5 scrapped TV spin-offs you’ll never get to see
Spin-offs are tricky business and if they do not go down well fans, they not only cease production, but they ruin the perfectly good storyline of the original show.
These TV show spin-offs next made it on our screen, but some even made it as far as shooting a pilot.
Here are TV spin-offs that got called off.
1. Rose Tyler: Earth Defence
This idea was a Doctor Who spin that followed Rose Tyler’s adventures after she departed the flagship in 2006. The story was meant to follow Tyler as she worked for Torchwood after she ended up stranded on a parallel Earth.
The spin-off was green lit and had a budget allocated for the first episode of a series of specials, but it was stopped due to fears that bringing back Rose too soon would lessen the impact of her departure.
2. Cherry Hill
Prison Break was going to get a spin-off which would follow well-to-do housewife Molly as she’s thrown into a women’s prison. Molly was going to be introduced in the third season of Prison Break, but the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike forced production to shut down and the change in storylines.
3. Assignment: Earth
Assignment: Earth was intended to be the sister series of the original Star Trek. Star Trek’s final episode in season two introduced Gary Seven, an alien from the 24th century who time travelled to protect Earth’s history. It was organised for Gary Seven to have more standalone adventures, but the idea never happened.
4. How I Met Your Dad
While there is a different How I Met Your Mother spin-off potentially in the works, the first spin-off idea was created in 2014.
The spin-off series would’ve been a gender-swapped remake of the original series. The pilot of the spin-off starred Greta Gerwig as the lead and had Meg Ryan perform the voiceover as the older version of her character Sally. CBS passed on the idea, but now a revamped version called How I Met Your Father could still be picked up.
5. Springfield
One Simpson’s episode ‘22 Short Films About Springfield’, which focused on Springfield’s other residents, was so popular that a spin-off was nearly created.
Former showrunner Josh Weinstein told Digital Spy, "We felt at that time – around season seven – that we all knew the family so well, so let's start exploring all these great side-characters.”
"It would be a chance to tell full stories about these other characters, but that never happened. I think it could've been great, but everyone was so busy at the time."
What is your favourite TV show spin-off series? Let us know in the comments below.