'Girlfriends' ends eight-year run
Feb 14, 2008, 04:35 PM | by Lynette Rice
Categories: TV Biz
Girlfriends, one of only a few series left in primetime that features an all African-American cast, has ended its eight-year run, The CW has announced. The last episode aired this week and no further episodes will be produced, though the creators are in discussions with The CW about creating some sort of retrospective special for fans to air later this season.
The network released this statement today: âThe prolonged strike has changed business conditions and our programming strategy for the balance of the 2007/08 season. To better focus its creative and financial resources, The CW will only resume production on shows that are in consideration for renewal next year. As a result, we will not order additional episodes of the long-running comedy Girlfriends, which planned to conclude its run at the end of this season. This was a very difficult decision for us, and was based solely on the considerable cost to license each episode in an extremely unusual business environment."
Girlfriends first bowed on UPN before the network merged with The WB and became The CW over two years ago. The comedy, from creator Mara Brock Akil, starred Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Persia White, Jill Marie Jones (who left the show in '06), Reggie Hayes, Khalil Kain, and Keesha Sharp. Said Akil in a statement, "Although it's always difficult to say goodbye, I choose to focus my energy on the history that Girlfriends has made, the human stories that we told, the beautifully complex images that we projected, and the blessings 172 episodes bestowed on us, both personally and professionally."
The CW is expected to renew The Game and Everybody Hates Chris â both of which feature African-American casts â for fall 2008.
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