Oprah's name may come up a few times in this interview with lifestyle expert and author Jasmine Brett Stringer.
Stringer is an original OWN Ambassador, one of those ultimate Oprah Winfrey Network viewers.
Oprah will be pleased to know that Stringer worked me. She asked me to do this interview on a night when I was supposed to watch "Greenleaf," the newest OWN drama and Tyler Perry's "The Have and the Have Nots" with her. It didn't go as planned because "Greenleaf" wasn't on that night. Unfortunately, THATHN was.
It is possible to love Oprah and view Stringer's guidelines for this interview as a hostage situation.
I was happy not to watch "Greenleaf." I don't like the patriarch and am not looking for a TV show to replace CBS' "Good Wife" in my viewing habits. And while I like Perry as a human and occasionally get a kick out of Madea, overall I am underwhelmed by his movies and this THATHN show. Stringer is hooked.
"I love 'The Haves and Have Nots.' I grew up with a grandmother and great-aunt who had me watching soap operas and I still DVR 'The Young and the Restless,' " said Stringer. "I am not a TV critic, but I think 'Greenleaf' is a game changer and elevator for OWN. They have another show coming in a few months — 'Queen Sugar,' Ava DuVernay's show. … But 'Greenleaf' is for anyone who has a connection to the church, has southern roots, has quote unquote a dysfunctional family."
Ah, everybody?
"That would be everybody," she agreed. "If you fall in one of those three categories, that would be a program you can enjoy."