DVD Review: The Game: The First Season

The Game was a spinoff from the successful series Girlfriends that aired on The CW from 2006-2009. Girlfriends creator Mara Brock Akil had an idea for a new series, a show about football players and the women in their lives and their relationships where they interact because they have to. It was a 180 from Girlfriends where the series focused on relationships between friends.

The Game focuses on Melanie Barnett (Tia Mowry) a med student who puts her plans on hold for her boyfriends Derwin Davis (Pooch Hall) career as a football player. He’s on the rise in his rookie year and Melanie moves to LA with him, instead of going to John Hopkins which is the top medical school in the country and goes to a less credited school to be with him. The show also focuses on Derwin’s teammates veteran player Jason Pitts (Coby Bell) and his interracial marriage to his wife Kelly (Brittany Daniel) as well as star player Malik Wright (Hosea Chanchez) and his overbearing mother Tasha Mack (Wendy Raquel Robinson) who is also his agent and has nicknames for people like Melanie is “med-school”, and Kelly is “white-girl”. 

The first season covers jealousy, interracial relationships, trusting each other, letting go and more. All subjects which couples and friends go through during their relationships.  While the show is a comedy, it handles these subjects in a realistic way as opposed to an over-the-top funny way. The show is an ensemble show and while the show is good when focusing on one of the pairs or just the men or just the women, it really shines when they are all together interacting and reaction to a situation.

Sadly the series was cancelled because The CW changed its lineup to remove all half-hour comedies. Akil came up with a plan to change the series to an hour-long series and The CW still wasn’t interested. However there is a glimmer of hope. BET already airs The Game (and Girlfriends) in syndication on their network and they are trying to pick up the series for a fourth season, but licensing issues from CBS (who produces the series) need to be worked out first.

Article Author: Blake Matthews

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