Its last original episode of three seasons aired on the CW in May 2009, but later reruns on BET scored “a ratings touchdown,” said Loretha Jones, BET president of original programming.
So the network revived the series. It makes its return with back-to-back episodes at 9 p.m. Tuesday (January 11).
“Viewers love the show because it doesn’t pull any punches about what happens on and off the field between professional athletes and the women who love them,” Jones said during the Winter TV tour. “We love the show because it’s just great TV, with an extraordinary cast and a gifted creative team.”
The cast had scattered, some to other acting jobs, in the interval between wrapping for one network and relaunching on another. But the experience they’d all had during the original run formed a bond that endured in limbo.
“We all knew from the very beginning that we had a really special thing, just the vibe on the set and just how well we all got along, the writers included, all of us,” Bell said. “It was just a big lovefest. So none of us wanted it to end. And when we knew there was a chance to have it back, we all tried our best to make it happen, and here we is.”
“The Game” action resumes two years later, in TV time and almost in real time.
“People are living different types of lives,” said producer Salim Akil. “All the characters have changed like people would change in two years. Either you’re moving forward with all your goals and your wants and your needs, or there’s some things lacking. So we attacked it in that way.”
“To show how quickly and fast things happen in real life was important to us,” added co-producer Mara Brock Akil (the husband-and-wife team also co-produced “Girlfriends”), adding that it was also important to “shake it up a little” for the move to the new network.
“So Salim and I were driving around and we were like, ‘Baby, it’s gotta be hot. We have to make it hot.’ And this is our opportunity to do so.”
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