No, no, no! Enough with spin-offs already! Why is it that when a channel or network hits pay dirt with a successful show, why do they feel the need to flog its hide until it produces a family of spin-offs.
It seems that in the US, Grey’s Anatomy is the latest show to sire a spin-off. Rumours are abound that the character of Dr Addison Montgomery-Shepherd (Kate Walsh) will be transplanted into a new situation that will be showcased in a special two-hour episode of Grey’s. Quite what format the new show will take has not been revealed, but I hope to the great gods of network television that it shows more imagination than merely relocating to a different city.
Has the creativity of commissioners and programme makers sunk so low that they can’t see past the latest high rating show? Law and Order, a great, seminal TV show, had the arse flogged off it and watered down into different permutations until it was a shadow if its former, majestic self. Poor NBC! CBS could learn from the example of Law and Order and pull back from its reliance on CSI before the tent pole collapses and brings the whole damn circus tent falling down around them.
There’s also talk of a spin-off from the fine-as-it-is Battlestar Galactica, provisionally titled Caprica. And don’t get me started on Stargate: Atlantis…
But of course, while the ratings hold, those champagne corks will keep popping! When Lost finishes, will there be a spin off called Found?
And this quirk is not just confined to US shores, it’s started to travel the Atlantic in increasing levels – and surprisingly, the Beeb are the prime culprits. Doctor Who has been turned into veritable industry – it still mystifies me as to who Torchwood is actually aimed at. The Sarah Jane Adventures is fine as it clearly identifies its audience, and its one that is being catered for less and less in TV today.
But how far can it be pushed?
And now we have Rogue Spooks, the imaginatively titled crib from Spooks, and the highly anticipated (by Zoe Lucker’s mum at any rate) Holby Blue.
I’m hoping for Holby on the Buses to be commissioned any day now.
