere episode two months ago. The show earned a season two renewal two months BEFORE it premiered in June.
Greenleaf is set against the backdrop of a Memphis megachurch and centers on the journey of an estranged daughter and disillusioned preacher Grace Greenleaf (Merle Dandridge) who has returned home after 20 years on the occasion of the mysterious death of her sister, Faith.
As she reenters the world of Calvary Fellowship World Ministries, the Memphis megachurch run by her powerful parents Bishop James Greenleaf (Keith David) and Lady Mae Greenleaf (Lynn Whitfield), it becomes evident that the family’s outward display of faith hides sin and misdeeds. Oprah Winfrey exec produces and also recurs on the series as Mavis McCready, marking her return to scripted TV.
OWN executives cited McGhee-Anderson’s “vast experience and passion for storytelling,” while calling her “a great complement to the existing team,” as well as an “incredible asset.”
Greenleaf airs Wednesday nights at 9pm, EST.
Check out the trailer for Season One, below: