Why Paramount+ Canceled The Game

The sports genre is responsible for some of the best fictional drama. Seeing a group of underdogs or misfits beat the odds in the best sports movies and TV shows never ceases to be hugely satisfying. It's a rather versatile genre, too, with titles that range from comedic to super dramatic — or both, in the case of "The Game."

Created by Mara Brock Akil, the original "The Game" was a spin-off of the UPN show "Girlfriends," and followed a group of girlfriends of football players as they navigated life and the difficulties of the sport. It premiered on The CW in 2006 and lasted for nine seasons. Then, in 2021, Paramount revived the series, bringing back Akil and many members of the original cast for a sequel series that moved the action from San Diego to Las Vegas. The new series streamed on Paramount+ and focused on exploring Black culture through American pro football, exploring topics like classism, sexism, racism, and more. Where the original show was an interesting tonal mix, starting out as a sitcom before becoming more of a drama, the new "The Game" was a straight-up sports drama from the get-go.

Unfortunately, the series was short-lived, and in 2023, it got canceled by Paramount+ alongside "Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies," "Queen of the Universe," and "Star Trek: Prodigy" – the best "Star Trek" show you probably never saw. And, sadly, the reason was a very dumb one.

Would it surprise you to learn that "The Game" and the other shows cited above were canceled due to a corporate merger? That's right, Paramount's favorite pastime is responsible for the end of "The Game." At the time, Paramount+ was merging with Showtime, which led to some cost-cutting and to tax write-offs, which is the favorite pastime of Warner Bros. Discovery and its head, David "Cartoon Enemy No. 1" Zaslav.

Not only was "The Game" canceled, but it was deleted off the streamer alongside "Queen of the Universe," the "Grease" TV show, and "Star Trek: Prodigy," as if they never happened. According to Variety, the removal of the shows was "data-driven," even though Paramount did not share any sort of statistics that would hint at why these shows should be canceled and deleted. Specially weird is the fact that the news came right after "Star Trek: Prodigy" was already renewed for season 2.

Shows being canceled for dumb reasons is nothing new. Corporate mergers in particular are the death of creativity, as whoever new person comes in does not want the baggage of projects tied to their predecessors. But it's one thing to cancel a show and another to remove them from their streaming platforms unceremoniously. After Zaslav started this ugly, nasty, uncivilized trend, streamers like Disney+ and Hulu started following suit.

As for Paramount? Well, it is again involved in a merger, this time with Skydance. And the only people with power and a platform to voice their anger so far have been "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who had some choice words to say after the merger delayed the show's season 27 premiere.