The Game (U.S. TV series)
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| The Game | |
|---|---|
 The Game title card |
|
| Format | Sitcom, Sports, Comedy, Drama |
| Created by | Mara Brock Akil |
| Starring | Tia D. Mowry Brittany Daniel Wendy Raquel Robinson Pooch Hall Coby Bell Hosea Chanchez |
| Opening theme | Theme by: Kurt Farquhar Def Jeff James D. Joiner III |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 42 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Mara Brock Akil Kelsey Grammer |
| Location(s) | San Diego, California |
| Camera setup | Multiple-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes (approx. 22 min) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | The CW |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Original run | October 1, 2006 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Girlfriends |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Game is an American comedy-drama television series that was created by Mara Brock Akil and produced by Frasier's Kelsey Grammer. 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 is one of only two series on the new network not to be inherited from either of its predecessor networks, The WB and UPN. The show is a spinoff of the long-running sitcom, Girlfriends. On October 9, 2006, The Game, along with The CW's other sitcoms, moved from Sunday nights to Mondays at 9:30 p.m. The move was prompted by low ratings for The CW's Monday-night programming, 7th Heaven and Runaway, which moved to Sunday. Advertisements promoting the network's launch all but excluded The Game and Brock's other program, Girlfriends. On October 20, 2006, The CW officially gave The Game a full season order.[1]
As of the second season premiere episode The Game is The CW's #1 Comedy pulling in 3.0 million viewers, compared to it being The CW's lowest rated sitcom last season.
On Sunday, February 10[year needed], The CW moved The Game to Sundays (along with the other comedies). This was due to the on-going writer's strike and the return of CW's reality series.[2] CW Source announced that The Game returned on Sunday March 23, 2008 with 9 new episodes on its new timeslot, Sundays at 9PM/8C. [3] Nielson Media Research has listed The Game in the Top 10 TV Programs among African-Americans for February 4.[year needed] [4] [5]
On May 11, 2008 it was announced that The Game had been renewed for a third season, airing on Friday nights at 8:30pm/7:30c after Everybody Hates Chris. [6]
Contents |
[edit] Origin
With the growing success of being a very successful and extremely popular series, the creator and producers of Girlfriends decided to capitalize on their success and create another series that would become a spinoff series. On April 17, 2006, an episode of Girlfriends 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 being the first cousin to lead character Joan Clayton of Girlfriends.
The episode performed well and gained enough interest for The CW network to pick up the backdoor pilot as a new series for its fall 2006-07 primetime line-up. Originally, actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson was cast for the role of Melanie but was later replaced with Tia Mowry (of Sister, Sister fame). Before debuting on The CW, more cast changes occurred. Aldis Hodge and Jennifer Baxter, both 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.
[edit] Backdoor pilot
| # | Airdate | Title | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| 133* | April 17, 2006 | The Game | Joan Clayton tries to persuade her cousin, Melanie Barnett, to pursue her career in medical school instead of putting her life on hold for her boyfriend, waiting for his career to kick off. |
* This episode aired as an episode of Girlfriends in an attempt to gain interest and viewers for the new sitcom The Game.
[edit] Synopsis
Tia Mowry stars as Melanie Barnett, a first-year medical school student who has given up an offer of admission to Johns Hopkins University's medical school in Baltimore to follow her boyfriend Derwin (Pooch Hall), a professional football player, to San Diego, against the advice of her parents. Derwin is a first-year rookie with a fictional team called the "San Diego Sabers". As Melanie settles into her new life, she meets Tasha (Wendy Raquel Robinson), the mother of Sabers' starting quarterback Malik (Hosea Chanchez), and Kelly (Brittany Daniel), the wife of Sabers' captain Jason (Coby Bell). As she learns to balance her new roles as both med student and the partner of an NFL 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.
[edit] Cast
- Tia Mowry as Melanie Barnett
- Brittany Daniel as Kelly Pitts
- Coby Bell as Jason Pitts
- Pooch Hall as Derwin Davis
- Hosea Chanchez as Malik El Debarge Wright
- Wendy Raquel Robinson as Tasha Mack
[edit] Episodes
[edit] U.S. Ratings
Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of The Game on The CW:
| Season | Timeslot (EDT) | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday 8:30 P.M. (2006) Monday 9:30 P.M. (2006-2007) |
October 1, 2006 | May 14, 2007 | 2006-2007 | #141 | 2.3 [7] |
| 2 | Monday 9:30 P.M. (2007-2008) Sunday 9:00 P.M. (2008) |
October 1, 2007 | May 18, 2008 | 2007-2008 | 2.0 [8] | |
| 3 | Friday 8:30 P.M. | October 3, 2008 | 2008-2009 |
[edit] Special Guest Appearances
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[edit] Lawsuit
Staci Robinson is suing The CW, its owners and some of its producers for $40 million, for stealing the concept of her unpublished novel to create the sitcom The Game, according to Zap 2 It. [9]
The writer claims that in 2001, she had interviewed for a job as a writers assistant at Kelsey Grammer's Gramnet Productions when she gave a manuscript of her novel to Game executive producer Mara Brock Akil. The suit, which was filed on September 14, 2006, alleges that the series copies her premise and the characters in the book.
The CW and its owners, CBS and Warner Bros., are the defendants. Besides the hefty monetary damages, Robinson sought a boycott to keep the network from premiering the show on October 1, 2006, which was unsuccessful.
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 2008 - Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (Tia Mowry) - Nominated
- 2008 - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Wendy Raquel Robinson) - Nominated
- 2008 - Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series (Sara V. Finney) (For episode The Big Chill) - Nominated
- 2007 - Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series (Kenny Smith Jr.) (For episode The Trey Wiggs Episode) - Nominated
- 2007 - Choice TV Actress: Comedy (Tia Mowry) - Nominated
[edit] Trivia
 |
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- This is Mara Brock Akil's (creator) second series.
- Series stars Tia Mowry and Brittany Daniel both have twin sisters. Daniel and her twin Cynthia starred in Sweet Valley High while Tia and her twin Tamera starred in Sister, Sister. Coby Bell has four-year-old twin daughters. Wendy Raquel Robinson's father is a twin, so is her husband.
- Like Runaway, The Game was a pilot made for UPN before the CW merger.
- The Game was the only new comedy chosen for the CW's first schedule in 2006.
- In this Girlfriends spin-off, the lead character, Melanie (Tia Mowry), is the first cousin to lead Girlfriends character Joan Clayton (Tracee Ellis Ross).
- The back-door spin-off episode for "The Game" was an episode of the same name in Season Six of Girlfriends.
- Tasha is 39. She gave birth to Malik when she was 16, which makes him 23.
- In episode 11, Malik finally calls Derwin by his real name, as opposed to "Rookie".
- Former NFL Player Jerry Rice made a guest appearance. Coincidentally, on the same night the episode originally aired, he appeared on CBS's sitcom, The Class.
- This is the fourth time that Tia Mowry appears in a series with her brother Tahj. They have appeared in Full House, Sister, Sister and Smart Guy.
- Melanie (Tia Mowry) and Derwin (Pooch Hall) were seen in the seventh season finale of Girlfriends.
- This is the first series that Tia Mowry stars in that her sister Tamera doesn't.
- Lonette McKee, who also played the mother of Coby Bell's character on Third Watch (NBC), appeared as his mother in the episode "It's Hard Being Kelly Pitts"
- Numerous times Kelly says to Melanie that she is going to be a great lawyer, but Melanie (who is in medical school) always corrects her. Melanie's cousin, Joan Clayton, was a lawyer.
[edit] References
- ^ Full Season Order. The Futon Critic. Retrieved on 2006-10-21.
- ^ http://blog.cwtv.com/?p=217 CW Blog
- ^ http://blogs.trb.com/network/cwsource/2008/02/mark_your_calendars_cw_announc.html CW Source: After Strike
- ^ http://www.nielsenmedia.com/nc/portal/site/Public/menuitem.43afce2fac27e890311ba0a347a062a0/?show=%2FFilters%2FPublic%2Ftop_tv_ratings%2Famong_african_americans&selOneIndex=3&vgnextoid=9e4df9669fa14010VgnVCM100000880a260aRCRD Nielsen Media Research
- ^ http://free.hostultra.com/~brocka/AfricanAmericanTV.doc NMR: Document
- ^ '90210' heads to the CW - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety
- ^ "Hollywood Reporter: 2006-07 primetime wrap", May 25, 2007.
- ^ Broadcast TV Ratings for Sunday, May 18, 2008 « Your Entertainment Now
- ^ Author Sues CW for Intercepting 'Game' - Staci Robinson also wants to stop the show from airing - Zap2it
