Tyler Perry’s first series for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network, the drama The Haves and Have Nots, premiered Tuesday night and delivered the goods from the cable network. The premiere was the highest-rated debut in OWN’s short history.
Have and Have Not’s premiere episode at 9 p.m. drew 1.77 million viewers in total, notes The Wrap. Not only was that the biggest audience overall for a debut on the network, but it also garnered 1.57 million in the women 25-54 demographic, the target demo for OWN.
The second episode aired immediately after and actually drew more viewers, climbing to 1.8 million in total (1.67 million in OWN’s key demo).
The series features John Schneider, Tika Sumpter, Aaron O'Connell and Angela Robinson and is about the relationship between a rich family and their servants in modern-day Savannah, Georgia.
Despite the viewers, The Los Angeles Times notes that the shows was hammered by critics, who did not get to see the premiere episodes before they aired. The paper’s own Mary McNamara wrote that it is “so awful that the awfulness appears intentional. Except that might make it interesting, and it just isn't.”
Variety’s Brian Lowry added said that the show is “claustrophobically cheap, not to mention poorly written and indifferently acted.”
Perry’s Love Thy Neighbor premieres tonight.