The CW and the White Girls

By Guest Contributor Melissa Silverstein, orignally published at Women and Hollywood

The CW is a combination of the old WB and UPN. It’s a couple of years old and is jointly owned by CBS and Warner Brothers. If you were familiar with UPN you will know that a lot of their shows targeted African Americans like Everybody Hates Chris and Girlfriends, and the WB shows were more family oriented like The Gilmore Girls and Seventh Heaven.

When the two networks combined most of the shows targeted at African Americans went bye bye. But there was still The Game and Everybody Hates Chris. But the CW announced this winter that it was a) getting out of the business of half hour sitcoms, and b) focusing remaking shows from the 90s like Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place that appeal to young white women aged 18-34.

The three-year-old television network is betting its future on the whims of young women, almost to the exclusion of everybody else. By designing a schedule that appeals to them, the CW hopes to build an identity where there really hasn’t been one in the three years that it’s been operating.

Mara Brock Akil, the creator of Girlfriends and its spinoff The Game, is trying a seldom used tack to keep her three year old show on the air. She’s going to pitch a remake of the show as an hour long dramedy to the network this week. According to the Hollywood Reporter:

…for “The Game,” such a transformation would actually make sense creatively. The Game” already plays like a half-hour comedy-drama, mixing the genres more than a traditional sitcom does.

I hope it works. I don’t really want BROADcast networks to be in the niche business and focusing only on these trendy remakes and Gossip Girl type shows.

“Game” creator pitching makeover to save show (Hollywood Reporter via Reuters)

The CW bets its future on young women viewers (AP)