The Game (U.S. TV series)

Infobox Television
show_name = The Game


picture_format = 480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
audio_format = Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1
caption = "The Game" title card
format = Comedy-drama, Sports,
camera = Multiple-camera
picture_format = 480i (SDTV),
1080i (HDTV)
runtime = 30 minutes (approx. 22 min)
creator = Mara Brock Akil
starring = Tia D. Mowry
Brittany Daniel
Wendy Raquel Robinson
Pooch Hall
Coby Bell
Hosea Chanchez
narrated =
opentheme = Theme by:
Kurt Farquhar
Def Jeff
James D. Joiner III
endtheme =
country = flagcountry|United States
network = The CW
first_aired = October 1, 2006
last_aired = present
num_seasons = 3
num_episodes = 43
list_episodes = List of The Game episodes
executive_producer = Mara Brock Akil
Kelsey Grammer
related = "Girlfriends"
location = San Diego, California
website = http://www.cwtv.com/shows/the-game
imdb_id = 0772137
tv_com_id = 33226

"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".

As of the second season premiere episode, "The Game" is The CW's number one comedy pulling in 3.0 million viewers, compared to it being The CW's lowest rated sitcom last season. Nielson Media Research has listed "The Game" in the Top 10 TV programs among African-Americans for February 4, 2008. [ [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"] ]

The series' third season premiered on Friday, October 3, 2008 at 8:30/7:30c. [ [http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20080719cw02 Breaking News - THE CW NETWORK ANNOUNCES FALL 2008 PREMIERE DATES | TheFutonCritic.com ] ]

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 Renee Bruce 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.

Backdoor pilot

Trivia

* 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).
* 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 Mowry 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.

References

External links

* [http://cwtv.com/shows/the-game Official site on cwtv.com]
* [http://lounge.cwtv.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7 "The Game Official Lounge"] at The CW
* [http://tv.yahoo.com/the-game/show/39486 "The Game"] at [http://tv.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! TV]