Over the years, television has been able to generate secondary stories derived from the great stories that came to the small screen. In the image and likeness of the literary world, spin-offs emerged.
Some of these new series born from a previous production were so bizarre that they reached, and sometimes surpassed, the duration and popularity of their predecessor.
Series like Frasier, The Good Fight, Better Call Saul or House of the Dragon, to give a few examples, would not have been possible without this phenomenon.
But other promising projects are not taking off. Today, at HobbyCine, we have to review some of those failed spin-offs that once began development, but never came to fruition.
The Farm
One of the most famous cases of a spin-off that came to nothing is in The Office, the American version of the British series of the same name that came to eclipse it.
There was a lot of potential for a spin-off in a series like The Office: practically each character could spawn their own series, chronicling their adventures and misadventures, inside and outside of work.
Then there was Dwight Schrute, who could star in a series with every mess he made in The Office. In fact, one episode of season 9 was going to be a pilot for a spin-off.
But the idea of The Farmset on the Schrute farm, was only reflected in that episode that did not finish germinating.
Audrey en Twin Peaks
Maybe Twin Peaks It may not be a particularly long series, but it was not necessary to become one of the most beloved productions of the nineties.
One character captivated above all, so much so that the idea of a spin-of centered on him arose. Audrey Homeinterpreted by Sherilyn Fenn. The thing didn't take off, but the idea germinated, to a large extent, in another David Lynch project: Mulholland Drive.
How I met your father (the original idea)
The worthy heiress of Friends marked an era on television in the 2000s. How I Met Your Mother established endearing and very popular characters while Ted Mosby told his story.
It didn't take long for the idea to emerge for another series to narrate similar adventures and heartbreaks from the perspective of Tracy (Cristin Milioti), “the mother.”
There were numerous attempts to get the series going and, in fact, it seemed that things were beginning to take shape, but then it fell apart.
What we got, after several years, was How I Met Your Father, a kind of revival that brought Disney+ con Hilary Duff and that, despite clear efforts to update the formula, it had no effect and was canceled after two seasons.
Various Arrowverse projects
Arrow started the Arrowverse and, in essence, we could say that series like The Flash They were born as a spin-off of the one starring Stephen Amell.
Almost every character who set foot in the Arrowverse was likely to star in their own series. Then things began to unravel until the furor over that shared saga faded.
One of the most interesting projects was a series with all the characters who bore the name Canary. The decline in popularity of the Arrowverse and DC's change of course put an end to all plans.
The Hall
HBO
The Wire: Under Listen It is one of the best police series in history thanks to five seasons that border on perfection in almost every way.
Many of the characters in the series had spin-off potential, but David Simon put his eye on Tommy Carcetti to star The Halla series focused on his mayoral race in the corruption-plagued city.
Unfortunately, The Wire's low ratings meant that Simon's plan was shelved and everyone at HBO forgot about the series.
The Jackie Chiles Show
The leading quartet of Seinfeld has unique abilities to conquer the public with some of the most hilarious situations on 90s television.
But his secondary roles do not fall short, and if not, ask Jackie Chilesthe shyster played by Phil Morris.
Although it did not have much presence in the original series, it was enough to dazzle many and to cause a spin-off to be in the preliminary stages of development, from which it never came out.
Krusty the Clown series
Another series where you throw a stone and it will land near a character with the potential to have a spin-off is The Simpsons, one of the longest-running television series.
Of all the fauna that lives in SpingfieldKrusty the Clown has a lot of legend and fabric to cut, including an ill-fated spin-off… in live action!
Dan Castellanetavoice of Homer In the original dubbing, he was going to star in a series where the idol of Bart moves to Los Angeles to have his own talk show.
Matt Groening produced a script, but the costs of carrying it out caused him to shelve the series and it was never heard from again.
Bloodmoon
It may be one of the failed spin-offs that came closest to becoming a reality. In fact, Bloodmoon it even completely filmed its pilot episode.
This is the first project derived from Game of Thrones that entered development, but HBO They dropped the scythe on him when they were not convinced with the pilot's result, condemning him forever.
Fortunately, the dragon house filled the gap, but Bloodmoon would have taken place long before the series about the Targaryenand would have been a look at the birth of the West that we knew in Game of Thrones.
Money, fights, audience… there are a thousand reasons for a spin-off, no matter how promising, to end up in a drawer collecting dust, but in the television industry the word never exists, although over time, it can become impossible due to factors such as the age of the actors. These spin-offs will not see the light of day, but they could have done so.