Press Junket Potluck: Iyanla Vanzant fixes more lives on OWN

The warm yet straight-shooting style that made Iyanla Vanzant both a best-selling self-help author and a television favorite dating back to mid-'90s guest appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show made her media meet and greet for the upcoming fifth season of her OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network reality series Iyanla: Fix My Life go far beyond the typical promotional press conference. While the new season of the show, in particular the sure-to-be-controversial opening three-part installment revolving around a trio of closeted gay ministers in the African-American church, were addressed during the 40-minute session, it was only a small part of a wide-ranging group discussion that encompassed Vanzant's personal background and philosophies--and even how the latter has affected, inspired, influenced, and even changed the lives of those covering the event.

The fifth season of Iyanla: Fix My Life premieres tonight, Saturday, September 19, on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

(Special thanks to OWN and 135th Street Agency)

The Movie Report wants to attend and cover all your special events! Please send any and all invitations to this address. Thanks!

Press Junket Potluck: If Loving You Is Wrong... Tyler Perry & OWN don't wanna be right

Sex, secrets, scandals, schemes... and that's just in the first episode. And so goes Tyler Perry's newest series for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, If Loving You Is Wrong. While loosely inspired by Perry's feature film dramedy from this past spring, The Single Moms Club--even retaining one of its stars, Zulay Henao, in a rebooted rework of her same role--the prolific multimedia mogul's latest small screen offering is more in line with his breakout hit for the network, the saucy primetime soap The Haves and Have Nots, which will premiere its third season in January 2015. The social media watercooler conversation will only continue, if not intensify, with this new series, given just how wrong the loving gets in only the first few minutes of the new show's opening hour--and the shockwaves of repercussions across a wide entanglement of various couples can and will only grow as the drama progresses, especially with so many of the people in the same neighborhood.

Most of the actors who play the principal roles--Henao (Esperanza), Heather Hemmens (Marcie), Amanda Clayton (Alex), Edwina Findley Dickerson (Kelly), April Parker Jones (Natalie), Tiffany Haddish (Jackie), Octavio Pizano (Julius), Eltony Williams (Randal), Aiden Turner (Brad), Denzel Wells (Travis), Charles Malik Whitfield (Lushion), Matt Cook (Joey), and Dawan Owens (Quan)--screened the series' inaugural episode for the very first time alongside a select group of media at a special event at the OWN Los Angeles offices last Wednesday, September 3. Given the wide and wide-ranging canvas of characters, there is no better way to be introduced to them than by the portrayers themselves, which they do so in the highlight video below, along with giving a taste/tease of what to expect as the weeks progress (with no spoilers!)

And below is a further taste of all the drama that awaits when If Loving You Is Wrong begins its 20-episode first season tonight, Tuesday, September 9, on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

(Special thanks to OWN, 135th Street Agency, Dawan Owens, April Parker-Jones, and Eltony Williams)

Press Junket Potluck: Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse joins Oprah & OWN

The new season of Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse, the television spinoff of Michael Jai White and Tasha Smith's popular Marcus and Angela Williams characters from Perry's two Why Did I Get Married? films, promises to not deviate from the blend of laughs and juicy relationship drama that drove the series through two successful years on TBS. But the upcoming third season does bring about one very significant change: moving to a new broadcast home on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. With the network shift comes a reinvigorated attitude as White, Smith, and co-stars Kent Faulcon (Richard), Kiki Haynes (Keisha), Brad James (Todd), and Cocoa Brown (Jennifer) displayed at a special media luncheon celebrating the new season. Below are highlights from the spirited discussion that covered not only the developments of the upcoming season--and some storyline pitches for the future--but also the importance of presenting varied and positive images of African-Americans in the media and the fledgling partnership between OWN and Tyler Perry Studios.

The third season of Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse begins tonight, Wednesday, September 18 at 9pm Eastern & Pacific/8pm Central & Mountain and will continue every Wednesday at the same time on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

(Special thanks to 135th Street Agency, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Michael Jai White, Tasha Smith, Kent Faulcon, and Brad James)