Carlos King is a reality-TV super-producer. His resume includes work on juggernauts like “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” “Real Housewives of New Jersey” and “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta.”

King’s latest hit is the docuseries “Love & Marriage: Huntsville.”

The show airs Saturdays 8 p.m. central on cable’s Oprah Winfrey Network and follows three couples looking to revitalize North Huntsville through a joint real estate venture called The Comeback Group.

"It was an opportunity to show three successful African-American couples who live in a part of town a lot of people haven't seen," King says. "And what I love about this show is Huntsville is a character onto itself."

As King hints, while downtown, west and mid Huntsville have all been the focus of major development in recent years, there’s been less of that North Huntsville. The working title for “Love & Marriage: Huntsville” was even “Rocket City Revival.”

“The beauty of this is to show there are very smart and selfless people in the city of Huntsville who are giving back to the community,” King says. “Who are building homes so the less fortunate can afford a nice home to reside in. And they did this before we started filming. I think that’s a lot of what resonated to the audience who got curious about this show, especially the fact that it is on the OWN network. I think all those elements played into the success of the series.”

The show is more than just some real estate Wakanda though. The six main characters - Melody and Martell Holt, Marsau and LaTisha Scott and Maurice and Kimmi Scott - are way watchable. Personality, looks, humor, charisma, they’re all there. But what makes the show more intriguing is these friends’ roots run deep, back to days together as Alabama A&M classmates. And, Marsau and Maurice are literally brothers.

The cast of Oprah Winfrey Network reality TV show "Love & Marriage: Huntsville": From left, Marsau and LaTisha Scott; Melody and Martell Holt; and Maurice and Kimmi Scott. (Courtesy of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

This being reality TV, there is also enough baggage between each couple and entire group to fill a carousel at Huntsville International Airport.

Melody Holt - with her smarts, sass, avant-garde hairdo and speaking timbre like a pop song - is the most magnetic of the cast. And her marriage drama accelerates the show.

The Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN, was named for and inspired by the sometimes-mononymous talk-show host, actress, executive and one of Earth’s most famous and influential humans. Winfrey’s "creative instincts inform the OWN brand.” According to a rep for channel, Winfrey was interested in “Love & Marriage: Huntsville” because the show “featured African-American couples working on their relationships, marriages and businesses together.”

"Love & Marriage: Huntsville" premiered in January 2018 and returned for season "1B" in September.

On a recent afternoon, King, a Detroit native and Studio City resident, called in for a phone interview. Below are edited excerpts.

Carlos, what first got you excited about "Love & Marriage: Huntsville"?

I met Melody Martell approximately five years ago. They pitched a concept about what they do in Huntsville, in regard to real estate, developing homes in Huntsville, Alabama. I jumped at the chance just out of curiosity of the city. But also, just seeing how magnificent Martell and Melody were as people. And once they introduced me to the other two couples, which are the Scotts, I knew we had something very special on our hands and I felt very excited about to develop and then pitch the networks.

Since the "Love & Marriage: Huntsville" cast have such history together that adds texture and depth.

Absolutely. The recipe for success when you’re doing an unscripted show, I have found, is the organic relationships that cast members have with each other.

In addition to cast chemistry, what’s another big challenge in producing compelling unscripted TV?

The biggest challenge is providing an environment where your cast feels comfortable talking about their real life in front of a camera crew and subsequently millions of viewers. I think what a lot of people forget about the people who decide to be a part of a reality show is it takes a lot of courage to be so honest about what you’re going through, whether it’s your marriage your family life. And all things aren’t pretty. But that is life. They’re not actors. There isn’t a script they’re relying on. There isn’t a character that they have to study and showcase that to the world. I do think reality stars, if you will, don’t get the credit they deserve for showcasing their real authentic lives in front of millions people where they are being judged. Every day they have to make the choice to be honest about it and that isn’t easy.

What are some of your favorite unscripted shows you haven't worked on?

Oh, good question. I would say I love "Shark Tank." That would be my number one favorite and I also really enjoy, of course, "Iyanla: Fix My Life." And I love "Married to Medicine," again a show about couples. Those would be my three favorites, for sure.

"Love & Marriage: Huntsville" stars Kimmi Scott, left, and LaTisha Scott, right, with executive producer Carlos King. (Courtesy Angela Dugan)

Do you think Melody has the most potential to be a breakout star and a TV career outside this show?

I think all the ladies do honestly. Melody, definitely. When I met Melody, I saw a star and that was the reason I kept in touch with them. They, Martell and Melody, drove from Huntsville to Atlanta, at the time I was living in Atlanta, and the moment I met Melody I said, "Oh my God, she's a star." I just knew it. At the time I really wanted to find the best outlet for them. I do give them all the credit because they could have easily gone to another production company. They could have been impatient and said, "No, we want this now." But they trusted me and I think a lot of that had to do with my honesty with them. But I do think Melody Holt has the opportunity to achieve everything she sets her mind to. She is a renaissance woman, she's resilient, she's super savvy when it comes to business. There's a lot of irons in the fire when it comes to Melody Holt that I think the world has yet to see, and I'm happy I'm on this journey with her.

You're executive producer on "Love & Marriage" Huntsville." For casual TV fans who may not know what all that job entails, what's the range of stuff involved with being an EP on a show like this?

Sure. So, me and my company pitched the show to the Opah Winfrey Network, and by me being the owner of the company, by default I'm also the executive producer of the show. Then I hire other producers, whether it's an executive producer, a supervising producer, etcetera, to organize what we are going to have seen for the show. A lot of that is talking to your cast members and gaining insight into what's really happening their real lives and using that to film.

When you have someone for example like Melody Martell who is super honest about the issues in their marriage, before the cameras start rolling it's something that we as producers know about because, again, we have cultivated that relationship with the cast members. We film conversations surrounding it and we film real life moments happening, whether it's a phone call you could get from a cast member any hour of the day saying, "Hey, I'm going through this. Are you guys able to film me?" And then we rush over there and film what's happening in real time. Once we kind of get all of those main pieces together, what people see is hours and hours and hours of footage that gets condensed into a 42-minute episode.

About how many people were working on the "Love & Marriage: Huntsville" crew and where did they stay while here?

You know what's interesting is often times when you're dealing with a small town like Huntsville it doesn't warrant itself to have local crew members. So, there were people who traveled from Atlanta or Los Angeles or New York. A lot of the crew members who aren't local residents were flown to Huntsville and put up in public housing during the duration of the series.

Do you see potential for more seasons of the show?

Absolutely. [Laughs] I would love to have it go on for many, many years like “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” I want to have the same amount of episodes they have, because this cast, I feel is super relatable to the audience. We’re very thankful to the fact we have amassed a fanbase and a loyal audience who tune in every Saturday at 9 o’clock (eastern). I would love to continue doing this. Of all the shows I’ve done this is absolutely in my top three of my favorites.

Besides "Love & Marriage: Huntsville," what are they other two shows in your top three you've worked on?

Oh, you want to get me in trouble! [Laughs] There's a reason I have the relationship I have with the casts of all the shows I've done, it's because I know when to keep my mouth shut.

Although there were predecessors, reality shows really broke through during the '90s. It's now 2019 and these show aren't going anywhere. Why do you think reality TV has gone beyond trend and is now baked into TV content in terms of a genres right up there with, say, sitcoms or procedural dramas?

I think the audience likes to watch someone they can identify with. Because for so long we only had actors playing a character that was dreamt up by a screenwriter, studio or director. The moment the director yelled cut that actor had to go back to being themselves.

And I think a lot of what has happened since then is, the audience enjoys seeing people have the same issues they have, because they do not feel alone. That will never get old.

The reason some reality shows get more viewership that scripted shows is because people want to see a reflection of themselves. And that’s why you see a lot of actors now have a social media account. They show you who they are with their children. They videotape themselves at a restaurant or at home because reality shows definitely changed the culture of the world. When you look at Cardi B’s success, thanks to a reality show she has become the number-one hip-hop star in the world, and that’s only because she started out in reality and had the talent to elevate herself afterwards. As long as people continue this request of seeing themselves reflected on TV, honestly, this genre isn’t going anywhere.