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- Neil Middlemiss
The triumphant return of The Game – to a staggering 7.7 million viewers on cables BET network on January 11, 2011 is cause for celebration. Not because it’s necessarily a good show (though fans are furiously loyal). No, the cause for celebration is the increase – albeit small – of African American-centric television programming. The CW, The Game’s former home, swept away 30-minute programming with minority casts in favor of hour-long dramatic programming with curiously Caucasian-heavy casts (young, pretty ones at that). The move was harsh. The Game producers offered to retool the 30-minute sitcom into an hour long program to no avail. BET has leveraged the incredible success of The Game by launching several shows, including the family-friendly (and still finding its footing) Reed Between the Lines (featuring Girlfriends star Traci Ellis Ross and The Cosby Show’s Malcolm Jamal-Warner) and Let’s Stay Together. The result is a season of the show that is every bit as biting, calculating, snide and funny as anything that it produced before!
The Game
The Complete Fourth Season
Studio: CBS Television Studio
Year: 2011
US Rating: NR
Length: 276 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, English Stereo
Subtitles: NA
Release Date: December 6, 2011
Review Date: December 8, 2011
“Are you not entertained! Haaaa!!”
The Film
3.5/ 5
The Game aired three seasons before suffering the axe from the CW. Success in reruns on BET and many rumors and strong network hints that BET or someone would pick up the shows mantle and return it to the air circulated furiously among fan sites.
The Game has always been a show filled with characters acting selfishly; self-serving, immature, unreasonable and petulant adults acting like children; a surprising base of characters for a 30-minute situation comedy but one that has found a dedicated following interested in the soap-like lives of the main characters. A spin-off of Girlfriends, The Game is set in the world of professional footballand follows three players of the San Diego Sabers, and their relationships with wives or girlfriends. Derwin Davis (Pooch Hall) and his now wife Melanie (Tia Mowry), continue to fight and retaliate against each other as they test the limits of trust and faithfulness. Malik is a man trying desperately to be a good husband (and good father to his child by a former lover). Jason Pitts (Coby Bell) is a penny pinching, coupon-clipping multi-millionaire with severe control and trust issues, now divorced from Kelly (Brittany Daniel). Coby Bell appears as a guest star only on The Game since his duties are now focused on his likeable role on USA’s hit show, Burn Notice. Perhaps as a result, Daniel’s Kelly character is slowly withdrawn from the storyline. Finally, Malik Wright (Hosea Chanche), an ego-maniac living up the excesses of hero-worship, sexual flippancy, and control. His mean spirited nature (and downright emotional cruelty) continues, though his character offers the shows best opportunity for a revelation of spirit and soul. His mother, Tasha Mack (Wendy Raquel Robinson) – one of the main characters – is herself difficult and centered on self, but is often the best source for comedy.
This 13-episode fourth season continues to runs the gamut of soap-opera shenanigans; rocky relationships, well-meaning betrayals, and mommy and daddy issues. While the characters remain difficult to feel sympathy toward, the performances are surprisingly good, with the writers taking more dramatic risks while never forgetting the needed humor at the right moment.
The actors play their parts well; Wendy Raquel Robinson is loud, aggressive, wise-cracking, and almost exclusively focused on herself (she focuses on others on rare occasions where their wellbeing affects her). Her comedic timing is actually quite good, but buried beneath a veneer of unpleasant attitude, it can be hard to appreciate. Tia Mowry, who spends much of this season dealing with the emotional distress of ‘baby mama drama’ addles between anger and weakness. Derwin continues to act willfully blind to how his actions affect others, and Malik, self-indulgently and self-servingly parties and hurts others, though this season his disposition is darker than ever. Coby Bell has always hit the right note as Pitts, and though his presence is lessened, he still offers up the best comedy of the male leads.
Renewed for a fifth season, The Game is a solid success story and though it may not be quite my thing (all the time) I still root for its success if for no other reason than to read the passionate commentary from friends and family on Facebook about each episodes comings and goings.
The Episodes
Disc One
Episode 1 – Parachutes…Beach Chairs
Episode 2 – The Confession Episode
Episode 3 – The Wing King
Episode 4 – It Was All Good Just A Week Ago
Episode 5 – Men in Crisis
Episode 6 – Don’t You Know Who I Am?
Disc Two
Episode 7 – You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello
Episode 8 – A Very Special Episode
Episode 9 – Whip It…Whip It Good
Episode 10 – Never Surrender!
Episode 11 – Death Becomes Her
Episode 12 – The Right To Choose
The Video
4/5
CBS Television Studios presents this fourth season of The Game on two discs in its filmed aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16X9, and enhanced for widescreen televisions. There is a fair amount of detail for a television show, colors are expectedly bright, and there are no issues or worrisome factors to warn you about. Night scenes are extremely rare, and the grand majority of the action takes place in interior sets – so the uniform brightness and quality through the episodes and discs is reassuring.
The Sound
3.5/5
As with previous seasons, all 12 episodes here come with both a Dolby Digital 5.1 and English Stereo surround option. The opening and closing credits are perhaps the most active elements, ringing out clearly in each speaker, but the frequent use of bass reliant tracks through the season give the sub-woofer a fair few nudges. Not much to speak of in the surrounds, but the center channel is issue-free, and generally the audio delivers for the show well enough.
The Extras
2.5/ 5
Bringin’ Back The Game
Playing The Game
Gag Reel
Final Thoughts
The Game has an ever more faithful loyal following who all showed up when the show returned on BET. They must have liked what they saw as BET eagerly renewed the show for a longer 5th season. Despite its return, and BET’s continuing endeavors into original programming featuring African American casts, the television landscape remains largely devoid of African-American characters. We need more shows with diverse casts – it might explain why television has become predictable and rote of late. At least the reality television monster appears to have been quieted and scripted television seen a resurgence. Let’s just make sure that television represents the country that watches it for a change!
Overall (Not an average)
3.5/5
Neil Middlemiss
Kernersville, NC
