BET’s ‘Being Mary Jane’ To Say Its Official Goodbyes In 2018

October 19, 2017

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BET’s Being Mary Jane To Officially End With a Two-Hour Finale Movie Next Year

For four seasons strong, BET’s Being Mary Jane has been the Tuesday night highlight of the Viacom-owned network. Originally created by Mara Brock Akil (Moesha, Girlfriends), the series successfully aired its ninety-minute pilot back in July of 2013, following up with the kick-off premiere of season one. The first season had a triumphant closing, as it garnered tons of viewers and positive reviews. That, eventually, led the series to have three more seasons; season four’s final episode recently wrapped this September. However, now, after fifty-one episodes, in total, Being Mary Jane will be saying its permanent goodbyes in 2018.

According to Deadline, the BET signature drama series, starring veteran actress Gabrielle Union, is officially coming to an end. Set in Atlanta, Georgia, Being Mary Jane follows Pauletta ‘Mary Jane Paul’ Patterson, a successful broadcast journalist, as she struggles to uphold her personal and love life, demanding job, and commitment to her dependent family. The series depicts the everyday challenges of a ‘single black female’, unapologetically showcasing the lives of the modern day African-American women.

BET has ordered a two-hour movie for 2018, which will serve as the series’ finale. There is no date as to when the finale movie will premiere, but we do know that it is set for sometime next year.

“Being Mary Jane has been a landmark series not only for BET but for African-American women around the world who saw themselves in Mary Jane, her family, friends, and coworkers. From the captivating storytelling to the richly complex characters, to the powerful issues tackled on the series, we remain immensely proud,” Connie Orlando, EVP and Head of Programming at BET Networks, expressed. “We are grateful to the cast and creators of Being Mary Jane, who have worked tirelessly to bring this world to vivid life over the past four seasons. We also thank the many loyal viewers, whose hearts and minds were captured every week and kept Mary Jane trending worldwide. We look forward to closing out Mary Jane’s journey with a series finale that is sure to blow fans away!”

Union, who portrays the starring role of ‘Mary Jane Paul’ took to Instagram, responding to the series’ departure, with an emotional post to the all of Mary Jane fans around the world.

To Every Fan of Being Mary Jane, We have all worked so tirelessly to bring you a show that we could be proud to be a part of. Mary Jane has become my favorite character. We’ve screwed up together, laughed together, evolved together, and raised hell together. I love all her imperfections, and through playing her I became more forgiving of others who are imperfect and on the journey of self discovery and improvement. We watched her struggle with relationships with both men and women, and we watched her finally start to get her shit together. But the journey isn’t over yet. We, as a Being Mary Jane family, cannot wait to bring you this final 2 hour series finale movie that will answer all your questions about each and every character. More than anything, however, we want to thank you with every fiber of our being for faithfully watching the show and supporting our work… from the actors, writers, producers, directors and enormous crew over the years, we are humbled and we remain grateful. Thank you!
A post shared by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion) on Oct 11, 2017 at 7:02pm PDT

Though it is a sad occasion, most viewers weren’t surprised by the cancellation. As we know, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Being Mary Jane. In 2016, original creator Mara Brock Akil, alongside husband and executive producer, Salim Akil, left due to a standing deal with Warner Bros. They did remain as executive producers, though. Erica Shelton Kodish and Will Packer ran and executive produced season four, along with Union also executive producing, among others. As if things over at Being Mary Jane weren’t already a bit shaky, in the same year, Union actually sued BET for allegedly trying to deprive her of her ‘Mary Jane Paul’ coins. The actress made a claim, stating that the network agreed that they would never produce more than thirteen episodes, per season; however, they wanted to film two ten-episode seasons, for season four and five, back-to-back, and cram them all into one single season, which Union believed was a way of fraudulently extending the terms of her contract and cutting into the compensation they owed her.

But, on the bright side, Union and the BET family soon came to an agreement. Thus, premiering the first installment of season four on January 10th, 2017. That installment ended on March 21st and later came the second half, on July 18th, which ran all the way through to September 19th.

It’s been a long ride for ‘Mary Jane Paul’, and we’re happy to have ridden passenger with her through this journey. We are extremely thankful to everyone who has helped bring Being Mary Jane to life on our TV screens, every week, for the past four years. No further details regarding 2018’s finale movie have been released, but we’re certainly looking forward to what explosives are on the way.

What’s your favorite Being Mary Jane episode? Let us know in the comments!

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