To very little surprise, the CW has cancelled one of its few remaining sitcoms, The Game. Is this the end for the series or could it still return?
Created by Mara Brock Akil, The Game began as a spin-off of Akil’s long-running comedy, Girlfriends. The series centers around a first year medical student (Tia Mowry) who chooses to follow her pro-football boyfriend (Pooch Hall) to San Diego. Others in the cast include Brittany Daniel, Coby Bell, Hosea Chanchez and Wendy Raquel Robinson.
The first sitcom to debut on the CW network, The Game averaged 2.3 million viewers in season one. For season two, the ratings dropped to 2.07 million and a .96 rating in the 18-49 demographic. This season, it’s fallen to an average of 1.68 million viewers and a tiny 0.7 rating in the demo, in part because it was given a Friday night timeslot.
The CW is essentially getting out of the sitcom business and has cancelled The Game after 64 episodes. There had been talks about changing the show’s format to an hour-long dramady, to make it more compatible with the network’s other programming. That was seen as a long-shot at best and actually would have created its own set of challenges for syndication.
Though The Game only has 64 episodes, BET recently signed a syndication deal to air the first two seasons and season three will be added this Fall. To increase the show’s number of episodes, there have been discussions between the cable channel and CBS (the show’s studio) about co-funding original episodes. The deal would likely come with some cost-cutting measures.
There’s been no further word on the potential deal with BET so, as of right now, “The Wedding Episode” is the series’ last.
If The Game isn’t rescued from cancellation, are you satisfied with the way the sitcom ended — with Melanie and Derwin finally getting married?
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Image courtesy CW.
I dont like the fact that cw cancelled my favoritist tv show in the entire world. I was in tears watching the final episode. I t was an amazing series and i think the cw will lose a lot of viewers from this transaction. I’M MAD….
I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE CW CANCELLING THE GAME, BUT I HAVE HIGH HOPES THAT WITH ENOUGH VIEWERS WATCHING THE RERUN EPISODES ON BET, BET WILL PICK IT UP AND START WITH FRESH NEW EPISODES. PLEASE DON’T LET THE VIEWERS DOWN BET. THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST TV SITCOM RUNNING. CW JUST LOST ANOTHER VIEWER IN ME.
I am very saddened to hear The Game has been cancelled. This was truly a show that we all can relate to. I appreciate the finale but we as viewers deserve to see more. I don’t feel that the producers did their best to keep the show going. As stated, the ratings went down after the time slot was changed. Come on now, this is just another excuse to cancel yet another great show. Hopefully this is not the last that we hear of The Game and its cast members. BET may just see the potential that CW TV is… Read more »
please dont cancel the game i have to see more when you get married you have to have babies an maybe let the show stay o an hour instead of 30mins
I was a true fan of The Game. It is one of the best shows out there. I hope they are picked up by another network.
PLEASE DO NOT CANCEL THIS SHOW. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT AND WILL HATE TO SEE IT GO. HOPEFULLY BET WILL PICK IT UP AND WE CAN CONTINUE THIS LOVE AFFAIR!!!
You know im so upset that the CW cancelled The Game this was the last african american show that was really good and also had some substance!! I cant believe they cancel the show!!!
i absolutely hate that this show is canceling…whatever they can do to stop it i hope they do because it should be no reason that this show should end…this is stupid and if they cancel it i will never watch CW again
CW Sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could tell that this was going to be the last season because everything had a little closure. At least Melanie and Derwin fought all odds and got married. I will definately not watch CW anymore, they don’t care about us so why the hell should i care about them.
I AM VERY SAD AND DISAPPOINTED THAT THE CW CANCELD THE GAME THAT IS THE BEST SHOW ON TV RIGHT NOW AND I HAVE BEEN A FAN OF IT SINCE THE VERY FIRST EPISODE AND I WANT MORE WE DESREVE MORE I MEAN LOOK AT THE CW’S FALL LINEUP FOR 2009-2010 IT IS STRAIGHT UP GARBAGE THEY NEED TO BRING THE GAME BACK BUT I HOPE BET WILL PICK IT UP BECAUSE AT LEAST THERE IT WILL GET THE PUBLICITY AND RATINGS IT DESERVES
CWTV is making a big mistake if they do not bring The Game back on the air, if they do not I hope that the creater Ms Akil can pitch the show to another network like ABC they seem to have a different colorful network, not just one color. I just can not believe that CW rather keep saving those none sense shows like Gossip Girl, One True Hill, and ANTM come on people we are in a new day and new century to keep being in the dark about what is really going on The Game viewers are mostly… Read more »
I think that the cw is making a mistake canceling the show. I actually tune in every friday to Watch it and to see the great cast. Its empowering to see a majority black cast that covers an an array of issues on prime time TV. Not many shows cover the issues that the game covers in a tasteful way. It just sucks that they got married just for the show to end like that.
While we are asking CW to bring back The Game, I think their actions have CLEARLY said to us that they couldn’t care less what we thought or how we felt. They do not value our viewership and want nothing to do with shows we find inspirational and entertaining. The CW has told us to KICK ROCKS. They don’t even see the messages we are sending them. I’m through with sitcoms and am going to stick to The Nature Channel, Snapped, FBI Files and shows of that nature. Once you get comfortable and proud of a show, they snatch it.… Read more »
Please, please, please bring the show back. It was one of my favorite show that i watch that is not a reality show. It was a dumb idea to put it on a Friday night in the first place. CW is always canceling the wrong shows and they wonder why they ain’t getting the ratings that they want.
Please bring this show back.. I mean this is just wrong to take it off the air after onli 3 season too… I wish I knew who bright idea this was and i would really give them a piece of my mind.. This some straight BS.. I hate the CW will never support it again