"The Game" to return This Month

There has never been a black sitcom in history as fought for as "The Game." For years, networks have used the black community to build their viewer base. As soon as they land a hit series, they dump the black viewers for a "mainstream" audience.

Most recently, The CW was the network capitalizing off of black people. However, after they eliminated all of their black sitcoms in a matter of two years, the black community struck back. It was said that the network intentionally railroaded "The Game" in order to cancel it.

During its first two seasons on the air, "The Game" was a Monday night standout that brought in solid ratings for the network. Its third season, and final with The CW, saw the series pushed to Friday nights and the ratings dropped by 60%. BET came through and landed the syndication rights to the show before the end of the television season and introduced it to an entirely different audience. Together with the stars of the show and other fans, this new audience came together to create the "Save The Game" campaign. The goal was to get 1 million signatures signed to keep the show on the air. Eventually, the goal of 1 million would be exceeded, but The CW did not care.

Debra Lee, the CEO of BET, made it her personal mission to land "The Game" as an original series for her long-hated network. After months of deliberation, early last month, it was revealed that BET had secured the first-run rights to "The Game." The next move was to re-sign the cast and the crew. It was said that all of the cast agreed to return, but Coby Bell (Jason Pitts) would be reduced to a recurring role. Because he was informed that "The Game" was not returning, Bell signed on to star in "Burn Notice." Still, he agreed to stay with "The Game." Now, after that confirmation, it is being said that "The Game" will return to BET before the end of April 2010.

With only a few days left in the month, that is going to be a stretch, but there is time.