BET+ Adds Two New Tyler Perry Original Series

Director/producer Tyler Perry will develop two additional original series for the BET+ streaming service to launch in early 2020, BET officials said.

The first of the two exclusive BET+ series, Tyler Perry’s Bruh, examines the world of dating, career, and friendship in a present-day society for a group of 30-something-year-old college friends. The second series, Tyler Perry’s Ruthless is a spin-off of BET’s drama series Tyler Perry’s The Oval and follows a young woman into the dark underworld of a fanatical religious cult, said the service.

The two series are part of Perry’s multi-year development deal with Viacom and BET. 

“Our landmark partnership with Tyler Perry is off to a fantastic start with the breakout success of The Oval, the number one new scripted series on cable, and Sistas,” said Scott Mills, president of BET Networks in a statement. “We’re thrilled that Tyler has created these two exciting new series exclusively for our rapidly growing streaming service, BET+. Bruh and Ruthless will join BET+’s other hit original series, including Tracy Oliver’s First Wives Club, Will Packet’s Bigger and BET’s American Gangster, and allow us to continue to super serve our subscribers’ demand for premium original African American content.”

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R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.