Several reports that the CW comedy is done, including one here, although there are efforts afoot to at least get a series finale made.

It's a shame. "Girlfriends" was a solid comedy, well cast and well executed. There were a number of years when a great Monday comedy hour was "Everybody Loves Raymond" on CBS followed by "Girlfriends" on UPN (later CW). It was a show of some ambition, dealing with issues like the n-word in interesting ways. And, frankly, it had some of the most beautiful women in television.

The people making the show were also quite outspoken over the years about it being viewed only as a "black show" and not getting the credit that would have been accorded a show with its bite if it had been on a major network, with a white cast, and not surrounded by other comedies with mainly African-American casts. And they were right.

Even after a long run, praise for the show can feel backhanded, as in this line from an article in the Feb. 15 Entertainment Weekly about the successors to "Sex and the City":

"Girlfriends" became a favorite of African-American audiences not just because of its all-black cast, but also because its execution is so genuine and funny that you forget that the four-gal-pals angle is played out.

The show deserved better.

Besides watching the (not available for preview) "Cavemen" premiere last night, as well as recent doses of "Carpoolers," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Aliens in America," "30 Rock," "The Office," "My Name Is Earl," "How I Met Your Mother," "Two and a Half Men," "Girlfriends" and the overall picture is, well, mixed. …

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TV Tattle has a link today to a Los Angeles Times story where "Girlfriends" mastermind Mara Brock Akil complains about not getting enough respect from the new CW network. If you don't want to link to the story, here are the key paragraphs:

[Akil] said that "Girlfriends" "has never had a billboard, even though more times than not we've been the No. 1 show in black households." She continued: "That's not right. If I meet this challenge, even though our numbers may be small, I will consider them double what they are, because we would have done it without marketing support. I know it's the reality of the business, but I don't like it."

And in an interview earlier this week, Ostroff called the series an integral part of the CW's strategy to attract female viewers. "When 'Girlfriends' was on UPN, it was still going strong," she said. "It's very important for us — it helps to bring in women. The show is so smart, and shows women in a realistic vein."

I mention this because the complaints from Akil and "Girlfriends" are both reasonable and long-standing. In January 2004, I was among a small group of critics who visited with Akil and the stars of "Girlfriends." At the time, star Tracee Ellis Ross said that, aside from a sign on the Paramount lot, where the show is produced, "we've never had a billboard. … There's still a lot of people who are, like, 'Girlfriends' . . . Is that a new show? Is that on cable?' "

UPN, then the network for "Girlfriends," defended its promotion of the show at the time, with a top executive noting that every show wants more and better publicity than it gets. But it's still telling that, two years later, that the same complaint is being made, and the same bland explanation offered.