Nadene Goldfoot
One of the most enjoyable Netflix presentations I've watched are Greenleaf and then From Scratch, using one of the same actors, Keith David.
Greenleaf is an American weekly prime time Soap Opera/mystery television series created by Craig Wright, and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Lionsgate Television. Clement Virgo also serves as an executive producer and director. It stars Keith David, Lynn Whitfield, and Merle Dandridge. Greenleaf premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on June 21, 2016.
Although members of the Greenleaf family run a Memphis megachurch, their business and personal lives are tainted with greed, adultery and other sins. All that makes an exciting story-line that keeps you guessing. They keep you happy throughout the story with the singing and dancing on the stage of the church.
The singing is unbelievably great-mostly from another daughter of the pastor, Charity Greenleaf, played by Deborah Joy Imani Winans (born September 6, 1983) who is an American actress and singer, and member of the musical Winans family. Charity has this fantastic voice and presentation, but she dreams of being the pastor.
She starred as Charity Greenleaf-Satterlee in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf. In 2015, Winans was cast in a series regular role in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf. She plays Charity Greenleaf-Satterlee, the youngest daughter in the family, who is also the Minister of Music. The series also stars Lynn Whitfield, Keith David, Merle Dandridge, and Kim Hawthorne.
Greenleaf follows the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family with scandalous secrets and lies, their palatial family mansion compound, and their sprawling Memphis megachurch with predominantly African-American members.
The series' lead characters are Bishop James Greenleaf (David) and Lady Mae Greenleaf (Whitfield), who are the patriarch and matriarch of the Greenleaf family, and Grace Greenleaf (Dandridge), their estranged daughter who has returned home after 20 years following the mysterious death of her sister, Faith.
Deep down, this family cares for and loves each other, but secrets, lies, adultery, sibling rivalry and other issues swarm the family as they try to keep themselves together. There are a variety of people who try to run the family out of their beloved church but they lay it all on the line to keep each other tight and close like any family.
The two top female actors are: Merle Dandridge as Grace Greenleaf, daughter of the preacher, and Kim Hawthorne as Kerissa who is married to Grace's brother.
What impresses me, looking back, is that both parents are great preachers, and all their children can preach and vie to be preachers in their parents' church. It shows that they can't help it, but they all are carrying that gene or genes to preach.
A Rotten Tomato comment was "More than five years after its much-anticipated debut, the Oprah Winfrey Network finally premieres what should have been its flagship show.
On November 23, 2018, OWN renewed the series for a fourth season. The fourth season premiered on September 3, 2019. On November 15, 2019, OWN confirmed the renewal of a fifth and final season of the series, which premiered on June 23, 2020. A spinoff of Greenleaf is in works on OWN, and will focus on Whitfield's character and her new role as senior pastor.
In the Netflix's "From Scratch, Keith David plays Hershel, the father of the main character, Zoe Saldana who plays the part of Amy, who falls in love with an Italian Sicilian while in Italy. The story-line takes place in Sicily in many of the scenes.
A comment: The acting was incredible - simply incredible - each and every actor in this show was amazing and brought so much depth to their characters. I binged the entire mini-series in a few nights, and by the last moment, I was ugly crying. I haven't cried this hard in a long time. This was a love story that shows you how to love, compromise, appreciate, respect, communicate. I loved the cultural nuances, the dreams that had to change, the realities of life, the complexities of families and choices. This is the best love story I have seen since 'The Notebook.' My husband isn't a fan of romantic movies; however, he was glued to the story as much as I was and appreciated it. It's a must watch. I agree with this comment posted. Especially Zoe Saldana, who I kept thinking was actually Kim Hawthorne, as they were similar-looking to my eyes, was a great actress who kept us crying.
From Scratch is an American drama limited series created by Attica Locke and Tembi Locke for Netflix. Inspired by Tembi Locke's memoir of the same name, it stars Zoe Saldaña and Eugenio Mastrandrea. Its eight episodes premiered on October 21, 2022. Attica Locke was series showrunner..
This actually was Tembi Locke's true story. Locke and her husband, Rosario "Saro" Gullo, a Sicilian chef, lived and worked in Los Angeles, California. Her husband died in 2012. They have one daughter who was 7 at the time of her father's death. She is a vegetarian, and urban homesteader, regularly growing produce on vacant lots in the city. Locke is a gourmet cook, and also enjoys hiking, running and fishing. She is involved in several social activism programs.
Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media.
He has starred in such films as The Thing (1982), Platoon (1986), They Live (1988), Dead Presidents (1995), Armageddon (1998), There's Something About Mary (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Pitch Black (2000), Barbershop (2002), Crash (2004), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), Cloud Atlas (2012), The Nice Guys (2016), and Nope (2022). He starred as Elroy Patashnik in the sixth season of the NBC series Community (2015) and starred as Bishop James Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama Greenleaf (2016–2020).
When asked in an interview on his narration work of The Bible if he was a religious man, he said: "I'm not a religious man. I'm a man of spirit. Religion can get political. I believe in God and spirit. I believe in church. I've been baptized. I've gone to Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal and Church of God in Christ." You'd never know it when you see him as Pastor Greenleaf.
What I enjoyed in both stories was the closeness that both
families showed their affection. The were the warmest of
families. They touched, kissed, let each other know they
cared. I think that's missing in a lot of our families.
Resource:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenleaf_(TV_series)
https://mymajicdc.com/3691227/owns-hit-series-greenleaf-
returns-this-august/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tembi_Locke
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Scratch_(TV_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_David
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Joy_Winans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe_Salda%C3%B1a
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