BET THE GAME TV Show Still Needs Viewers’ Support
The eighth week and the ninth episode of THE GAME have come and gone. The audience has gone from 7.7 million to 3.7 million. That’s an interesting change as there were a lot of people asking for this show to come back. There are discussions about how THE GAME has changed and how the characters don’t seem like the same people they did two years ago. It’s true. Everyone changes in some way after two years. Some people are upset that Britney Pitts is being played by another actress. Some people think that a threesome for Melanie is completely out of the question. Some people believe that Malik being with Tee Tee’s girlfriend went too far. Others feel that the show is demeaning to women. Still others feel there are too many commercials that don’t necessarily connect with the audience.
I admit that the program is not perfect. There is no such thing. Yes, the new Britney looks different and older. Hopefully, THE GAME writers will find a way to make her look younger and more believable.
Melanie hosting a threesome is probably something wives of other athletes (or non-athletes) have done before. Melanie has always been insecure. I think it’s that insecurity that drives a lot of her actions. This is nothing new. Living in that excess environment filled with celebrities and professional athletes all the time might make one think that she would have to do something that she said she would never do. She didn’t follow through with it. She stayed true to the conservative Melanie, except for kissing the girl at the end. Oh that’s right, the girl kissed her, big difference, not really.
As for Malik being with Tee Tee’s girlfriend, why is that so surprising? Malik has always been selfish, spoiled and arrogant. He thought the rules didn’t apply to him. Malik even says so in the episode when he gets arrested. To me, that’s totally in line with someone like a professional athlete having access to such a privilege. Supposedly, Malik is a different man now that he’s been through rehab. The way he jumped on Monique’s couch and enjoyed Jenna’s company at the club seemed genuine. While he must resolve the situation with Parker, he hopefully won’t cost Jenna.
As for misogyny, the show represents a group of women who are human. They drink a lot and change men a lot. It’s not my lifestyle at all. However, it probably represents someone’s style. Let’s just hope BET has some way to address the variety of images it shows. If they turned Melanie into a reputable practicing doctor, that could help the show a lot.
With commercials, perhaps they can let sponsors know that their audience wants more relevant commercial content. I’m sure there are plenty of ad agencies that can help figure it out. I don’t know how the number of commercials is reduced because they have to pay for the show somehow. If they started charging a fee to watch reruns online to help pay for the show, we’d have a fit.
The thing is, if we can’t get over the show’s imperfections, we’d better get ready to say goodbye. BET is making it known that the constant support of viewers is still required for the show.
The BET network is a business and they have to invest their money in profitable ventures. If the audience is that upset, then the March 29 finale may be another farewell episode.
There is so little quality NEW content featuring African Americans that I would just hate to see THE GAME go away. I plan to support the last four weeks of the season. I hope you do the same.