Created by Mara Brock Akil, The Game was cancelled after three seasons on The CW because of low ratings. Then, due to ongoing fan support and positive rerun numbers, BET put the TV show back into production for season four nearly two years later.
In January, the season four premiere drew a record number of viewers with a 3.6 rating in the important 18-49 demographic and 7.68 million viewers. The ratings dropped quite a bit after that but the 13 episodes of season four ended up averaging a very respectable 2.0 rating in the demo and 4.18 million viewers each week.
Interestingly, that’s much better than any of The CW’s current shows. The network’s most successful TV series, The Vampire Diaries, only averages a 1.5 in the 18-49 demo and 3.27 million total viewers.
There seemed to be little question that The Game would be renewed for season five but BET has now made the news official. What’s more, the cable channel has ordered 22 installments for season five, instead of just 13. New episodes of The Game will return in January 2012.
BET’s CEO, Debra Lee, notes that they have been very pleased with the cable channel’s first foray into creating original scripted programming. She believes that the African-American community is starved for good original programming and says that the networks haven’t offered many choices in the past few years.
What do you think? Are you glad to hear The Game will be back? Do you like the new version or do you prefer the shows from the CW years?
Image courtesy BET.
I am very happy to hear the game is coming with a season 5 but why do we have 2 wait until 2012 This past season was good but i am mad how it started and ended we should have got a few more eposoides and longer then 30 minutes since we are waiting so long 4 season 5 i hope its gone be worth the wait………….
I am so damn glad that The Game is back on air OMG I LOVE THAT SHOW. I am so glad that BET listen to the viewers. Welcome back GAME Derwin, Mel and the rest of the gang.
I’m glad to hear that the game is coming back…but why so late?!?!?
Whitney » It’s a year after season four premiered.
I love watching the game, can’t wait to watch the new episode. I always watching reruns almost everyday, they never get boring to me. LOL
Please do not cancel Off The Map it is one of the best shows on TV. There are alot of shows they stay on TV that are awful this is one of the good ones.
The CW version was definitely better but I’m glad it was renewed and I will keep watching and waiting for it to improve. I think its ridiculous that we had to wait so long to get only 13 episodes, and now we have to wait until 2012? It better be worth it.
How can I say this? I’m Caucasian, and my sister thinks it’s funny that I watch BET – I love The Game and have watched it from the beginning a couple of times (when BET shows reruns during the day). I also found it funny when BET bleeped the B-word during the day. You could hardly tell what Tasha was saying sometimes!
i am so excited thank you Mrs Debra Lee , BET and many many thats too the Writers,the Cast and etc. But like everyone else i want all the original cast to continue with this. the original cast are the people that sucked us in , they made us see the world in all different lights. i haven’t seen may cast members who have the chemistry that The Game original cast has had they are family do not split them up.
i like both the cw & bet version but i love te show in general as long as the original 6 cast members are there it will always be entertaining to me
Come on with the new episodes. It’s amazing how the traditional networks believe there is no room for color in the lineup with it’s own stories and flavor. Don’t you get tired of looking at yourself in the mirror all the time? Many people of color watch shows that don’t have a drop of color and enjoy them. It’s a shame that it hasn’t been reciprocated after this many years. I look forward to more programming on BET to balance it out. Less videos, Yeah!!
come on with the new episodes.
I like the CW episodes better, but I’m glad they’re back. It’s kind of disappointing that I have to wait until 2012 tho!!!! Ugh! Two years…now another year. Now if we bring Girlfriends back, it would be GREAT!! Movie, TV, show, ANYTHING! But it has to include all of the original cast, including Toni!
I am so glad the Game will be back for season 5 and will have more episodes. Just upset that we have to wait til Jan 2012 to see the new season!
I am very happy to hear The Game is coming back. I love the show and I even like to watch reruns. I can’t wait to see what season 5 has in store.
I was livid when the CW canceled The Game. Glad it came back…thanks BET. However, this past season was not as good as the previous three seasons. It started off really dry, but it got better as the season continued. I have faith that it will get better in the next season. We need shows like The Game. The creator should revisit what made the series great in the beginning and bring those aspects back.