After eight long seasons on air, the comedy series
Girlfriends has been canceled by The CW. Show creator Mara Brock Akil made the heartbreaking announcement on Valentine's Day.
Girlfriends, an NAACP Image Award and Emmy Award-nominated comedy series, follows three friends as they navigate through life and love. It stars
Golden Brooks,
Persia White and
Tracee Ellis Ross, who has received six consecutive NAACP Image Awards nominations for best actress in a comedy series, although winning only once.
Your Take
mssabrina said:
Now that Lynn is no longer on the air, who will be ? I am deeply saddened. I am crushed! (Tongue firmly ...
DaniMo said:
I ams so sad that Girlfirends got cancel. It was really one of the only shows that has kept me watching the...
taunyacurry said:
Even though I haven't really watched the show since Toni Childs left I still hate to see them go. I'm sure ...
The cancellation of
Girlfriends is the by-product of the WGA strike. The show, which is the second-highest rated series with a predominantly black cast, won't even go out with a bang, as network executives decided to pull it out abruptly, saying that they will no longer produce post-strike episodes because they want to "focus its creative and financial resources on shows that are in consideration for renewal next year."
Akil, meanwhile, is also focusing her energies somewhere else.
"Although it's always difficult to say goodbye, I choose to focus my energy on the history that
Girlfriends has made, the human stories that we told, the beautifully complex images that we projected and the blessings 172 episodes bestowed on us, both personally and professionally," Akil wrote in her official farewell statement. "I am immensely thankful to the amazingly talented cast, writers, directors, staff and crew for their endless dedication and hard work for eight seasons, to the network that always wanted us and the studio that always supported us, but mostly to the audience, especially African-American women, who took the time to tune into us every Monday night at nine to have a dialogue with us and who have been our partner in this journey."
Consequently, Monday's broadcast of
Girlfriends, which had Joan (Ross) reading her fiance Aaron's letter to his former students and learning that he's returning from Iraq in two weeks, served as the series' last.
Akil is currently in talks with the CW and CBS Paramount Studios to discuss a retrospective farewell special for the series.
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Zap2it, TV Guide
(Image Courtesy of the CW)