‘The Game’ Revival Series Scrapped at The CW

It looks like The Game won’t be returning to television right now. According to Deadline, the CW is not moving forward with a one-hour reboot of the 2006 half-hour comedy series. The pilot script was written by series’ creator Mara Brock Akil and American Soul co-creator Devon Greggory and based on that the CW decided to not move forward with the show. The CW is open to redeveloping it with Akil, but she reportedly declined.

It was first reported in December The Game was making a comeback. According to the premise of the show: “The Game family was coasting to retirement but they heard the call of the fans to make a comeback… and like the record-breaking winners they are, they decided to pick up and move from a half-hour sitcom in San Diego to a one-hour dramedy in Baltimore. This time, our out-of-touch old-timers are determined to help a bunch of knucklehead new-schoolers navigate the ruthless game of football on and off the field. They will clash through the pitfalls of fame, fortune and love. Some will win, others will lose, but that’s what happens when you play The Game.”

Akil was the creator of The Game and she was spearheading the reboot while Greggory was slated to be the showrunner. The Game started on the CW in 2006 and it lasted on the network until 2009. However, BET picked up the show and it ran for another six seasons.

“I’m really proud of the look of our show, that we took a multi-cam budget and turned it into a single camera show,” Akil said to Deadline. “Its look, its tone, its approach, the characters’ development — that, yes, we were a half-hour comedy but we used our moments to deepen the characters. We also offered drama in a half-hour space. And that was my own personal desire, but it was also reflective of what the audience has been wanting, which is more well-rounded, deeper, richer, layered characters, and they got that in The Game.”

The Game starred Tia Mowry, Pooch Hall, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Brittany Daniel, Hosea Chanchez and Lauren London. It was not confirmed if the original cast would return, but when Mowry heard the news about the reboot getting axed, she wasn’t surprised.

“And then also we even tried to reboot The Game and that’s now not happening. I’m sorry I just think that reboots are just not in my…” she said on the Tamron Hall Show via The Source.