The Haves and the Have Nots is a television drama that follows the complicated dynamic between the rich and powerful Cryer family and the hired help who work in their opulent mansion set in Savannah, Georgia. From the outside, the Cryers are the enviable face of success and wealth, but behind the veil the family’s dysfunction threatens to destroy their world of privilege.

 Cryer family patriarch Jim Cryer (John Schneider) is a powerful judge. whose double-life, including tawdry affairs with high-priced escorts, puts his family and political ambitions at risk. His wife, Katheryn Cryer (Renée Lawless), is the ultimate matriarch portraying a loving and dutiful wife, but she is willing to do anything to protect her family’s status.

 Their son Wyatt (Aaron O’Connell) is a troubled angry jock who cares little for his own image and finds himself in and out of rehab. His sister Amanda (Jacyln Betham), a struggling law student, tries harder to live up to her parents’ expectations, but unknowingly has befriended a scurrilous young woman, Candace Young, with the power to ruin the entire family.

Hanna Young (Crystal Fox) is the Cryer’s maid and the matriarch of her family. Despite having no money, she has found other types of wealth through religion and virtue. She prides herself on her dutiful son Benny (Tyler Lepley), the glue who helps keep the family together. Hanna does have one dark secret, however, her estranged daughter Candace (Tika Sumpter)—a manipulative opportunist who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Other characters in the series include the Cryer’s chef Celine (Eva Tamargo), their wealthy friends Veronica (Angela Robinson) and David Harrington (Peter Parros), and son Wyatt’s rehabilitation counselor, Jeffery Harrington (Gavin Houston).