Girlfriends | |
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Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | Mara Brock Akil |
Starring |
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Opening theme | "Girlfriends" |
Ending theme | "Girlfriends" (instrumental) |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 172 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company(s) |
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Distributor |
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Release | |
Original network |
UPN (2000–06) The CW (2006–08) |
Picture format |
480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
Original release | September 11, 2000 | – February 11, 2008
Chronology | |
Related shows | The Game |
Girlfriends: The Soundtrack | |
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Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
Released | May 26, 2008 |
Genre | Soundtrack |
Length | 48:09 |
Label | Koch Records |
Producer | Larry Robinson |
Girlfriends is an American sitcom that premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN's successor network, The CW, before being cancelled in 2008. The final episode aired on February 11, 2008. When Girlfriends returned in fall 2007 for its eighth season, it became the longest-running live-action sitcom on network television that was on air during that time.
It was one of the highest-rated scripted shows on television among African-American adults 18-34, including its spin-off The Game.
The series debuted on UPN on Monday September 11, 2000. After airing for several years on the network at 9/8C on Mondays, The CW moved Girlfriends to Sundays at 8/7C. The ratings plummeted. On October 9, 2006, Girlfriends, along with The CW's other African-American programs, moved back to Mondays. At this point, Girlfriends returned to its original time slot.
While UPN was still airing new episodes of Girlfriends, the network also began airing reruns five days per week. When the show moved to The CW network after UPN merged with The WB network, MyNetwork TV (which was created to take over UPN's former affiliate stations) picked up the rights to air reruns of Girlfriends, although they eventually discontinued this. WE tv, a network with primarily women's programming, later acquired exclusive rights to air the limited-release episodes on Sundays and exercised an option to not allow broadcast television networks re-broadcast rights to these reruns.
The final two episodes recorded before the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike aired back-to-back on Monday, February 11 at 9/8c. However, this was not a 2-part episode. The timeslot was planned to be moved to Sundays due to the writer's strike and the returning of The CW's reality series. On February 13, 2008, it was announced by a The CW representative that a proper series finale would not be done because it would be too expensive, also confirming the show's cancellation. A retrospective episode was to be aired on The CW Network to conclude the eight-year series. However, the characters' storylines would receive no resolutions as the retrospective/series finale did not come to pass. The network offered the actors only half of their usual episodic salary to take part, and the actors collectively turned them down.