Girlfriends (American TV series)

Last updated

Girlfriends
Girlfriends-opening03-06.png
Genre Sitcom
Comedy drama
Created by Mara Brock Akil
Starring
Opening theme"Girlfriends" performed by Angie Stone
Ending theme"Girlfriends" (instrumental)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons8
No. of episodes172 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Kevin Marburger
  • Mary Fukuto-Salzman
  • Michele Marburger
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network UPN (2000–2006)
The CW (2006–2008)
ReleaseSeptember 11, 2000 (2000-09-11) 
February 11, 2008 (2008-02-11)
Related
Moesha
The Game

Girlfriendsis an American sitcom television series created by Mara Brock Akil that premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN's successor network, The CW, before being canceled in 2008. The final episode aired on February 11, 2008.

Contents

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedRankAverage viewership
(in millions)
First airedLast airedNetwork
1 22September 11, 2000 (2000-09-11)May 14, 2001 (2001-05-14) UPN No. 1364.0[ citation needed ]
2 22September 10, 2001 (2001-09-10)May 20, 2002 (2002-05-20)No. 1294.2 [1]
3 25September 23, 2002 (2002-09-23)May 19, 2003 (2003-05-19)No. 1334.0[ citation needed ]
4 24September 15, 2003 (2003-09-15)May 24, 2004 (2004-05-24)No. 1283.6 [2]
5 22September 20, 2004 (2004-09-20)May 23, 2005 (2005-05-23)No. 1293.4 [3]
6 22September 19, 2005 (2005-09-19)May 8, 2006 (2006-05-08)No. 1353.4 [4]
7 22October 1, 2006 (2006-10-01)May 7, 2007 (2007-05-07) The CW No. 1382.5 [5]
8 13October 1, 2007 (2007-10-01)February 11, 2008 (2008-02-11)No. 1502.1 [6]

Broadcast history

The series debuted on UPN on Monday September 11, 2000. After airing for several years on the network at 9/8C on Mondays, The CW moved Girlfriends to Sundays at 8/7C. After this, the ratings plummeted. On October 9, 2006, Girlfriends, along with The CW's other African-American programs, moved back to Mondays. At this point, Girlfriends returned to its original time slot. [7]

While UPN was still airing new episodes of Girlfriends, the network also began airing reruns five days per week. When the show moved to The CW network after UPN merged with The WB network, MyNetwork TV (which was created to take over UPN's former affiliate stations) picked up the rights to air reruns of Girlfriends, although they eventually discontinued running them. WE tv, a network primarily focused on women's programming, later acquired exclusive rights to air the limited-release episodes on Sundays and exercised an option to not allow broadcast television networks re-broadcast rights to these reruns.

Due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, the last episodes produced aired on February 11, 2008. The CW had announced plans to move the series to Sunday nights. [8] However, it was later announced on February 13, 2008 that the series was cancelled after 8 seasons and a proper series finale would not be produced. A representative from The CW stated that the network was going to cancel the series due to low ratings and that it would have been too expensive to re-enter production. [9]

A retrospective episode was in development to conclude the series but was later scrapped. The network had offered the actors only half of their usual episodic salary to take part, and the actors collectively turned the offer down. [10]

Characters

Main

Recurring

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

The cast of Girlfriends honoring the show creator with her 2013 Essence "Visionary" award. Left to right: Mara Brock Akil, Persia White, Golden Brooks, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jill Marie Jones. Mara Brock Akil and Girlfriends cast.jpg
The cast of Girlfriends honoring the show creator with her 2013 Essence "Visionary" award. Left to right: Mara Brock Akil, Persia White, Golden Brooks, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jill Marie Jones.
YearAwardCategoryRecipient
2005 BET Comedy Award Outstanding Writing for a Comedy SeriesMara Brock Akil, Mark Alton Brown, Veronica Chambers, Tim Edwards, Karin Gist, Dee LaDuke, Regina Y. Hicks, Kevin Marburger, Michele Marburger, Prentice Penny, and Shauna Robinson [13]
BET Comedy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy SeriesTracee Ellis Ross (nominated) [13]
2005 NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Reginald C. Hayes
2006
2007Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy SeriesReginald C. Hayes
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series Tracee Ellis Ross
2009Outstanding Actress in a Comedy SeriesTracee Ellis Ross

Spin-off

"The Game", a 2006 episode of Girlfriends, features guest star Tia Mowry as Joan's cousin Melanie Barnett, an aspiring medical student who wants to give up her future to follow her professional athlete boyfriend to San Diego. That episode was the launching pad for The Game , a spin-off series, which was canceled by The CW television network. In April 2010, BET announced that it would pick up the series, which aired new episodes until the August 5, 2015 series finale. [14] When the fourth season of The Game premiered in 2011 it received 7.7 million viewers, which at the time of its airing, made the show the most watched sitcom premiere in cable television history. [14] In November 2021, a revival spin-off of the series was picked up and released to Paramount+, serving as a direct sequel from the original series and was promoted as a refreshed series (rebooted and marketed as season 1) while also subsequently continuing the overall total seasons (chronicled as season 10). The new inception continues where it left off from the 2015 finale a few years later switching gears set in the new location of Las Vegas with the new protagonists of reprised characters, chronicling Tasha Mack and her struggles of being a woman of color sports agent; while her son Malik Wright learns to make important decisions in his sports career while quietly battling mental health issues and Brittany Pitts who is navigating her adult life taking on serious financial hardships and responsibilities becoming independent away from her Pro-Football dads' (Jason Pitts) image and inheritance. The revived series also introduces new characters to the storyline. [15] [16] The reboot has also garnered favorable and positive reviews from media outlets. [17] [18]

Home media

DVD NameRelease DateNo.Additional Features
The First SeasonFebruary 27, 2007
22
  • N/A
The Second SeasonOctober 9, 2007
22
  • We All Fall Down: A Closer Look at "Trick or Truth?"
  • Creating the Show
  • Getting the Girls Together
  • Episode Guide
The Third SeasonFebruary 12, 2008
25
  • It's What You Wear That Counts
  • Here Comes the Bride: An Invitation Inside "The Wedding"
The Fourth SeasonJuly 29, 2008
24
  • N/A
The Fifth SeasonOctober 28, 2008
22
  • N/A
The Sixth SeasonFebruary 24, 2009
22
  • Includes the Backdoor pilot of The Game
The Seventh SeasonOctober 13, 2009
22
Mara Brock Akil Comments on:
  • I Want My Baby Back
  • Hot For Preacher
  • Time To Man Up
  • Willie Or Won't He III: This Time It's Personal
  • What Had Happened Was...
The Eighth and Final SeasonJanuary 19, 2010
13
  • Bonus Episode from The Game: "Away Game"

Soundtrack

Girlfriends: The Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedMay 26, 2008
Genre R&B
Length48:09
Label Koch Records
Producer Larry Robinson

Track listing

  1. Erykah Badu – "Vibrate On" (4:14)
  2. Jill Scott – "Golden" (3:52)
  3. Angie Stone – "Wish I Didn't Miss You" (4:32)
  4. Corinne Bailey Rae – "Put Your Records On" (3:35)
  5. Algebra – "I Know" (3:57)
  6. Amy Winehouse – "Stronger Than Me" (3:42)
  7. Estelle – "All Comes Back to You" (3:22)
  8. Chrisette Michele – "Girl Respect Yourself" (3:44)
  9. Chaka Khan featuring Mary J. Blige – "Disrespectful" (4:46)
  10. India.Arie – "I Am Not My Hair" (3:48)
  11. Dre – "Soulmate" (4:22)
  12. Persia White – "Choices" (2:47)
  13. Lira – "Feel Good" (5:15)

Streaming

The series is available to stream on The CW's free digital-only network, CW Seed. [19] The entire series began streaming on Netflix on September 11, 2020 to commemorate the show's 20th anniversary. [20]

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  12. Stated in the episode Willie or Won't He II: The Last Chapter?
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General sources