LisaRaye McCoy, an actress who starred in “The Players Club” and UPN sitcom “All of Us,” is now working both the reality show route with her TV One and a new scripted comedy on VH1 “Single Ladies,” shot here in Atlanta.

By doing double duty between reality and scripted, she is like a female version of actor Terry Crews, who is on both TBS’s “Are We There Yet?” and BET’s “The Family Crews.”

McCoy’s TV One show, cheekily called “The Real McCoy,” is in its second season and returns tonight. (It’s the network’s top-rated show.) The first episode is packed with reality-show drama. McCoy arrives in Puerto Rico for a conference and her carry-on bag with all her jewelry and make-up is stolen at the airport. She is virtually comatose in her bed, angry and lost. Will her bag show up? Will she even show up for her own seminar? Her assistant, whose job was to watch over the bag, is forlorn.

“I wanted to kick her a**,” McCoy said. “I had none of the stuff that makes me LisaRaye! That’s what people deserve and pay me for. There was a million dollars worth of jewelry in there.”

It also had a special pillow in it. “It’s a pillow my mother made me when I was born,” she said. “So I can’t sleep without it.”

McCoy, who divorced Michael Misick, the former prime minister of Turks & Caicos, in 2008, is now truly a single lady. “I did the reality show as a business decision,” she said. “I came off the divorce and tabloid press thought they knew what I was going through. I wanted to let them know from the horse’s mouth what was going on.”

Season two, over 10 episodes, continues her efforts to build back her brand and career. “I’m going through a spiritual journey,” she said, including a T.D. Jakes conference. She is seen spoiling her daughter, who is seeking a modeling career. “As a mom,” she said,”you can never give your children too much.” She is shown taking stunt classes where she found her “inner Pam Grier.”

McCoy is now focused on taping “Single Ladies.” She calls it a “Sex and the City”-type project. “It’s hot and positive and sexy,” she said, “nourishing the philosophy about how friends embody themselves and their finances and love. Finding Mr. Right. How friendship keeps you strong. It’s based in Atlanta and revolves around three friends. This is my return to my career as an actress.”

She is thrilled that she and Stacey Dash, both women in their early 40s, were able to snag the roles. “40,” she said, “is the new 20.”

Personally, she hasn’t given up on love. “I want to get married again,” she said. “It’s easier to live life with a life partner. I want a companion. I want to find my best friend.” As the divorce recedes in her time frame, “my perspective has changed. I’ve let go some of the anger. It’s a constant struggle. Change is good. I’m working. I’m collecting a paycheck. I’m doing projects I love. My jeans line is coming out this summer. I’m rebranding LisaRaye.”

McCoy said she’s been working such long hours on “Single Ladies,” she has barely seen Atlanta. “I only have time to film, come home and go to sleep,” she said. “My schedule is pretty grueling.” She also sees her half sister and rap star Da Brat, who is on house arrest after spending three years in prison for assault.

ON TV
“The Real McCoy,” 9 p.m. TV One, Thursdays, starting tonight with back-to-back episodes

Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.

Tweet

By Rodney Ho, rho@ajc.com, AJCRadioTV blog