The Haves and the Have Nots

The Haves and the Have Nots (sometimes referred to as Haves and Have Nots and abbreviated as HAHN) is an American crime drama and soap opera created, executive produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry. The premise of the series is based on Perry's 2011 play of the same name. The Haves and the Have Nots premiered on May 28, 2013, and ran for 8 seasons on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), for a total of 196 hour-long episodes. The series finale aired on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. As part of the show's finale, a two-part cast reunion special consisting of all The Have and Have Nots main characters in front of a live studio audience was televised, part 1 on July 27 and part 2 on August 3. The Haves and the Have Nots was ranked among the top 2 scripted cable series with a majority African American cast. The soap opera led the ratings for OWN programming throughout much of its series run. It averaged 2.8 million total viewers across its 196 episodes. During its highest rated years from 2014 to 2017, the program averaged more than 3.1 million viewers each year. It was reported in June 2021 that the program is the most-watched scripted cable series among African American women and households. The Haves and the Have Nots is the first scripted and first fictionalized television series to air on the Oprah Winfrey Network and is considered the network's first claim to fame. Amid struggles to keep her network afloat before debuting The Haves and the Have Nots, Oprah Winfrey was quoted in a 2012 interview as stating, “Had I known that it was this difficult, I might have done something else.” The success of The Haves and the Have Nots, however, opened the door to myriad other popular scripted dramas on Winfrey's network, including but not limited to Queen Sugar and Greenleaf.