Can 'Single Ladies' bring some more class to VH1?
theGRIO REPORT - 'Single Ladies' goes one step further and actually delivers on a cast loaded with chemistry, character and diversity...
Something new is brewing over at VH1. The network, along with Queen Latifah’s production company Flavor Unit Entertainment, have jumped head first into the scripted TV landscape with series, Single Ladies. The show is a collaboration of firsts — first time this hybrid of comedy and drama has graced the VH1 landscape, combined with the fact it’s the first series for Queen Latifah, and producing partner Shakim Compere, on the music-driven cable entity.
Part soap, part serious attempt to give the audience a bit of that Sex and the City vibe — something seriously lacking in TV since the show’s demise, Single Ladies goes one step further and actually delivers on a cast loaded with chemistry, character and diversity. Attributes you don’t necessarily see on network television. I recently spoke with executive producer Shelby Stone on what we should expect for this upcoming season.
What was the development process for Single Ladies — how did it become?
Queen Latifah, Shakim Compere and VH1’s Maggie Malina and I had early conversations about developing this idea. When writer and Executive Producer Stacy A. Littlejohn came along, she helped solidify the concept. We all wanted to do something interesting about the story of female friendship — not the usual scheming, hair pulling domain, which unfortunately has become the norm. But something richer, more real.
We discovered we wanted to showcase this dynamic in a multicultural world. TV doesn’t show this. As it stands, it’s really monolithic. And we wanted to explore female friendship that’s more reflective of the world – the world we all live in.
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Once we had the premise for the show, we got into development, fleshing out the world, the characters and our pilot stories. We have a great team, we’re blessed. And we became even stronger when director Tamra Davis joined the group. We’re all in sync and supportive of this central core vision.
We pitched to VH1; they immediately jumped on board and bought the idea. Maggie Malina was an executive at VH1 at the time. She became a producer. It was always VH1. Jeff Olde was, and is, head of programming there. Jill Holmes (Senior Vice President, West Coast Production & Development at VH1) believed in us from the beginning. There was nothing like it on TV.
You’re an executive producer on Single Ladies. What is your role as EP — writing, technical?
I’m on the technical side. I oversee, give input on the operational day-to-day of production. Stacy A. Littlejohn — another executive producer, runs the writers room. Maggie Malina is also an executive producer, along with Shakim Compere and Queen Latifah.
I’ve got to admit, I’m a bit of a fan of your previous works — specifically Lackawanna Blues and Boycott. Now that you’ve joined Flavor Unit, what part of your creative aesthetic do you hope to bring to episodic TV? And what do you hope to bring to Single Ladies?
In working with HBO on the Life Support project starring Queen Latifah, there was great collaboration with Flavor Unit. I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people in Hollywood — I get to work with Latifah and Shakim Compere. It’s a creative match. She has an extraordinary body of work. I feel really, really lucky. Our aesthetics have blended so well. Latifah represents the every woman in that they’re strong, resilient, humorous, full of life and love, and trying to honor themselves in moving forward in the world. For all women, of all colors.
With Single Ladies, what we’re trying to show are three women — and a fourth who will appear in later episodes, trying to make a way in the world. They’ll fall down, mess up and pick themselves up. That’s real, that’s life.What can you tell us about the characters and the stories we’ll see?
Stacey Dash plays Val, former stylist to the stars. She moves to Atlanta to be with her man, a professional basketball player. After five years of dating, she expects marriage. When that doesn’t happen, she moves on, opening a designer store. More than anything, she doesn’t give up on love and tries to find the man of her dreams. We’ll see her adventures and lots of the funny as she starts dating.
LisaRaye McCoy plays Keisha, a former video vixen ready to start over. McCoy’s character meets a man who intrigues her, challenges her. They have this fun, very equal, sexy mental sparring with one another. Who will outsmart whom? DB Woodside plays her love interest, a man that’s self-assured, self-taught and very formidable. Sparks fly as they learn to trust, be vulnerable and navigate their way to love.
Charity Shea plays April, a small southern girl, long married to her husband. Though she works as an assistant at a record company, she married at 20 and now finds herself bored, questioning and taking chances with a relationship she’s taken for granted. Her husband is older, worldlier and works in the financial industry. He’s played by Anthony Montgomery. April is trying to find herself, and gets into trouble with the Mayor (played by Common). Her journey is about coming to terms with her life and taking responsibility for the mistakes she’s made. Shay is something of a comedic genius, and I look forward to tapping into that skill as we move further into the show.
This is VH1’s first attempt with a scripted series. There’s got to be some pressure along with that particular privilege?
Yes. We’re trying to produce the best show out there. We have a responsibility to the network, absolutely, but the pressure comes to all of us because we want the show to be good.
How would you categorize the show — dramedy, soap, serialized drama? Is it in the same category as say BET’s The Game?
Mmm… comedic drama, dramatic comedy? I think we’re blessed with really smart writing. If I have to pick something, this would be it. It’s a one-hour show. Depicting scenarios where people can see themselves, a slice-of-life type show, with friends all across the board. It feels like the world in which we all came together to elect President Obama. This is that world — it’s not neat or wrapped up in nice little boxes. When we did our focus groups for the pilot, it was so gratifying to see that so many of the respondents said they saw themselves in our stories. Life as they understand it, shown on TV.
Series that have largely African-American casts or themes relating to black culture seem to live primarily on cable. Do you think your show would work on a major broadcast network?
Cable networks are more willing to roll the dice on things outside of the box. And though the networks are trying this particular approach, traditionally — at least in the last 10 years, cable has staked a claim in this area, distinguishing themselves. Single Ladies didn’t go out to the broadcast networks because Jeff Olde jumped on this right away. And right now no one is doing this type of show except VH1.
Would you say Single Ladies is an attempt by VH1 to increase their share of African-American viewers?
African-American shows have a wide variety of people watching – across the board. In that respect, Single Ladies isn’t just an African-American show. We feature all types of ethnic actors. For instance, Charity Shea is white, we have Australian actors. All kinds of people. It’s more about VH1 believing in the world we all live in. Not so much a segregated world. In the end, I hope Single Ladies broadens their audience all the way around. You know the interesting thing? I still get calls about Lackawanna Blues. People really connected to it. It’s universal. For me, I think Single Ladies is about women, some happen to be of color, some not — they’re all characters we relate to.
Given that Single Ladies is on VH1 – a brand known for its roots in music, how large a part will music play in the series?
We’ll have a lot of people from the music world. Queen Latifah wrote a spectacular song for the opening credits. Tyler Hilton (One Tree Hill) — an actor you’ll see in future episodes, plays a young artist from April’s record label on the show. He did this great pop song. That’s a unique and fun way to integrate music into the show. He’s gorgeous, swoon-worthy. We’ll also see Kelly Rowland in a cameo, and other talented artists. Plus, Common’s in the two-hour pilot, as well as Eve. It’s been really fun. We found a way to blend these worlds together.
Something interesting is happening in the marketplace. The movie Bridesmaids has done exceptionally well at the box office, lots of women-centric series were picked up for the fall TV season. Do you think Single Ladies will benefit from this new awareness?
I’m glad you brought that up. I’m really excited about this! One of our editors is Cuban American — we saw Bridesmaids together, and loved it. Maya Rudolph is a comic genius. I loved seeing the relationship of these two women who’ve been best friends since they were small. It wasn’t about race — it’s about sinking and swimming together. This kind of awareness is closer to what we’re doing on Single Ladies, things which are fun and supportive and appeal to all people, of all ages, especially the 18-45 group. I screened Single Ladies for my sister, my niece, and they loved it.
I have a feeling lots of viewers will put a ring on that. The two-hour Singles Ladies pilot debuts Monday, May 30, 2011, 9/8c on VH1, with the 10 episode series set to unroll the following week on June 6.
