Another Netflix series set in Mississippi will soon be available for viewers nationwide to watch.
After The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga became the talk of many towns with its winding, true story of two local enemies who took a rivalry as far as an assassination attempt on the president, word got out this week that Tyler Perry is bringing his fictional universe to the Magnolia State.
Perry’s She The People will be the acclaimed screenwriter’s first comedy series on Netflix, according to an announcement by the streaming giant. In it, Terri J. Vaughn will star as a Mississippi politician elected as the state’s first Black, female lieutenant governor before realizing that she will have to work a lot harder if she wants to get anything done alongside a “sexist and condescending governor.”
“The series follows politician Antoinette Dunkerson (Vaughn), whom we first meet during her campaign for Lieutenant Governor,” Netflix’s description of the show reads. “After she wins her election, she must figure out how to thrive under a sexist and condescending governor, while attempting to keep her family in line now that they’re all in the public eye.”
For the sake of history, Mississippi has never had a Black or a Black, female lieutenant governor. It has, however, had a female lieutenant governor twice with Democrat Evelyn Gandy from 1976-80 and Amy Tuck from 2000-08. Tuck was a Democrat but moved to the GOP side during her first term, as the state’s party realignment began to culminate.
Perry’s series is produced by Niya Palmer, Vaughn, and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. The cast includes Tre Boyd, Dyon Brooks, Jade Nova, Jo Marie Payton, and Drew Olivia Tillman.
The first eight episodes of She The People will be available to stream on May 22. The next eight will drop on Aug. 14. The trailer for the incoming show can be watched below.
