Tracee Ellis Ross is giving more details on behind-the-scenes information regarding Girlfriends.
In an FYC interview with Deadline, the black-ish star revealed that the cast was ready for 13 more episodes of the Girlfriends’ final season, but they weren’t able to complete them because of the writers’ strike, which led to the CW unceremoniously canceling the show.
“Our last episode that we shot was during the writers strike and I actually directed it. It was my first time directing–it was not fun because it was really bizarre, it was surreal. But then we just kinda faded away,” she said.
“We had 13 more episodes to do–we never did them,” she continued. “We didn’t have a wrap party. We didn’t know we were ending. The last moment wasn’t with all our writers and everybody. It was not sort of a ceremonial end.”
Back in 2022, Kelsey Grammar told Shadow and Act how he wished ‘Girlfriends,’ which he executive produced, was able to have the proper ending it needed.
“It didn’t get its proper sendoff. It should have been given some honor because it was kind of a breakthrough show and something I was proud of,” he said, congratulating the cast and creator Mara Brock Akil for their work.
“Mara did a hell of a job,” he said.
The cast also spoke of how the show ended in a sit-down with Charlamagne tha God when they reunited on a ‘black-ish’ episode
“There were so many things that didn’t exist then–and we were talking about and doing–but we as a show were in a landscape that did not support us in that way,” said Ross. “It was not celebrated. On my entire eight years on Girlfriends, I was never on a late-night talk show. And we never went to the Golden Globes, Emmys, nothing.”
The cast felt like the show did not have closure, and even revealed that Jones was supposed to come back to give that.
“The last episode we actually shot was during the writer’s strike, I directed it. None of our crew and regular people were there. So it was so no closure. We had no party, nothing,” said Ross, to which Brooks and White added that they didn’t really know about what was happening and just got phone calls.
