Our Kind Of People - What We Know So Far
It's a TV tale as old as time.
A cloistered, wealthy community, where the patina of success hides the underbelly of conflict and scandal. A mysterious outsider whose arrival shakes up the well-ordered society, spilling secrets it's worked long to hide. A cast of characters forced to choose sides in a conflict that's often shifting as new motivations come to light.
It's a formula that's worked from "Dallas" to "Dynasty" to any number of soap opera plots, but this fall on Fox, it's coming to televisions with a twist that will make it new again. "Our Kind of People," from executive producers Karen Gist and Lee Daniels, is set in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, a historic enclave of African American culture and wealth set on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The show is a story of generational wealth and high society where the players involved, both outsider and insider, are mostly Black, which actor Joe Morton, who plays a business titan with one such secret on the show, calls "a part of Black culture we've never seen before" (via Fox).
So when can audiences see it? And when can they expect when "Our Kind of People" premieres?
When will Our Kind of People premiere?
Like many shows with development cycles that crossed through 2020, "Our Kind of People," has taken the long road to the small screen. Originally pitched in 2017, according to Variety, the show lingered before it was taken over by Lee Daniels ("Empire") and Karin Gist, who has served as an executive producer on "Mixed-ish," "Grey's Anatomy," "Revenge," and more.
Development was delayed as part of the network's COVID-19 shuffles, according to Variety, with the series being pushed into off-cycle development in case the network needed something else to fill its schedule. The series was finally given a straight-to-series order for the 2021-2022 season, which seems an easy call for a show Fox's own website calls "a soapy, thrilling exploration of race and class in America and an unapologetic celebration of Black resilience and achievement."
"Our Kind of People is expected to premiere on Fox on September 21, 2021. Gist will serve as showrunner, and also is credited with writing the first episode (via Variety).
Who is in the cast of Our Kind of People?
"Our Kind of People" will star Yaya DaCosta as protagonist Angela Vaughn. DaCosta came to prominence as a competitor on "America's Next Top Model," but soon made the jump to acting, appearing on "All My Children" and "Ugly Betty" before landing the role of ED nurse April Sexton on "Chicago Med" and its sister shows, "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago PD." She also appeared in films like Lee Daniels' "The Butler," "Tron: Legacy," and "The Nice Guys," and played Whitney Houston in the Lifetime biopic "Whitney."
Joining DaCosta in the cast is actor Morris Chestnut as Raymond Dupont, whose film career spans from "Boyz n the Hood" to "Girls Trip." In the last decade he's played main roles in "Nurse Jackie," "Rosewood," and "The Resident." Nadine Ellis will play Raymond's wife Leah Franklin-Dupont, while Rhyon Nicole Brown, who played Maya on "Empire," will play their daughter Lauren. Newcomer Alana Bright will play Angela's daughter Nikki, who will clash with Lauren.
Rounding out the cast are Joe Morton, who you may know from "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" or "Justice League," and who won an Emmy for his performance as Eli Pope on "Scandal." He'll play Leah's wealthy father, Teddy Franklin. "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" veteran Lance Gross will play new money elite Tyrique Freeman, who offers to help Angela navigate the social mores of Oak Bluffs.
What is the plot of Our Kind of People?
"Our Kind of People" is based on a book by the same name by the author Lawrence Otis Graham, a book with the subtitle "Inside America's Black Upper Class." The characters involved in the series don't appear to be drawn from the book, but the environment of Oak Bluffs with its rigid social mores and heavily stratified pecking order is clearly based on the world detailed in Graham's novel.
Deadline reports that the series will follow single mother Angela (Yaya DaCosta), the owner of a haircare line for Black women, as she moves to Oak Bluffs with the intention of reclaiming her family's name. But the discovery of a dark secret about her mother threatens to turn her world — and all of Oak Bluffs — on its head. The level of dynastic wealth present in Oak Bluffs means Angela's success as an entrepreneur is just a drop in the bucket to Leah (Nadine Ellis) and the old guard.
The teaser trailer includes a voiceover from Angela saying "Little do they know, I'm one of them," which makes it seem as though perhaps her mother's secret was an affair with Teddy. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that Angela and Leah will also come into conflict with one another as the former's arrival disrupts the well-grooved paths the latter has come to expect from her life.
Considering Lee Daniels' involvement, it's easy to see "Our Kind of People" as a spiritual successor to his series "Empire," which also concerned itself largely with the trials and tribulations of wealthy Black Americans, though this new series will take place in a very different setting and social realm than the New York music industry fans of the Lyon family came to know in that show.