Eight Television Characters that Should Have had Spin-Offs
With a number of television series, ranging from Doctor Who to The Boys set to have some new spin-offs in the near future, and other series, like The Big Bang Theory recently launching its second spin-off and maybe a third, it got me thinking about previous popular shows and missed opportunities to build on them. In some cases, the television networks simply chose to let the series end without attempting to take advantage of interesting characters. Other times, the networks made the attempt but maybe could have done better. Either way, here are some characters I thought could have had successful spin-offs centered around them.
Christine Sullivan - Night Court
The series ended with Christine (Markie Post) being elected to Congress. A spinoff focusing on that next step in her life, adjusting to her new career and life in Washington while taking care of her child as a single mom, would have been an intriguing series. Would she remain the same idealistic/optimistic person she was as a defense attorney, or would the world of politics threaten to change her?
Mary Winchester - Supernatural
Mary (Samantha Smith) was killed off in the series pilot and briefly brought back from the dead in later seasons. There was even a failed attempt to build a prequel around her when she was younger. The prequel idea was a good one but took place at the wrong time. I think a series centered around Mary after she is married and has kids would be much more interesting, with her fighting evil creatures and protecting her family while keeping it a secret from her husband.
Hilary and Ashley Banks - The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
The final episode of the series had Hilary (Karyn Parsons) and her younger sister, Ashley (Tatyana Ali) moving to New York together. A spinoff featuring them living together on their own in a new city would have been an excellent choice, especially since Hilary had never successfully lived on her own before and would now also be responsible for Ashley.
Randy Disher - Monk
When Monk ended, Randy (Jason Gray-Stanford) left San Francisco to be the police chief in Summit, New Jersey and start a romance with Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram). The former would have made an intriguing spinoff given the fact Randy always seemed to be inept as a police detective, especially when compared to Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub). How would those weaknesses affect his ability to lead his own department? More importantly, would he try to continue his music career?
Professor I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink Jr. - The Simpsons
The Simpsons are still going strong after more than three decades and the spin-off argument could be made for a large number of the secondary characters. I am picking Professor Frink (Hank Azaria) because I think a spin-off featuring him as a would-be supervillain building various doomsday devices while pretending to be a lovable nerd when out in public.
Jeff and Josh - That 70s Show
Jeff (Barry Williams) and Josh (Christopher Knight) only appeared in one episode of the series, as the Formans' gay neighbors. While they were introduced as part of a joke involving Red Forman's (Kurtwood Smith) presumed prejudice, producers could have given the characters their own sitcom, focusing on life as a gay couple during late 70s and early 80s, when being homosexual in a small town could result in being ostracized by the neighbors or affect your ability to get a job. Heck, they even set up the spinoff by telling Red they had to pretend to be brothers.
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