# Being Mary Jane (2013)

> A successful TV news anchor juggles her career, romantic entanglements, and a family that depends on her.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/48872

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 51
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Mara Brock Akil
- Network: BET
- Cast: Gabrielle Union, Latarsha Rose, Omari Hardwick, Aaron D. Spears, Chris Spencer, Gary Dourdan, Lisa Vidal, Stephen Bishop
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2345481/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: intense, melodramatic, emotionally charged, warm, bleak

## What critics say

Audience reception is positive overall, with viewers drawn to Gabrielle Union's lead performance, though per-season ratings fall sharply after the first season.

## Synopsis

Being Mary Jane (2013-2017) is an American cable drama series created by Mara Brock Akil for BET. Gabrielle Union stars as Mary Jane Paul, a polished television news anchor who is a self-sufficient powerhouse devoted to a family that does not share her drive. Her world includes her sister Lisa Hudson played by Latarsha Rose, the on-again off-again romance with Andre Daniels played by Omari Hardwick, and her father Paul Patterson, Jr. played by B.J. Britt. The engine of the show is Mary Jane's effort to hold together her newsroom career, her love life and her relatives' constant demands, with each episode built from workplace pressure, personal confrontations and family crises. Across four seasons the story stays a continuing serialized arc rather than a case-of-the-week format. Set in contemporary Los Angeles, the show has an intimate, emotionally heavy register, with melodramatic and sometimes bleak moments sitting alongside warmth and humor. Fans of Scandal, Empire and Good Girls will find resonance in its focus on a determined woman balancing public success against private turmoil.

## Shows like Being Mary Jane

- [The Chi (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/62865)
- [Run the World (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/102206)
- [Tyler Perry's Zatima (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/132309)
- [FOREVER (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/163865)
- [Chasing Life (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54248)
- [Reasonable Doubt (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/127973)
- [The Mysteries of Laura (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54716)
- [Fairly Legal (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/29956)
- [Tyler Perry's Divorced Sistas (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/197753)
- [The Bold Type (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/60981)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt