There are a lot of things I like about Brittany Daniel. We share a name, she grew up in Gainesville, Florida (home of my University of Florida Gators), and she’s the sister-in-law of one of my favorite TV actors, Cole Hauser. In short, she’s awesome, which made me a little embarrassed that I didn’t discover her until recently, in her role as Kelly, the slightly dense yet devoted wife (or is it soon-to-be ex-wife?) of star football player Jason Pitts on the sitcom The Game. As The Game revs up to come back for a fourth season, Brittany was sweet enough to talk to me about what might be next for Kelly, as well as her new Universal film Skyline.

Let’s talk about season four of The Game. Are you coming back? Fans are really hoping that Jason (Coby Bell) and Kelly get back together.

I’m coming back as a recurring [character], but that recurring could be every episode. I don’t think [they’ll get back together] this season, but I think most of the season we’ll be dealing with the fact that they’re not together. I hope they do. I hate it because I love working with [Coby]. I hope we’re in a lot of episodes. I think we’ll both be available to do as many episodes as they want. I think they were nervous because he was still attached to [Burn Notice] at first, they weren’t sure what to do with him and then what do they do with Kelly, but it was just a contractual thing.

It’s so surreal. To be cancelled for over a year and come back. All along I had a feeling that we would come back. I hear [it’s] the first of the year. I think we start shooting in November and air in January.

They’re probably the most popular characters on the show. It surprises me given that we’ve seen both of them can be pretty cruel to each other, but yet, they obviously love each other just as deeply. Why do you think people embrace them so much?

I think that they are actually really perfect for each other. Most couples can relate to the differences that we’re going through. People come up to me and tell me how much they relate to my character. I hope to see a more rebellious side of Kelly. You know, when you’re going through a divorce, you kind of revert to your twenties…I’ve talked to the producers about it.

It also has to help that you’ve had a great partner to work with in Coby Bell. Over three years, you two must be working pretty well together.

I love everyone. We have such a great cast. Working with Coby is so awesome because he’s just so down-to-earth and funny and talented and a great husband and dad to his kids.

How difficult was it to film their marriage falling apart? That final scene in the season-three finale, when Jason leaves the courtroom without her, was heartbreaking to watch. I cried right along with you.

It was really emotional for me. I take things really seriously when I’m working, and it upset me. Because Coby and I are so close, it really hurt. It was very emotional. I was imagining it happening to me. I really did not like Stacey Dash at that moment. I wanted to run across and punch her in the face.

And the same actress (Lonette McKee) who played his mom on The Game also played his character’s mother on Third Watch. Was that intentional?

No, it wasn’t, but I know when she was cast, he was all, “She’s awesome.”

For a comedy, The Game really dug into some serious issues in the last season. How was it working on a show that’s supposed to be funny but also dealing with things like divorce and infidelity?

What’s nice about the show is it’s not really slapstick-y. It’s an interesting take on a comedy. There’s some drama in it. It’s got a lot of good drama, and as an actor, that’s so much fun. As an actor, I wanted to do something where I could be funny but also exercise my dramatic skills, and this role is great for that. It’s really fun. It’s challenging. Most people think comedy is easier than doing the drama, but comedy is harder. I love how wonderfully drawn all the characters are on our show. I’ve really grown from my character.

A lot of people may not know you weren’t the first Kelly (Jennifer Baxter played the role in the backdoor pilot). How did you come into the role?

When they decided they wanted to recast her, I went in and read for them and they offered me the part. You know some roles you just read them and you’re like “This is my part”? I really felt the character and I really related to her. I loved her comedic sensibilities. I felt she was so funny in how she takes things so seriously. I related to her struggle.

I fit right on in. They were really, really accepting of me. You know, coming in late in the game you don’t know how people will react. We really are like a family. We’re so excited that we get to work together again.

Now you’re doing this new film Skyline, where Kelly Pitts gets to save the world.

It’s an alien invasion movie. Aliens coming to take over the world. We’re all trying to avoid getting killed by these aliens. I play a girl who’s a little full of herself, you see her get a comeuppance at the end. It’s really cool, though. The special effects are unbelievable. The producer-directors of this movie, we shot it in their condo and shot it for really nothing. I’m actually doing reshoots on Monday. We just finished it in March and it’s opening in November. The turnaround is really fast. I was at Comic-Con and I stepped out of the car and saw this giant billboard on the side of a hotel that said November. That’s how I found out when the movie was coming out!

It must have been different from The Game.

We cried and screamed for the entire movie, whereas on The Game I’m laughing and joking. I really think one day it’d be fun to do an action movie.

So what else do you watch?

You know what I just got into, is Lie To Me. It is so fascinating. I love It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. That’s the funniest show ever. I played a transsexual in that.

Your brother-in-law has a new series on NBC called Chase. Any chance we could see you appear on it?

I have no idea. That’d be awesome.

Or get your twin sister Cynthia and Tia Mowry’s twin sister Tamera on The Game.

That’d be great. Do a dream sequence is something. When we were shooting Skyline, I was really sick one day and they had to shoot something. I came in for a few hours to shoot my close-ups and they hired my sister to stand around in the background for the wide shots. I was like, “Wow, the benefits of having a twin!”

The Game returns for its fourth season on BET in January 2011. Skyline releases on November 12, 2010. My thanks to Brittany Daniel for an amazing interview!

From TV Overmind

BET has just announced that they will be airing brand new episodes of “The Game” in the fourth-quarter of 2010!

THE GAME – By popular demand, BET answers the prayers of Sabres fans everywhere. New episodes of THE GAME will be produced by and air exclusively on BET. After enjoying record ratings in syndication, THE GAME, created by Mara Brock Akil and executive produced by Kelsey Grammer and Salim Akil, will follow the lives of the fictitious San Diego Sabres–and the women who love them. SCHEDULED TO PREMIERE 4Q 2010

Still no word on if the entire cast has re-signed on to star – but I will post that information when it becomes available!

From BET

Tia Mowry, Pooch Hall, Brittany Daniel, Coby Bell, Wendy Raquel Robinson and Hosea Chanchez are all back for The Game – The 3rd Season, the last production season broadcast on UPN before canceling the show. Since then BET has been airing The Game, but this morning CBS/Paramount has announced that these 22 episodes will be coming out on July 6th as a 3-DVD set.

Among the guest stars you’ll spot in this collection are Robin Givens, Rick Fox, Victoria Recaño, Charles Robinson, Penny Marshall, Duane Martin, Jalen Rose, Kevin Frazier, Bumper Robinson, Lee Majors, Stacey Dash, Keesha Sharp and Tahj Mowry (Tia’s brother). Running time is 460 minutes, with video in anamorphic widescreen, audio in English 5.1, and closed captioning.

Cost hasn’t been formally announced yet, but it is expected to be $36.98 SRP (the same as the previous two season sets). Below is a look at the package art, but please keep in mind that this design may possibly change. Why? Because the box currently says “The Final Season” on the front and spine…and The Game – The 3rd Season may not be the final one any more! Last night The Hollywood Reporter posted a story that BET is close to signing a deal to pick up The Game – including most of the cast – for a new season full of original episodes. That’s terrific news, isn’t it? We think so!

BET is inching closer to finalizing the deals for a new “Game.”

The cable network is expected to announce at its upfront presentation this month that it is resurrecting the CW sitcom with original episodes.

The majority of the cast of “The Game,” created by Mara Brock Akil, are expected to return.

Because the options on the actors had expired following the show’s cancellation in May, BET had to negotiate new deals with them.

The network is expected to take lead in the production of the new episodes, with CBS Studios, which was behind “Game” when it was on CW, licensing the show to BET.

Also, “Game” is expected to have a new showrunner, Salim Akil, who will take over for his wife, Brock Akil.

Brock Akil will be an executive producer on the series. She serves as a consulting producer on ABC’s freshman comedy “Cougar Town.”

Salim Akil, who also will be an executive producer on “Game,” was the main director on the show while it was on CW, helming 45 episodes, and co-wrote an episode with his wife. He previously did a stint as exec producer showrunner on Showtime’s “Soul Food.”

“Game,” a spinoff from the long-running “Girlfriends,” which the ICM-repped Brock Akil also created, was canceled in May after three seasons and after Brock Akil pitched the network an hourlong version of the show.

Following the cancellation, BET began preliminary talks with CBS Studios about possibly taking in the series with new originals. The cable net already runs repeats of “Game” and “Girlfriends.”

BET’s only previous stab at launching an original scripted series was the 2008 comedy “Somebodies,” which ran for one season.

From The Hollywood Reporter

Good news for fans of The CW’s canceled sitcom “The Game”! BET has reportedly inked a deal with Paramount to produce fresh episodes of the show nearly a year after its cancellation.

“The Game” featured a cast led by Tia Mowry, Brittany Daniel, and Wendy Raquel Robinson as, respectively, the girlfriend, wife, and mother of three professional football players in San Diego.

The show, a spin-off of “Girlfriends,” ran for three seasons on The CW. The network canceled the series in 2009 when it failed to bring in regular viewers in its Friday night time slot.

BET picked up the series for syndication and chose to develop new episodes after the reruns found a fresh audience on the network. Currently, BET is in negotiations with the actors, whose contracts with “The Game” expired.

It was recently announced that Coby Bell, who played football star Jason Pitts on “The Game,” will be joining the cast of USA’s “Burn Notice.” According to BV Buzz, Bell will likely return to “The Game” as a recurring guest star in order to accommodate his “Burn Notice” schedule.

From Zap 2 It