Hosea Chanchez is taking fans back to the beginning of “The Game,” revealing how the beloved television series actually started as part of another iconic Black sitcom, “Girlfriends.”
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During a recent conversation with The Baller Alert Show, Chanchez, who portrayed Malik Wright on the series, reflected on its 20th anniversary and explained why the show’s history stretches further back than its official October 2006 premiere.
“It’s officially 20 years in a, in a week or two, in October, it’ll be officially 20 years, but the official 20 years doesn’t necessarily count when the transition happened that the game was able to break through because we started as a backdoor pilot to ‘Girlfriends.’”
The revelation highlights a piece of television history that some longtime viewers may have forgotten. Before “The Game” became a series of its own, creator Mara Brock Akil introduced its characters and storyline through an episode of “Girlfriends,” giving audiences their first look at the world of professional football and the relationships surrounding it.
“So, yeah, so kind of technically they looked at us as an additional ‘Girlfriends’ episode,” Chanchez explained.
According to Rotten Tomatoes’ episode records, the introduction happened on April 17, 2006, during Season 6, Episode 18 of “Girlfriends.” Appropriately titled “The Game,” the episode featured Tracee Ellis Ross as Joan Clayton alongside Tia Mowry as her cousin, Melanie Barnett.
In the episode, Joan tries to convince Melanie to prioritize medical school instead of following her professional football player boyfriend to San Diego. The storyline introduced the central conflict that would eventually help define “The Game,” particularly Melanie’s struggle to balance her personal ambitions with her relationship.
Ross’s connection to the spinoff did not stop with that introduction. The actress is also listed as a guest star in “Away Game,” Season 1, Episode 1 of “The Game,” which aired October 1, 2006.
That connection made “The Game” more than just another new television comedy. It gave audiences a familiar character from “Girlfriends” while establishing an entirely different cast of personalities and conflicts.
“And that happened before our first episode,” Chanchez added while discussing the original pilot.
The show’s development also came during a major transition in television. According to the Associated Press, “The Game” was one of only two new series included in The CW’s inaugural fall 2006 lineup. The network was formed after UPN and The WB announced plans to combine their programming.
Chanchez recalled that unusual moment in the industry, explaining, “Well, it actually caught on from the very beginning because we started on, we were the very first show that started on the CW, and when our show got greenlit, we were in between the merger between WB.”
Once established, “The Game” developed its own identity through the lives of Melanie, Derwin Davis, Malik Wright, Tasha Mack, Jason Pitts, and Kelly Pitts. The series explored relationships, infidelity, family dynamics, financial pressures, and the complicated realities of professional sports.
The cast included Tia Mowry, Pooch Hall, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Coby Bell, Brittany Daniel, and Chanchez, whose portrayal of the confident and often reckless Malik became one of the show’s most recognizable characters.
Although The CW ended the series after three seasons in 2009, its story was far from finished. According to BET’s official announcement, the network brought “The Game” back for a fourth season on January 11, 2011, following strong fan interest.
The comeback was massive. BET reported that the fourth season premiere attracted 7.7 million viewers, setting a record at the time for an ad-supported sitcom telecast on cable television.
The original series ultimately concluded in 2015 after nine seasons. However, the franchise returned again in 2021 when Paramount+ revived “The Game,” bringing back Chanchez and Robinson to reprise their roles as Malik and Tasha.
In its revival announcement, Paramount+ confirmed that the new version would move the story from San Diego to Las Vegas while continuing to explore Black culture, sports, relationships, and ambition.
Two decades after its television debut, “The Game” remains an important part of Black entertainment history. Chanchez’s reflections offer a reminder that the series audiences came to love began with a single Girlfriends episode and grew into a franchise that survived network changes, cancellation, and multiple television eras.
