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Can you enjoy a reboot of The Game without Melanie and Derwin?
Hopefully, you won’t have to, but it sounds like that’s what Paramount Plus plans to test and see. According to TV Line, during an investor presentation on Feb. 24, the hour-long dramedy was announced as returning with some familiar faces starring: Coby Bell, who plays cheap footballer Jason Pitts and singer Brandy, who during the show’s years on BET (2011 to 2015), played his ex-wife. That was about it so far.
The show’s return was initially announced in 2019 when it was going to be revamped for CW, its initial home (2006 to 2009), with the premise that the former cast would return to help “a bunch of knucklehead new-schoolers navigate the ruthless game of football on and off the field.”
It’s unclear if that will be the premise for the reboot moving forward or show creator Mara Brock Akil’s involvement, but Paramount Plus is certainly excited about the project overall.
“When it premiered on @BET, @TheGameBET broke records. The sitcom is back on #ParamountPlus to offer a modern-day examination of Black culture through the prism of pro football,” they tweeted this week.
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And while Jason and Chardonnay were colorful on their own, what about the former leads of The Game? Tia Mowry and Pooch Hall left in 2012 as the show was making a home on BET. According to Mowry, she told Tamron Hall last year that efforts for a Sister, Sister reboot as well as The Game seemingly weren’t going to happen despite efforts.
“So many people are asking this question. We tried,” she said. “We tried to do it, but some rights and stuff kind of got in the way. Legalities is why. It makes me sad and also we even tried to reboot The Game and that’s now not happening.”
But later, in August, Pooch sounded more hopeful — or coy — about it all when asked if a reboot was happening.
“Maybe? I don’t know,” he said while promoting The Game‘s streaming debut on Netflix. “I gotta make sure…you can’t really, unless you have concrete information, it’s not stuff you can put out there. But I know four of the cast members of The Game and I are working on a project we’re going to see through. And Netflix, it’s the network or streaming service that gives a second life to actors and to series or films. So who knows? Anything is possible.”
While the premiere date of the reboot of The Game isn’t set in stone just yet, Paramount Plus will launch on March 4.
