The Game

There's an interesting story brewing over at the CW, where the executive producer of the comedy The Game is re-pitching her show as an hour-long drama (or, technically, dramedy). The CW's basically getting out of the comedy business at the end of this TV season, but The Game's producers think reimagining it as a drama could be a way to keep it alive.

The Hollywood Reporter points out that TV shows switching genres is virtually unheard of, citing Ally, the short-lived comedy version of Ally McBeal. But I'm wondering if there are shows on TV that could actually work well in a different format. On Showtime, for example, both United States of Tara and Weeds are technically half-hour comedies, but I think they have enough heavy plotlines to work in an hour-long format. On the other side, I think I'd have preferred a half-hour, funnier 90210 spinoff to the version we got, and I actually wish the new version of Cupid had been developed that way, too.

Which shows could you picture working in a different genre? Or are the lines between drama and comedy so blurry these days that it hardly matters anyway?

Photo courtesy of The CW

• Scarlett Johansson is auctioning two tickets to the red carpet premiere of He's Just Not That Into You on eBay to benefit Oxfam. — eBay
• Despite taking in only $15.3 million, Semi-Pro scored the top spot at the weekend box office, followed by Vantage Point and The Spiderwick Chronicles. — BuzzSugar
• Rapper The Game has begun serving his 60-day jail sentence for weapons possession, although he'll be kept separate from the general population during his stay. — TMZ
• Jamie Lynn Spears was spotted shopping with Britney at an LA baby store, and her purchase of light blue items has prompted speculation that there's another baby boy Spears on the way. — The Scoop
• Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have released the names of their newborn twins: Max and Emme. — UK Popsugar

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Hip-hop music videos — with their standard-issue video vixens and cool cars — are ripe for a send-up, and that's precisely why I'm loving this tongue-in-cheek new music video for The Game's "Wouldn't Get Far." The song, which features Kanye West and appears on the 2006 album Doctor's Advocate, already rules. But it's only helped by this homage to VH1's Pop-Up Video, where the Game and West poke fun at hip-hop excess and gold-diggers. It even comes with a disclaimer: "What you are about to witness is not a real rap video, but a reenactment of what would happen on a real video set." To see the video for "Wouldn't Get Far," read more

Watch out, girls of Southern California. If these craigslist ads are any indication, you are about to get Gamed.

Gamed as in The Game, Neil Strauss' tale of transforming from dateless chump to serious stud after going undercover with a secret society of "pick-up artists." The most revered pick-up artist (or "PUA" as they're known), named "Mystery," pitched a pilot to VH1 a while back, and now, the network appears to be forging ahead with casting calls in LA and San Diego.

VH1 is looking for guys who are nice but have trouble asking girls out; the more socially awkward and conversationally stunted, the better. The idea is that after learning the ropes at the hand of skilled PUAs, they'll be unleashed on the world, better able to bed the women of their choosing. To learn about some of the rules of the Game, read more