When it comes to on- and off-screen drama, it's hard to beat the comedy "Girlfriends."
As "Girlfriends" launches its seventh season at 8 p.m. on Sunday, its creator is biting the hand that programs the show -- the new CW network -- saying she's not feeling the love. The network denies the charge, saying it has much love. One of its core stars dropped out unexpectedly at the end of last season and has turned down pleas to make a farewell appearance. And the first episode of the season begins not with a joke but with one of the girlfriends jogging through the ruin and recovery of Hurricane Katrina-torn New Orleans.
The furor helps mark a milestone season for "Girlfriends," whose producers include Kelsey Grammer. The comedy is one of the longest-running series featuring a predominantly black cast since "The Cosby Show," surpassing the runs of ABC's "My Wife and Kids," Fox's "The Bernie Mac Show," and even NBC's "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." "Girlfriends" is also the most veteran UPN series to survive the WB and UPN merger that led to the CW.
Moving from the 9 p.m. Monday time slot it previously occupied, "Girlfriends" is the anchor of the CW's Sunday lineup of African American shows that includes "Everybody Hates Chris" and "All of Us," while also serving as the springboard lead-in for its spinoff, "The Game," which premieres Sunday.
On the eve of the new era, Mara Brock Akil, the key creative force behind "Girlfriends" and "The Game," calls this season "an exciting challenge."
But she is troubled that "Girlfriends" was not included in the CW's "Free to Be ..." billboard and bus-placard campaign hyping its programming. The push focused on "America's Next Top Model," "Gilmore Girls" and "Veronica Mars," while also giving a boost to "Smallville," "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Supernatural," which have not been on the air as long as "Girlfriends."
Akil said she was concerned when she first heard that the show "was moving from the Monday night slot where we've worked so hard to build an audience.... I know [CW Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff's] financial purse is tight, but to move us without a billboard around town when we're going into our seventh season doesn't make me happy. Will our fans know we're on, or when?"
