Thursday, March 28, 2024

Ava DuVernay Brings Love to Oprah’s OWN with ‘Cherish the Day’ – WATCH

*Ava DuVernay is returning to OWN with “Cherish The Day,” her second and latest project for Oprah’s OWN.  “Cherish The Day” is set for a February debut and is an amazingly well done romantic anthology series that follows a single couple as they wade their way through the ups and downs of love, life and everyday issues.

Season One stars Xosha Roquemore (“The Mindy Project”) as Gently James and Alano Miller (“Underground”) as Evan Fisher, a young couple with opposite backgrounds, histories, personalities and responsibilities, who meet, court, fight and fall in love in Los Angeles. The first season will span five years of their relationship, with “day in the life” situations in each episode.  Each season will unfold over eight episodes.

Three-time, Emmy award winner and the one and only … legendary actress Cicely Tyson joins Roquemore and Miller as Miss Luma Lee Langston, a renowned star of stage and screen from previous decades. Gently James is Miss Langston’s live-in assistant and is encouraged by her wise employer to stop having “relationship A.D.D.” and give love and commitment a try. Miss Luma likes Evan and wants to see both of them happy and together.  

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cherish the day - beach johnson stewart
Michael Beach Anne Marie Johnson Kelle Stewart

In addition to these amazing leads, the cast is rounded out this season with Michael Beach (as Ben, Gently’s foster father, a former gang member who works as a delivery man for the Los Angeles Times); Anne-Marie Johnson (as Dana, Evan’s mother who disapproves of his relationship with Gently and is not shy about sharing her reservations), and Kellee Stewart (as Ellene, Evan’s well-bred, religious sister).

What makes “Cherish The Day” so special, is that it a love story told in a different way.  Often times, we see romantic comedies show that acts of love can only be done with big gestures and sometimes unrealistic truths. This series is different.  It shows us that love is complex.  Love is not linear.  Love often doesn’t just happen in the grandiose, but simply in the little things and thoughts throughout one’s day.  Love can be messy and impacted and influenced by outside people.  People who love you, have the best intentions for you, but maybe are making things more difficult or more simple, depending on how you are looking at it.

Gently and Evan’s relationship is a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, obviously not with the tragic ending … or does it?  You see, there is definitely tragedy in their budding relationship, there is misunderstanding and assumptions and stereotypes, as there are in most new relationships.  You come in believing one thing about this person you are attracted to, and perhaps they do not fit in the box you’ve created for them. That is the beauty of falling in love, you get to break free from the box and you get to learn and grow with someone you care about. We see all of this in Gently and Evan’s journey.

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Cherish The Day also shows us love, the Los Angeles way.  What is the Los Angeles way?  Well, you have to live here to understand that if you live in Hollywood and the person you desire lives in Long Beach, that is considered a “long-distance” relationship.  If you are setting up a date, you have to factor in street parking … is it metered, is it no parking on the left side, no parking on the right side, no parking from 11am to 11pm or is it residential parking only?  Is it valet parking, how much is valet parking? Will there be traffic?  Of course, there will be traffic.  It’s Los Angeles, its always rush hour at every hour!  And there’s this. What should take you 10 minutes to drive to, can take you 45 minutes to arrive, you know, depending on traffic.  Los Angeles dating has so many little intricacies and minutia and “Cherish The Day” includes them all.

What also makes “Cherish The Day” extremely important and “must-see” tv, is that it is a black love story.  Citing ’90s films such as Love and Basketball and Love Jones,  Ava DuVernay  has said she “longed to see those kinds of black love stories on television.”  That is what “Cherish The Day is.”  It breaks open those black images, those black love stories and puts it in an anthology form. “It explores black love — which we don’t see enough.”  In a climate of diversity and change, this black love is one that viewers are going to embrace, they are going to learn and appreciate that black love is love. We love the same. We hurt the same. We heal the same. Black love is powerful and we need to see more black love on our screens! Cherish The Day begins that journey.

“Cherish the Day” is produced for OWN by ARRAY Filmworks and Harpo Films in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television. DuVernay, Paul Garnes (“Queen Sugar”), Tanya Hamilton, and Oprah Winfrey serve as executive producers. If you haven’t already, check out our interview with DuVernay and the cast of “Cherish The Day” via the video player above.

 

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