You'll recall that in my post annoucing the new series, I recommended (and continued to recommend in successive posts) that they change the title of the series to something more interesting than just Single Black Female. Sometimes keeping things simple is a good idea, but that initial title didn't work for me for a number of reasons.

And I'm glad they took my advice *wink*

But a quick recap…

Last May we announced the mega mutil-year production deal between BET/Viacom and husband/wife team, Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil, the brains behind the network's hit series, The Game, the movie Jumping The Broom and the upcoming Sparkle remake.

The deal included a 3-year agreement, with commitments to new, original series, which means we should expect more new scripted programming from BET, courtesy of the Akils.

One of those new scripted series is/was an hour-long drama called Single Black Female, which was first announced in February this year and will follow the professional and private family life of a black woman, who is also the host of a popular Atlanta-based talk show host.

Later it was announced that Gabrielle Union had been cast as the lead in Single Black Female.

And finally, moments ago, I received a press release saying that the title had been changed to Being Mary Jane – Mary Jane being the name of the character Union plays, and as I wondered before if that was an arbitrary choice of names, or if there's some meaning behind it; I immediately think of Rick James' song of the same name; and his isn't the only one.

Further, the press release adds:

Being Mary Jane is an opportunity to explore the life of a statistic often reported but never explored.

And you know what all that means, I'm sure 🙂

But let's see how this is developed; let's see how honest and comprehensive they are allowed to be.

By the way, joining Union in the series will be Aaron D. Spears (The Bold & The Beautiful) and Richard Roundtree.

Aaron Spears will play Mark Bradley, described as "a charismatic co-anchor and close friend to Mary Jane;" Richard Roundtree will play Mary Jane’s father.

Mara Brock Akil is billed as writer and Salim will direct.