By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, March 18, 2015
"Single Ladies" returns Wednesday, March 18 at 10 p.m. but on a different network, with a new lead actress and a new city (in reality, not fictionally.)
Instead of VH1, it's on Centric. Instead of Denise Vasi, Melissa De Sousa is one of the three leads. And instead of producing a show set in Atlanta in Atlanta, "Single Ladies" is now produced in... Toronto.
I screened the first episode of season four. The producers get rid of Vasi's character (Raquel Lancaster) by having her disappear. She is possibly murdered and the cops are sniffing around, seeking suspects.
The two other female leads - LisaRaye McCoy-Misick and Charity Shea - have been on the show since it debuted in 2011. Their characters are mourning their friend's absence and possible death.
VH1 last year inexplicably dropped "Single Ladies," its first scripted drama, after three seasons despite solid ratings.
The show, shot in Atlanta from 2011 to 2013, has had its fair share of behind-the-scenes drama. The show's biggest name Stacey Dash quit after one year amid on-set tensions. She was replaced by soap star Vasi, who played a new character who took over the Buckhead boutique Dash's character operated. Then after two seasons, original creator Stacy Littlejohn left with no explanation.
VH1 sat on the show for 18 months before bringing it back last year for a third season. Then VH1 killed it.
Sister station Centric (also owned by Viacom) soon picked up "Single Ladies" to help relaunch its brand as the home to black women.
De Sousa, according to Centric, is set to play Austin Aguilera, a well-known socialite and social media queen who is nursing the wound of being alienated by her highly-decorated military father. Unless I missed something, I don't think she was in the opening episode.
As for the move to Toronto, the city provides tax credits that are in the same neighborhood as Georgia. But making such a big move still seems quixotic to me.
During the first episode, there are overhead views of Buckhead and downtown Atlanta and a cop explicitly references Buckhead. But a scene set at an Atlanta airport is clearly not Hartsfield Jackson (though someone in props did create a big "Welcome to Atlanta" sign.) The skyline on an upper floor of an office building has a backdrop that is clearly Toronto, not Atlanta. The ceremony for Raquel's character's funeral is set at Bramalea Baptist Church in Brampton, Ontario.
But most folks who are not attentive to such things will notice - or care.
TV preview
"Single Ladies," 10 p.m., Wednesdays, Centric
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