Tyler Perry is expanding his domination of TBS’ schedule with the addition of a series, titled “For Better or Worse.”
TBS has ordered 10 episodes of “Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse,” which is based on the feature films “Why Did I Get Married?” and “Why Did I Get Married Too?”
As with Perry’s current TBS projects, “House of Payne” and “Meet the Browns,” “For Better or Worse” — not to be confused with Lynn Johnston’s “For Better or For Worse” — will be produced in Tyler Perry’s Atlanta at Tyler Perry’s Tyler Perry Studios.
TBS will have room for “For Better or Worse,” with “House of Payne” reaching its end, a snippet of information buried in Tuesday press release.
“Even though it will be sad to say goodbye to ‘House of Payne,’ I”m really looking forward to exploring new territory with ‘For Better or Worse,'” states Tyler Perry. “Working on ‘House of Payne’ taught me a lot about what it takes to make a successful television series and I”m looking forward to applying that experience to ‘For Better or Worse.'”
The network says that unlike the family-skewing “Payne” and “Browns,” “For Better or Worse” will target young adults, with Michael Jai White and Tasha Smith reprising their roles from the earlier Perry films, playing television anchor Marcus and salon owner Angela.
And as with “House of Payne” and “Meet the Browns,” syndication will be sold by Debmar Mercury.
“Tyler Perry”s series have been tremendously successful for TBS, helping establish the network as a prime destination for African-American viewers,” states Michael Wright, executive vice president, head of programming, for TBS, TNT and TCM. “Given such a remarkable track record, we”re excited for the opportunity to expand our relationship with Tyler Perry and Debmar-Mercury with the new series ‘For Better or Worse.'”
Debmar-Mercury Co-Presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein add, “The entertainment industry has never seen anyone like Tyler Perry, an extraordinarily talented film/television/stage producer, writer, director, actor and mogul who is capable of repeatedly turning out hit after hit for both TBS and broadcast syndication. We are thrilled to be associated with another of Tyler”s unique, remarkable and groundbreaking series.”
Perry’s most recent theatrical release, “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family,” took in more than $25 million at the domestic box office last weekend.