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?
Image courtesy CW.
i love the show i pray that bet gets the chance and picks the show up the cw did a poor job of promoting the show, i didn’t even know the show was still coming on until i saw the reruns on BET…Im really praying there’s a season 4 and many more
No! I am not happy with the way it ended. I really hope someone picks this up. This is the only African American show aired in my area that is not a rerun, and I would really love for it to come back on.
You better put that back on the tube. We all loved it so much it’s ridiculous that it would be cancelled. I think there was a miscount we should all take a vote again and make sure to add 13 to it at least.
My whole family enjoyed this show including my husband. The show prompted family conversation on topics that us parents and even my sons may have had difficulty bringing up and may not have have readily discussed. Do those ratings take into consideration those of us who dvr and tivo programing? I guess it wasn’t enough killing and drugs or scripted “Unreality” for the commercial sponsors. Where is the Crystal, Moet , Cyroc, Budweiser and Nuvo sponsors that we see everytime we walk in the cornerstore? Well my sons play football and have been offered by division 1 schools , so… Read more »
I found The Game very uplifting, no matter what was going on I could find the time to sit and watch and enjoy for one moment of my busy life.
I hope the show returns I like Jason & Camielle, the baby should not be Derwins but will be for the drama. Get real CW change it from Friday night and the ratings will go back up.
i wanna know is the baby really derwins,is kelly and jason getting back together, what about tasha and rick….lets not forget about malik divorcing robin….come on BET please bring the show back
i think that this was one of the last shows that highlighted positive tv in the black culture…I think that was on of the problems we experience is that we they can’t relate our lives with negative then it becomes a problem….There is nothing left to watch on t.v and this is sOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO file.
i think that that was one of the only shows that african americans had 2 call there owns. all those other sitcoms r f*n ******** n suck. they should definitely consider bringing the show back. i feel that because the game had so many ratings in its 1st season and had a chance 2 put the other shows off air they started messing with its time slots which made the ratings drop.
There are just too many cliff hangers to cxc the best show on Friday nights! If the baby really is Derwin’s, will Kelly and Jason get back together, will Tasha and Rick Fox get back together…..come on people I need answers!!!
I agree with Kimberly (posting 303), “They shouldnt just leave us who watch the show hanging like that.” There should be a fourth season to let all of the plots play out. I want to know what will happen to Kelly and Jason, too. If a fourth season is not in the works…then maybe a special hour or 90 minute show to tie up all of the loose ends.
I want the show to come back, it was smartly written bringing in both men and women viewers. Not only was I connected to Derwin and Melanie’s story, but I wanted to see where Jason and Kelly’s relationship is going. Please BET bring the show back.
I don’t think so i mean there was so much more that needed to be
put in, I think there should be a season four. It is one of the really good shows
out there. They shouldnt just leave us who watch the show hanging like that.
wht they did was soooooo wrong tht is one of the best tv shows thts left on t.v… i bet they wouldnt dare cancel the bachelor. or any of those other dumbass shows. no one watches
I want my DAMMMMMMm show BACK