''Welcome to Sweetie Pie's'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

series starring the family of former Ikette

Robbie Montgomery Robbie Montgomery (born June 16, 1940) is an American singer and restaurateur. She is noted for being one of the original Ikettes in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the 1960s. After her tenure as an Ikette, she was a member of the Mirettes, and t ...

, and also focuses on the running of their collection of

soul food Soul food is an ethnic cuisine traditionally prepared and eaten by African Americans, originating in the Southern United States.Soul Food originated with the foods that were given to enslaved Black people by their white owners on Souther ...

restaurants, Sweetie Pie's. The series premiered on October 15, 2011, and ended on June 9, 2018, on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Background

Robbie Montgomery began her career in the 1960s as an Ikette. The Ikettes was the backing group for soul duo sensation

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing voca ...

. After her lung collapsed and she could no longer sing, Robbie took her mother's soul food recipes, and created "Sweetie Pie's"

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

' soul food restaurant run by Miss Robbie and her family. With two locations, Miss Robbie is preparing to open a third restaurant with the help of her son and business partner, Tim. While Tim and his fiancée, Jenae, tend to their newborn son and plan their wedding – Miss Robbie, who has never been married, continues to look for love at the age of 71 all the while keeping the family in line – especially her nephew Lil' Charles. ''Welcome to Sweetie Pie's'' follows the Montgomery family as they struggle with the demands of expanding their family-owned business and creating a legacy to pass on to future generations.

Production

''Welcome to Sweetie Pie's'' premiered on Oprah Winfrey Network on October 15, 2011. The series went on hiatus after the winter finale on December 3, 2011, and resumed with new episodes from March 31, 2012, until June 2, 2012. The first season consists of a total of 18 episodes. Beginning July 14, 2012, and continuing until the second season premiered, Oprah Winfrey Network aired two episodes of ''Welcome to Sweetie Pie's: An Extra Slice'' every Saturday, featuring never-before-seen moments from season 1. On April 5, 2012, OWN announced that ''Welcome to Sweetie Pie's'' was renewed for a second season. Season 2 aired weekly on

OWN Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

September 15, 2012, until December 15, 2012. Season 3 of ''Welcome to Sweetie Pie's'' premiered on July 27, 2013, premiering with the highest-rated episode of the series' history. On April 14, 2018,

announced that the series will end after the ninth season. The ninth and final season premiered on May 1, 2018. On March 14, 2016, frequent cast member Andre Montgomery Jr. was murdered in a St. Louis shooting. Andre Jr. was Robbie Montgomery's grandson and was the subject of numerous episodes which focused on his move from Texas to the St. Louis area, struggles in school, as well as a visit to the grave of his father Andre Montgomery Sr. On August 18, 2020, Montgomery's son Tim Norman, who was also a frequent cast member, was arrested in Mississippi and charged for his alleged role in a

murder for hire Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

plot that resulted in the death of Montgomery's grandson in 2016. It was reported that Tim, who is facing federal charges and was proven to have become the sole beneficiary to Andre Jr.'s estate in 2014, recruited a Memphis exotic dancer named Terica Ellis and others to assist in the murder plot. In 2022, Ellis and two other co-conspirators would plead guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. Norman's murder trial began on September 6, 2022, and on September 16 a jury convicted Norman on two counts of murder-for-hire and one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud."‘Sweetie Pie’s’ star Tim Norman guilty on all charges in murder-for-hire trial,"
from ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-De ...

'', 9/16/2022

Episodes

Season 1 (2011–12)

Season 2 (2012)

Season 3 (2013)

Season 4 (2014)

Season 5 (2015)

Season 6 (2015–16)

Season 7 (2016–17)

Season 8 (2017–18)

Season 9 (2018)

Specials

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{Oprah Winfrey Network programs, state=collapsed 2010s American reality television series 2011 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings Oprah Winfrey Network original programming African-American reality television series English-language television shows