The Game (U.S. TV series)

The Game
Genre Comedy-drama
Created by Mara Brock Akil
Starring
Theme music composer
  • Kurt Farquhar
  • Def Jef
  • James D. Joiner III
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 9
No. of episodes 147 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Mara Brock Akil
  • Salim Akil
  • Kenny Smith Jr.
  • Erica Montolfo-Bura
Producer(s) Dan Dugan
Editor(s)
  • Travis G. Rendich
  • Timothy Mozer
Location(s) Atlanta, Georgia
Camera setup Single
Running time 22 to 24 minutes
Production company(s)
Distributor CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network
Picture format 1080i (HDTV) (2011–2015) 480i (SDTV) (2006–2009)
Audio format Dolby Digital 5.1
First shown in April 17, 2006 (2006-04-17)
Original release October 1, 2006 – August 5, 2015
Chronology
Related shows Girlfriends
External links
Website

The Game is a former American comedy-drama television series created by Mara Brock Akil. Premiering on October 1, 2006, the series debuted as the only new comedy series chosen for The CW's primetime schedule. Along with Runaway, it was one of only two series on the new network not to be inherited from either of its predecessor networks, The WB and UPN, during the network's first season. The series is a spinoff of the long-running UPN/CW sitcom, Girlfriends.

After three seasons, the series was canceled by The CW in May 2009.[1] BET struck a deal with The Game's parent company CBS to develop new episodes of the series, relocating taping of the show from Los Angeles to Atlanta, and announcing its renewal at the April 2010 upfronts. The Game returned to the air for a fourth season on January 11, 2011,[2] with a record breaking 7.7 million viewers.

On April 24, 2014, BET announced the eighth season renewal of The Game.[3] Then, on October 6, 2014, BET announced the show has also been renewed for a ninth, and final, season.[4] The eighth season premiered on January 14, 2015 at 10/9c, and the final season premiered on June 3, 2015 and ended on August 5, 2015.

Origin

With the growing success of the UPN sitcom Girlfriends, that show's creator and producers decided to create a spinoff series. On April 17, 2006, a Girlfriends episode called The Game focused on a young woman who decides to put her pending career plans on hold for the rising success of her star athlete boyfriend. The character, Melanie Barnett, was introduced in the episode as the first cousin of Joan Clayton, Girlfriends' principal character.

The episode performed well and gained enough interest for The CW network to pick up The Game as a new series for its fall 2006-07 prime time line-up. Originally, actress Renee Bruce was cast for the role of Melanie but was later replaced with Tia Mowry. Before debuting on The CW, more cast changes occurred. Aldis Hodge and Jennifer Baxter, both of whom appeared in the pilot episode, were replaced by Pooch Hall and Brittany Daniel respectively. Coby Bell, Hosea Chanchez and Wendy Raquel Robinson were the remaining cast members.

Backdoor pilot
No.
overall 		 No. in
season 		 Title  Original air date 
1336.18"The Game"April 17, 2006 (2006-04-17)

Joan Clayton (Tracee Ellis Ross) tries to persuade her cousin, Melanie Barnett (Tia Mowry), an aspiring med student, to pursue her career in medical school instead of putting her life on hold for her boyfriend (Pooch Hall) and waiting for his career to kick off.

Note: This episode served as the backdoor pilot episode for the Girlfriends-spinoff, The Game. Joan Clayton was the lead character of the now-canceled Girlfriends.

Synopsis

As the series premieres, Melanie Barnett (Tia Mowry) is a first-year medical school student who has given up an offer of admission to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore to follow her boyfriend Derwin Davis (Pooch Hall), a professional football player, to San Diego, against the advice of her parents. Derwin Davis is a first-year rookie with a fictional team called the "San Diego Sabers". As Melanie settles into her new life, she meets Tasha Mack (Wendy Raquel Robinson), the mother of Sabers' starting quarterback Malik Wright (Hosea Chanchez), and Kelly Pitts (Brittany Daniel), the then wife of Sabers' captain Jason Pitts (Coby Bell). As she learns to balance her new roles as both med student and the partner of a professional football player, Tasha and Kelly immediately warn her to keep a close eye on her boyfriend because of the numerous "gold diggers" who approach the professional football players. Over time the relationships evolves with the players and the significant others, leading to the series to more focus on their relationships and less on the sport.

Cast

Further information: List of The Game characters

Main cast

Recurring cast

Special guest appearances

Episodes

U.S. ratings

Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of The Game on The CW. When The Game transferred from The CW to BET, it acquired 7.7 million viewers—which was a record for a scripted premiere on BET.[5]

Season Network Timeslot (ET) Season Premiere Viewers
(in millions)		 18-49
rating		 Season Finale Viewers
(in millions)		 18-49
rating		 TV Season Rank Viewers(in millions)
1 The CW Sunday 8:30 p.m. (2006) Monday 9:30 p.m. (2006–2007) October 1, 2006 2.60[6] May 14, 2007 2.51[7] 0.9[7] 2006–2007 #141[8] 2.33[9]
2 Monday 9:30 p.m. (2007–2008) Sunday 9:00 p.m. (2008) October 1, 2007 2.98[10] 1.4[10] May 18, 2008 1.62[11] 0.8[11] 2007–2008 #196 2.35[12]
3 Friday 8:30 p.m. (2008–2009) October 3, 2008 1.95[13] May 15, 2009 1.78[14] 1.2[14] 2008–2009 #174 1.75[15]
4 BET Tuesday 10:00 p.m. (2011) January 11, 2011 7.68[16] 3.6[16] March 29, 2011 4.43[17] 2.2[17] 2010-2011 N/A 4.53
5 Tuesday 10:00 p.m. (2012) January 10, 2012 5.28[18] 2.8[18] June 5, 2012 2.49[19] 1.3[19] 2011-2012 N/A 2.69
6 Tuesday 10:00 p.m. (2013) March 26, 2013 2.54[20] 1.2[20] September 3, 2013 3.77[21] 1.9[21] 2012-2013 N/A 3.35
7 Tuesday 10:00 p.m. (2014) March 4, 2014 3.35[22] 1.6[22] April 29, 2014 2.53[23] 1.2[23] 2013-2014 N/A 3.35
8 Wednesday 10:00 p.m. (2014) January 14, 2015 3.13 [24] 1.1[24] March 4, 2015 2015 - N/A TBA
9 Wednesday 10:00 p.m. (2015) June 3, 2015 [24] August 5, 2015

Lawsuit

In September 2006, writer Staci Robinson filed a $40 million lawsuit against The CW, CBS, Warner Bros., and Grammnet Productions for copyright infringement. Robinson claimed that she applied for a job as writer's assistant in 2005 with series creator and executive producer, Mara Brock Akil, and then subsequently, sent her novel, Interceptions, to Akil. "Interceptions" is a novel about a woman that decides to put her professional goal of becoming a lawyer on hold to follow her boyfriend as he pursues a career as a professional football player.[25] After receiving the novel, Robinson was interviewed for the job but later declined the position. Robinson alleged that Akil and a CW screenwriter stole the idea from her novel to create the series. The suit was settled out of court under a non-disclosure agreement in September 2007.[26]

Cancellation and revival

As The CW began abandoning half-hour comedies from its schedule, series creator Mara Brock Akil attempted to convince the network to air the series as an hour-long, single-camera series like the other shows on The CW.[27] The principal cast on the show launched a viral campaign called "Change the Game Campaign" on YouTube,[28] asking all fans to sign the CW message board. Ultimately, despite the campaign and crashing the message board servers twice, on May 20, 2009, Entertainment Weekly announced that the series was officially canceled, not only due to declining ratings, but also budget cut issues.[29]

On April 4, 2010, The Hollywood Reporter reported that BET, which airs the series in syndication, was close to finalizing a deal to produce new episodes of the series. BET announced the deal during its upfronts in April 2010. Series creator and executive producer Mara Brock Akil is expected to return,[30] along with all of the principal cast members.[31] New episodes began airing on BET on January 11, 2011. The premiere drew 7.7 million viewers, making it the biggest ad-supported sitcom telecast in the history of cable.[32] Stacey Mattocks is credited with creating the Facebook fan page for The Game. Upon finding her, BET hired Stacey to run the fan page which at last count was at 6.7 million fans.

Hosea Chanchez officially announced at the 2011 BET Awards that the show would begin its fifth season in 2012. The fifth season premiered on January 10, 2012. Tia Mowry-Hardrict announced on her Twitter that she will not be returning to the series. In June 2012, it was confirmed that actress Lauren London and actor Jay Ellis had joined the cast as series regulars.

In April 2013, it was announced that The Game has been renewed for a seventh season.[33] The seventh season premiered on March 4, 2014. In 2014 BET said that the series would end in 2015. On June 3, 2015 the final season premiered.

Awards and nominations

Year Award Result Category Recipient
2007 NAACP Image Awards Nominated Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series Kenny Smith, Jr. (For "The Trey Wiggs Episode")
2008 Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series Sara V. Finney (For "The Big Chill" episode)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Wendy Raquel Robinson
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series Tia Mowry
2009 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Wendy Raquel Robinson
Outstanding Comedy Series –
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series Tia Mowry
Won Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series Erica Montolfo (For episode "White Coats and White Lies")
2009 NAMIC Vision Awards Nominated Comedy –
2007 Teen Choice Awards Nominated Choice TV Actress: Comedy Tia Mowry

DVD releases

Season Releases
The First Season
Set details Special features
  • 22 Episodes
  • 3-Disc Set
  • N/A Aspect Ratio
  • N/A Mins
  • Languages:
    • English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
  • Includes the backdoor pilot episode from GirlfriendsThe Game - Press Release Gives The Game Plan for The 1st Season on DVD
  • Rift and Separate
    • Interview with Mara Brock Akil
  • To Baby...Or Not To Baby
    • Commentary with Mara Brock Akil
  • The Iceman Cometh
    • Commentary with Mara Brock Akil
  • All-Star Blues
    • Commentary with Mara Brock Akil
  • When the Chickens Comes To Roost (Parts 1 & 2)
    • Offseason interview with Mara Brock Akil
Release date
 United States (Region 1)
September 1, 2009

Seasons 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are also available in the United States and Canada.

References

  1. ↑ Stransky, Tanner (May 21, 2009). "INSIDE TV The CW announces fall schedule: 'Melrose Place' paired with '90210". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ "'The Game': Season Four Starts on BET in January 2011 at 10 pm est". tvseriesfinale.com. October 12, 2010.Caramanica, Jon (January 7, 2011). "'Game' on: More Real Than Reality TV". New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  3. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (April 24, 2014). "BET Renews 'The Game,' 'Being Mary Jane,' 'Real Husbands'; Adds 'Book of Negroes' Mini". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  4. ↑ "BET Sets End Date for 'The Game'". The Hollywood Reporter. October 6, 2014.
  5. ↑ Seidman, Robert (January 12, 2011). "'The Game' Returns Huge for BET with 7.7 Million Viewers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. October 3, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. May 22, 2007. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Hollywood Reporter: 2006-07 primetime wrap". The Hollywood Reporter. May 25, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-30.
  9. ↑ "Season Program Rankings from 09/18/06 Through 06/03/07". ABC Medianet. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  10. 1 2 Calabria, Rosario (October 8, 2007). "Broadcast TV Ratings for Monday, October 8, 2007". http://yourentertainmentnow.com. Retrieved July 24, 2011. External link in |publisher= (help)
  11. 1 2 "Nielsen Ratings May 18, 2008: Housewives Rule, Country is Cool". Tv by the Numbers. May 19, 2008. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Season Program Rankings from 09/24/07 through 05/25/08". ABC Medianet. May 28, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
  13. ↑ Gorman, Bill (October 7, 2008). "Nielsen TV Ratings Top CW Primetime Shows, September 29 - October 5, 2008". Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  14. 1 2 Seidman, Robert (May 19, 2009). "Top CW Primetime Shows, May 11–17, 2009". Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Season Program Rankings from 09/22/08 through 05/17/09". ABC Medianet. May 19, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
  16. 1 2 Seidman, Robert (January 12, 2011). "Tuesday Cable Ratings: The Game, Teen Mom, Light's Out, Tosh.0 & More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
  17. 1 2 Gorman, Bill (March 31, 2011). "Tuesday Cable Ratings: 'Teen Mom' Still Rising; 'The Game' Finale Jumps; 'Real Housewives,' 'Top Shot' & More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  18. 1 2 Tuesday Cable Ratings: ‘The Game’ Returns on Top + ‘Storage Wars,’ ‘Teen Mom,’ ‘Dance Moms,’ ‘Let’s Stay Together’ & Much More - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers
  19. 1 2 Tuesday Cable Ratings: Celtics-Heat Lead +’Storage Wars’, ‘Deadliest Catch’, ‘Tosh.0′, ‘The Game,’ ‘Rizzoli & Isles’ & More - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers
  20. 1 2 Tuesday Cable Ratings: ‘Tosh.0′ Wins Night + World Cup Qualifying Soccer, ‘Hardcore Pawn’, ‘The Game’, ‘Snooki & JWOWW’ & More - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers
  21. 1 2 Bibel, Sara (September 5, 2013). "Tuesday Cable Ratings: 'The Game' Wins Night, 'Tosh.0', 'Suits', 'Rizzoli & Isles', 'Catfish', 'Face Off' & More". TV by the Numbers.
  22. 1 2 Bibel, Sara (March 5, 2014). "Tuesday Cable Ratings: 'The Game' Wins Night, 'Teen Mom 2', 'Justified', 'Pretty Little Liars', 'The Little Couple' & More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  23. 1 2 Bibel, Sara (April 30, 2014). "Tuesday Cable Ratings: NBA Playoffs Win Night, 'Deadliest Catch', 'The Game', 'Ink Master', 'Fargo' & More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  24. 1 2 3 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/01/16/wednesday-cable-ratings-american-horror-story-wins-night-the-game-duck-dynasty-workaholics-more/350515/
  25. ↑ "Amazon.com: Interceptions (9781583851494): Staci Robinson: Books". amazon.com. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  26. ↑ Klein, Gary (September 2, 2007). "Tam High grad, TV networks settle suit". marinij.com. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
  27. ↑ Nellie, Andreeva (August 23, 2009). "BET may get into 'The Game'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  28. ↑ Change "The Game" Campaign on YouTube
  29. ↑ Ausiello, Michael. "Fall TV cheat sheet: What's in? What's out?". ausiellofiles.ew.com. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  30. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (April 4, 2010). "BET nears deal to resurrect 'The Game'". hollywoodreporter.com. Archived from the original on 2010-09-09. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  31. ↑ Pope, Karla (June 18, 2010). "Tia Mowry Talks Double Nuptials". parade.com. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  32. ↑ Seidman, Robert (January 12, 2011). "Cable Debut of 'The Game' Ranks as #1 Ad-Supported Scripted Series Premiere in Cable History". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  33. ↑ Bibel, Sara (April 2, 2013). "BET Networks Announces New Programming Including 'Being Mary Jane' & 'T.D. Jakes Presents: Mind, Body & Soul'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 23, 2013.

External links

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