Atlanta has a starring role in a new series debuting Monday on VH1. The two-hour movie premiere of "Single Ladies" introduces three friends living the glamorous life of fashion, music and celebrity in Atlanta "without a ring on it."
Stacey Dash of "Clueless" fame stars as recently jilted Valerie Stokes, owner of a new clothing boutique. LisaRaye McCoy, fresh from a run on reality television, stars as the commitment phobic player Keisha Greene. Charity Shea steps in as April Goldberg-Jenkins, an aspiring music executive with a wobbly marriage.
The show, executive produced by Queen Latifah (who makes a cameo appearance in future episodes) is written by Stacy A. Littlejohn whose past credits include the Wanda Sykes Show, Barbershop (the television series) and The Hughleys.
"Single Ladies" has been compared to "Girlfriends," a show that ran for eight seasons about four friends living the single life in California. But since "Girlfriends" was often called the West Coast African-American version of Sex and the City, then "Single Ladies" by extension must have "Sex and the City" leanings as well.
Here, a look at how the two shows stack up:
Single Ladies
The Ladies: Valerie "Val", Keisha, and April are three buddies with distinct tastes in life and love. Val and Keisha are both single and dating. April is married, with complications. A fourth character, wild child, Christina Carter (Kassandra Clementi) enters the scene in episode two, as an intern at Val's boutique – the designated gathering spot where the ladies dish on life and love.
The City: Against the backdrop of Little Five Points, I-85 and other Atlanta landmarks, we learn exactly how bad the female-to-male ratio is in the city.
The Sex/Love: Valerie is sucker-punched by love. Keisha punches suckers with love. April has a bit of both going on. And they are all having lots of sex.
The GBF (gay best friend): GBFs shouldn't be hard to come by in Atlanta, but all three ladies share Omar Kearse (Travis Winfrey), an employee at Val's clothing boutique.
The Cameos: Queen Latifah, Chilli, Common, Eve, Rick Fox.
Sex and The City
The Ladies: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte are four friends living large in New York City with regular debriefing sessions on sex and relationships at the hottest spots in town. Carrie gives each episode a tidy theme through the sex column she writes each week.
The City: SATC sent hordes of young women flocking to NYC to pursue their dreams (no doubt upping the city's female-to-male ratio). It also elevated New York landmarks and neighborhoods such as Magnolia Bakery and the Meatpacking District to cult status, mostly for out-of-towners.
The Sex/Love: Carrie dreams of Big love, Samantha thinks love is for punks, Miranda loves work and Charlotte loves love. And they are all having lots of sex.
The GBF (gay best friend): Carrie claimed Stanford Blatch and Charlotte pals around with Anthony Marentino.
The Cameos: Jon Bon Jovi, David Duchovny, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Vince Vaughn.
TV Preview
"Single Ladies"
Movie Premiere
9 p.m. Monday on VH1
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