Creating a show for a secondary character can be a tricky thing. For every Frasier there are five A Man Called Hawks. It usually just doesn't work, because a character that is brilliant as a supporting character can completely fail in the lead role (all the things that make a secondary character great often disappear when they are thrust into the lead). But here are some characters on current shows I wouldn't mind seeing in their own shows. If the writing is good (and the new supporting cast supports them like they supported the people on their show), it could be worth doing:1. Arnold Vinick (The West Wing): Hey, if he can't win the election, maybe they should have a spinoff show about his life and politics.
2. Andrew (Desperate Housewives): Wouldn't this be a fun, sick show? Sort of like Profit: The Early Years.
3. Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons): Let's see how Mr. Burns spends his whole day and night.
4. Roger (American Dad): Anything has to be better than American Dad, and I'd love to see a whole show based around the alien with Paul Lynde's voice.
5. The Ambiguously Gay Duo or The X-Presidents (Saturday Night Live): Yeah, we had the short-lived show TV Funhouse, but I'm talking about whole episodes based around these superheroes. The Duo could fight various bad guys each week, and maybe the X-Presidents could each have an episode to themselves, and also have episodes where they team up.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-09-2006 @ 9:19AM
Liz said...
Forget Andrew from DH - just give Adrian Pasdar his own show!
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5-09-2006 @ 9:27AM
reb said...
I'm with you, Liz-- Adrian Pasdar was brilliant in Profit!
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5-09-2006 @ 10:01AM
Gordy said...
I thought about this the other day. Here are my picks:
Phoebe (Friends)
Elaine (Seinfeld)
Bender (Futurama)
Chloe & Edgar (24...oh well...one out of 2 ain't bad)
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5-09-2006 @ 10:19AM
Jordan Running said...
My #1 is Marshall from Alias. Unfortunately I doubt it would last a season, a la The Lone Gunmen.
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5-09-2006 @ 10:25AM
Tim UF said...
i'm all for the vinnick spinoff, include cameos from the current cast every once in a while (at least smits and whitford)... call it head of state or something along those lines...
how about "Desert Medicine", a spinoff into Noah Wyle's John Carter's life and practice in africa... those episodes have been some of the better ER episodes recently IMHO.
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5-09-2006 @ 10:36AM
Michael said...
Whaddya mean, A Man Called Hawk was great! A great show would involve Sidney's mom and dad in there early years before ALIAS.
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5-09-2006 @ 10:40AM
Tim said...
I always thought FRASIER's Roz was a good candidate for a spin-off. Plus, it would have followed the model of FRASIER - take a secondary character and move them into a new universe after the original long running show wrapped up.
She could move into TV, working as a producer for an Oprah-like show, booking talent while surrounded by wacky characters populating the studio. And she's a single mom - always food for comedy....
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5-09-2006 @ 2:24PM
dafnap said...
Chloe Sullivan from Smallville! She could be a cute, perky investigative reporter who snarks a lot when she's not having chemistry with everyone else...
Oh. Wait.
That's Veronica Mars. Never mind!
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5-09-2006 @ 3:08PM
Toby OB said...
How about going waaaay back to bring us up to date on Mary-Lou Baxter, the daughter of Ted & Georgette on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'?
She'd be all grown up now and we could follow her life as a single woman in Minneapolis, a 21st Century Mary Richards.
She could even go to work at WJM just like her folks and her "Auntie" Mayr.
Along the same lines, if Haley Joel Osment is looking for work, why not create a sitcom spinoff of his Avery Brown, the son of 'Murphy Brown', who'd be now reaching his college years.
He could be going to Georgetown, get into some government internship, and make the show a "sorkinesque" sitcom in a 'West Wing' setting but with a 'Sports Night' vibe.
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5-17-2006 @ 12:01AM
Jason Anderson said...
American Dad is great.
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