Spun off to death

As an extremely rabid fan of television, I will defend the major networks in any capacity, even when their actions are a bit sketchy. Recently, however, a few decisions have caused me to question exactly what the hell is going on with these bigwigs. \nMy frustrations primarily stem from the sudden outbursts of adaptations of “spin-offs.” In the last week, rumors have been abounding about two new spin-offs currently in development by FOX and NBC respectively. \nThe first is an offshoot of FOX’s “hit” “Prison Break.” Two problems exist with this idea: A) “Prison Break” more or less sucks; it “jumped the shark” after the first season, and it should have never gone past its initial 13 episodes; and B) the spin-off is reportedly centered upon an all- women’s prison.\nPeople are barely watching the original – down to 7.5 million average viewers this year – and the network is taking it off the air for four months once “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” debuts along side season seven of “24” in January, so it seems like a pointless property to invest an entire new series in. \nBut that’s FOX, always making terrible executive decisions – like canceling “Drive” or screwing over “The OC” – so this is nothing new. However, the second big spin-off and its source, coming from the Peacock network, are a bit more shocking: “The Office.” It’s true, NBC has “The Office II” simmering, where a brand-new character related to Scranton would be introduced sometime this spring.\nWhile “The Office” has become a huge hit over the past two years, it started really slowly, mostly because it was a remake of the British version. In that sense, this new show will be “The Office III,” which is taking the show into “CSI” territory, somewhere fans don’t want it to go. What’s worse is that the network is looking for a “name” actor to lead the show. “Office II” worked because Steve Carell was a somewhat-known funnyman who was able to work into the persona of Michael Scott and everyone else was an unknown. By starting the project with a big star, this could easily turn into “Back To You.” \nIt’s almost understandable – especially with the writer’s strike upon us – that the networks are looking for the surest thing they can get their grubby paws on. Moreover, the success of the “Grey’s Anatomy” spin-off, “Private Practice” has convinced the networks this is the way to go. But if these new programs are misses with audiences, it could easily damage the reputation of the original (or re-make in the case of “The Office”) and fracture the entire fan base. \nObviously, these actions are part of something more than a few occasional occurrences where there is a lack of creativity in the network system, but that’s never going to change. If these offshoots are handled with the utmost care and are only created if they believe the quality to be at least as good as their parent shows, go with it. At the least, maybe these spin-offs help cease the televising of reality shows.