Data Archive: ‘Being Mary Jane’
Being Mary Jane was a series run on BET, created by Mara Brock Akil (The Game, Girlfriends). It ran for four seasons and was uniquely bookended by two TV films. The series debuted on the network to some of the highest-performing metrics on television that year, drawing 4.01 million viewers and a P18-49 2.0 rating. Across its run, the series garnered 14 nominations throughout four different years of the NAACP Image Awards, winning three awards: Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special; Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series.
Premise: Being Mary Jane follows Mary Jane Paul, a cable news anchor, as she navigates her personal and professional life.
Genre: Drama
Cast: Gabrielle Union (Bring It On, Bad Boys II) as Pauletta ("Mary Jane Paul") Patterson, Lisa Vidal (The Event, Mighty Aphrodite) as Kara Lynch, Margaret Avery (The Color Purple, Blueberry Hill) as Helen Patterson, Richard Brooks (The Crow: City of Angels, The Substitue) as Patrick Patterson, B. J. Britt (Peaceful Warrior, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Paul Patterson Jr., Raven Goodwin (Snatched, The Station Agent) as Niecy Patterson and Richard Roundtree (Shaft, Brick) as Paul Patterson Sr.
Network: BET
Medium: Cable
Original Release: Series run January 7, 2014-September 19, 2017; Series premier film released July 2, 2013; Series finale film released April 23, 2019
Seasons: 4
Episodes: 52
Being Mary Jane’s viewership slowly decreased over its run. The premier TV film drew in 4.01 million viewers, as noted earlier, making it one of the best-performing premieres on television at the time. Season one, excluding the TV film, garnered 22.56 million viewers and averaged 2.82 million per episode. Season two pulled 21.49 million (averaging 1.79 million), season three had 16.26 million (averaging 1.64 million), season four had 17.22 million (averaging 861,000) and the finale TV film had 770,000 viewers. Season four’s episodic run had double the number of episodes of the previous seasons and was split into two parts, which helps explain the much lower average viewership despite a total audience comparable to season three.
The series maintained fairly high IMDB ratings across its run. The premiere film started strong with an 8.3 rating, while seasons one and two averaged an 8.4 rating per episode. Season three averaged 8.3, season four averaged 7.3 and the finale TV film closed with an 8.0. These ratings indicate a notably consistent reception among viewers. Although season four experienced a decline, the averages don’t indicate a major decline across the viewers who continued watching the series.
There are limited critical reviews of the series, with almost none available on IMDB and only a small number available for seasons one and four on Rotten Tomatoes. As a result, it is difficult to determine precisely why certain episodes performed better or worse than others. That said, the highest-rated episodes were season two’s fifth episode and season three’s third episode, both earning 8.8. Four episodes earned 8.6 ratings: season one episode four, season two episode two, season two episode eight and season three episode one. The lowest-rated episodes were both in season four, with episode 11 receiving a 6.0 and episode 12 having a 6.2. All other episodes rated under 7.0 were also found in season four.
The production transition from season three to season four may have influenced the series’ reception. Mara Brock Akil, departed as creator-showrunner after season three and moved into an executive consultant role. Showrunning duties shifted to Erica Shelton (The Good Wife, Covert Affairs). There were also two cast departures: Latarsha Rose (The Hunger Games, Sugar Mama) as Dr. Lisa Hudson and Aaron D. Spears (The Bold and the Beautiful, Blue Hill Avenue) as Mark Bradley. Season four also featured the highest episode count, with 20 episodes released across two parts. Given the limited critical commentary available, it remains difficult to determine how significantly these changes impacted the final reception of the series.
The series was cancelled after its fourth season; however, BET approved a finale TV film, allowing the series to reach proper closure. The final film was initially planned to be two hours and air in 2018. Ultimately, the released version ran approximately 42 minutes and was delayed twice, first to April 16, 2019, and then to April 23, 2019.
Being Mary Jane was a well-loved series that, despite declining overall viewership, ended on a high note with its final TV film and remains a favorite among BET viewers. The series is still available to watch in full on BET and BET Plus.
