*OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced today its new Saturday lineup beginning April 15, including the return of the three-time NAACP Image Award-winning series “Iyanla: Fix My Life” featuring six-time New York Times bestselling author and spiritual life coach Iyanla Vanzant and the new original docu-series “The Book of John Gray” featuring associate pastor at Joel Osteen’s world-famous Lakewood Church, John Grayand his wife Aventer.
Saturday lineup
“Iyanla: Fix My Life” will air at 9 p.m. ET/PT followed by “The Book of John Gray” at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
In addition, OWN will give viewers a chance to preview “The Book of John Gray” with a sneak peek of the premiere episode on the Watch OWN App, WatchOWN.TV and YouTube.com/OWN beginning Wednesday, March 15.
Watch the season trailers of “Iyanla: Fix My Life” and “The Book of John Gray”
“The Book of John Gray”
Series descriptions follow:
“Iyanla: Fix My Life”
Saturday lineup — Season Premiere: Saturday, April 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT
Iyanla Vanzant is a six-time New York Times bestselling author, spiritual life coach, television host and living testament to the power of acting on faith. Through emotional heart-to-heart conversations and often a dose of tough-love, Iyanla helps individuals confront unresolved issues that are causing turmoil. She coaches guests and gives them the tools to fix their own lives, seeking to break the negative patterns that are preventing true happiness.
In a two-part season premiere, Iyanla travels to Atlanta to visit former reality stars Neffeteria “Neffe” Pugh and Shelby “Soullow” Lowery, who are now living in a hotel on the brink of divorce. Overwhelmed by financial obligations, his troubled marriage and recovering from a heart attack, Iyanla helps Shelby find the courage to confront Neffe about her alcohol abuse and combative ways in hopes of building a solid future for their family.
In another episode, Iyanla also visits the former front-man of R&B group 3T and nephew of the late pop superstar Michael Jackson, Taryll Jackson, to uncover the issues that lurk beneath the surface of his failing relationship with the mother of his children and girlfriend of 10 years. Continuing to focus on relationships, Iyanla also invites four married “couples in crisis” to the “House of Healing” for explosive three-part episode. Having dealt with infidelity, communication breakdown and on the brink of a break up, Iyanla works to help guide each couple as they struggle to heal their broken hearts and regain peace from their broken pieces.
Later in the season, former “Basketball Wives” star Laura Govan comes to Iyanla for healing. Laura believes that her ex-fiancé is targeting her on social media, and has even accused him of sleeping with her sister, Gloria. Iyanla works to help Laura strengthen her relationship with her parents and make sense of her life before it’s too late.
In an emotional season finale, Iyanla brings together six survivors of the Pulse nightclub tragedy, the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Each have been suffering in distinctly different ways since surviving the shooting. With no “fix,” Iyanla will explore this painful memory so that each person can hopefully heal and begin to move forward, so that we can all learn from this tragedy.
“Iyanla: Fix My Life” is produced by PIGEON for OWN with executive producers Paul Harrison (“Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s”) and Iyanla Vanzant.
“The Book of John Gray”
Saturday lineup — Series Premiere: Saturday, April 15 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
“The Book of John Gray” features the life of John Gray, Associate Pastor at Joel Osteen’s world-famous Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Known for his larger than life sense of humor and his special ability to connect with peoples’ hearts, he brings a message of hope and faith to everyone he meets. A healer, a husband, a father, and a bridge-builder, he’s not your daddy’s preacher.
Raised by a single mother, John began preaching at the age of 21, toured as a singer with Grammy award-winning Gospel recording artist Kirk Franklin, and is renowned for his ability to blend comedy, music and entertainment into a unique style of preaching. While he admits that he has faced his own enormous struggles and could easily have become a statistic, he has instead risen to prodigious success and is now trying to be the role model and father that he never had. John will give viewers unprecedented access into his life with his wife Aventer and their ministry as they help people in their community overcome life’s challenges, while John also faces his own relatable struggles and triumphs as a husband and father.
The premiere season will introduce the dynamics within the Gray household including John’s emotional struggle with diabetes and Aventer’s medical challenges. Among the people that John will work with and guide are a woman whose home was destroyed after a flood, causing her to lose her faith; a father concerned about his daughter’s dangerous addiction to alcohol; a couple trying to overcome infidelity on their path to the altar; and a military veteran who is trying to work through the trauma of sexual abuse suffered while serving her country, which brings up demons from John’s own painful past. Aventer also brings her motherly touch of ministry to the series as well, helping a woman find comfort in her difficulties with fertility and mentoring a group of African-American teens.
“The Book of John Gray” is produced for OWN by Leftfield Pictures, with David George, Jordana Hochman, Joe Weinstock and showrunner Rob Cornick as executive producers, alongside Jason Kennedy (E! News) and Rich Wilkerson, Jr. as consulting producers.
source:
Vaughn Alvarez
[email protected]
