Keep the Character, Ditch the Show: Spinoffs We Would Have Watched

Every so often a show makes enough of an impact that, towards the end of its lifespan, its creators - and let's not forget those helpful network execs - decide to prolong the party by shooting a spinoff. There are the classics-in-their-own-right (Laverne & Shirley, Frasier); the adequate younger siblings (Angel springs to mind); and the downright dreck (ahem, Joey, I'm looking at you).

In order to succeed, a spinoff needs its own premise -- something that engages the loyal carryover audience and draws in new viewers. It needs energy; you can't stick a set of writers and actors who are tired of the same old shtick into a new show and expect them to breathe life into, well, the same old shtick. But most of all it needs compelling characters.
Without one or more of the most interesting characters from the original series - those who routinely steal the scenes, elevate material that's far beneath them, and make the audience keep watching as the quality of the show declines - a spinoff can't succeed. Here are just a few characters I find absorbing enough to imagine an entire show around.

Steal This Actor: Jason Dohring

I'll be honest: I hadn't intended to watch Lie to Me on Monday. After watching an episode of the show earlier this year, I found the cases of international lying-liar expert Cal Lightman to be inoffensive, but generally uncompelling. Since we're in the summer tv doldrums, though, I left it on the other night, where it was working primarily as a dispenser of white noise. And then I heard a familiar voice.

"Hey," I thought. "I recognize that obligatory psychotic jackass."

Brilliant But Canceled

"It's a shame that we'll never know
The conclusion to our favourite shows
We will never know the outcome
Of those fanciful lives on TV..."
--Asthmaboy, "Down to the Puget Sound"

In no particular order, the top five shows I'd travel back in time to prolong if Hollywood were my oyster:

1. Freaks and Geeks (1999 - 2000)
This now-legendary period piece created by Paul Feig and Judd Apatow is a punch-you-in-the-gut realistic look at high schoolers on the fringe. It may be
set in 1980s Michigan, but the show itself feels universal. My personal favorite characters are the perennially hopeful-yet-dopey Nick Andopolis (mostly thanks to Jason Segel's absolute fearlessness in creating cringeworthy comedic moments); sweet, unguarded Sam Weir, who despite his lack of social confidence is a natural leader among his friends; and above all, perhaps the most heartbreakingly realistic geek ever seen on television, Bill Haverchuck. Ever since I first saw the show I've followed the careers of its stars, and I cheer as if for an old friend or family member every time a Freaks and Geeks alum pops up on television or the big screen.

2. Undeclared (2001 - 2002)
Another failed Apatow production, this half-hour comedy lasted less than a season. I was one of very few people who happened to catch the show as it aired, and it actually led me to watch Freaks and Geeks on DVD later on. I
was in college at the time, and what drew me in as a fan of Undeclared was
the realism. Seth Rogen, a star and writer of the show, got all the details right, from Jay Baruchel's Snood tee-shirt to the awkwardness of being sexiled by a roommate. This was no musty middle-aged interpretation of life for my generation.