A staple and beloved Black woman-led sitcom of the UPN era, Girlfriends was abruptly canceled by then-nascent network The CW amid the 2007-08 writers’ strike — a decision that creator Mara Brock Akil recalls as “painful.” However, the prolific TV producer-writer said she would be “very open” to revisit the lives of Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross), Maya (Golden Brooks), Toni (Jill Marie Jones), Lynn (Persia White) and their male bestie William (Reggie Jones).
The creator behind Netflix’s Forever spoke to Deadline following her panel conversation at the invitation-only event A Day of Unreasonable Conversation.
“I’m starting to believe that sometimes your greatest pain can be your greatest joy,” Akil began. “That was very painful to not be able to finish the story of those four women and William, but now it’s interesting because, back in the day, the limitations of the network, it was not gonna reach you and other audiences around the world, so I think the fact that it’s been on Netflix, it is proving that great storytelling that’s relatable and complex and fun and messy is what has a huge world audience, so I’m really thankful that the show’s been able to prove [itself] and find new audiences even in yourself who want more, [who think,] ‘That’s not enough,’ and they’re like, ‘We want the ending.’”
Akil continued, “That’s a long preamble basically to say I would be very open to completing the story in a film. I think that would be very fun, that would be my dream. But it needs the right resources and support and the right distribution — it needs the right package to be treated as the gem that it is. Because it has been that little engine that could, and I want people to see the majesty, the greatness of it, and how it really is a conversation still for today around the world.”
Girlfriends ran for eight seasons from 2000 to 2008, centering on the lives of four disparate late-20s women living in Los Angeles, tracing their clashes, relationships and the ups-and-downs of their careers. Though The CW initially announced its plans to continue the series post-strike, just days later the show was axed, with the network saying it would be too costly to resume production for a proper series finale. There were additional plans to film a retrospective episode, but that was also scrapped.
Most recently, Ross and the cast discussed the unceremonious ending in conversation with Charlamagne tha God, with the Black-ish alumna saying there was “no closure. We had no party, nothing.” Jones, who left the show in 2006 as her character moved to New York, revealed the original plan was “to come back for maybe four episodes on the end,” though this never panned out.
“I don’t think our show was as important to them as it was to our community,” Ross added, with the cast describing the decision as “cleaning house.”
Girlfriends has been streaming on Netflix since September 2020, in commemoration of the show’s 20th anniversary. The series spawned spinoff The Game, starring Tia Mowry, which ran for nine seasons first on The CW and later on BET. Paramount+ ordered a revival/requel show in 2021, canceling it after two seasons.
The post Mara Brock Akil Says She Would Be “Very Open” To Completing ‘Girlfriends’ Storyline In A Film: “That Would Be My Dream” appeared first on Deadline.
