Pasadena, Calif. -- OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network has greenlit
four new series for 2013: Blackboard Wars,
Golden Sisters, Raising Whitley (working title) and Dogfellas (working title), the network announced at the 2013
Television Critics' Association winter press tour here Saturday.
OWN also said that its first scripted series from Tyler
Perry, drama The Haves and the Have Nots
and the comedy Love Thy Neighbor will
premiere on Wednesday, May 29.
Blackboard Wars,
which premieres in March, centers on the dramatic transformation of New
Orleans' John McDonogh High School, as two educators seek to revive the
struggling school.
Golden Sisters
follows the adventures of three elderly sisters, who became famous after a
video of them watching a celebrity sex tape went viral, as they run a salon and
give colorful advice.
Raising Whitley
follows actress and comedienne Kym Whitley and her group of friends as they
attempt to raise a baby together. And Dogfellas
follows James "Head" Guiliani, a former street enforcer for the mafia who now
owns a Brooklyn dog grooming parlor.
New episodes of Oprah's
Master Class and Oprah: Where Are
They Now? will return in March and Iyanla:
Fix My Life will also come back for a new season this spring.
The series orders come as OWN finished 2012 with
double-digit ratings gains, up 30% in total viewers in primetime and up 32%
with women 25-54 year-over-year.
