The Farm Buys The Farm
Dwight Schrute of The Office was going to be spun off into his own series, The Farm. It would concentrate on Dwight's life as a beet farmer running a bed and breakfast while dealing with his eccentric family. In fact, the first episode has already been shot and was to be run as a back-door pilot on The Office. However, even before it's been shown, NBC has passed, according to a tweet from Rainn Wilson, who plays Dwight.
It could be really cool because it would be on his farm, which would be a bed and breakfast, and it would have a crazy menagerie of characters. It would be even more far out and weirder than The Office... it's a good idea.
Exactly. I like Wilson as Dwight, but his character is good because he's not the center of the show, but rather an antagonist with bizarre beliefs who does weird things. Putting that character at the center of a show would be too much, which probably means they'd have to water him down and surround him with nuttier people. That's not a show I want to see. Meanwhile, Wilson is talented enough that I'm sure he'll land another series.
Anyway, now that NBC has a hole in their schedule, how about some new Community?
posted by LAGuy @ 12:14 AM
7 Comments:
I could see the scenario working but it would have to be a completely new show with a nod to the fact that there was a character from another show that was now completely different. Better just give Rainn his own vehicle, call the character Dwight something to pull in the curious and be new.
Thi smade me think about TV characters that went on to have their own shows (longtime characters not one-offs like Laverne & Shirley)- The Jeffersons (they were basically the same though Lionel stopped being funny), Frasier (basically the same character though more humanized), Lou Grant (same general character except went from funny to your high school current events teacher's idea of a relevant TV character)
When you take funny side-characters and put them at the center of a show, they generally lose their edge which made them fun in the first place. It happened to both Phyllis and Rhoda, to pick two MTM examples. Look at the sitcom Rhoda--she had to have a sister, Brenda, who was the "Rhoda" of the show. For that matter, Niles was the "Frasier" of Frasier.
The Lou Grant jump was interesting--comedy to drama. Still, even if his new show was well-respected, it was sad to see one of TV's greatest comic characters playing straight. (He also went from conservative to liberal, but I guess that's what happens when Midwesterners move to the West Coast.)
Phoebe was a character (sort of) spun off of Mad About You. In friends, she was actually the twin sister of Ursula, but she was the "good" twin vs. the Ursula from Mad About You. Ursual wasn't particularly evil on MAY, just ditsy like Phoebe. Eventually Ursula showed up on Friends and was made out to be sort of a mean ditsy.
But to the point of the post, its a really good thing they didn't build Friends around the character Ursual (or Phoebe). She could never have carried the show, the strength of which was the ensemble. When friends spun off Joey for his own show, we saw how that worked out.
I think Dwight could be Dwight on another show, as long as he wasn't the center of it.
Community is back on Feb 7 at the end of 30 Rock's run. The theory is, I assume, that it will attract the same viewers. Better than not coming back at all I guess.
When Community finishes its run, I suppose we'll get another reality talent show. Oh joy
It'll be nice to have them back on Thursdays, but that's a death slot. It's up against Big Bang Theory, the most popular sitcom on TV. NBC would be showing more confidence if they played it on Tuesday or Wednesday. Oh well, I guess they'll just let it quietly run its final episodes.
I don't know, LAGuy. It doesn't seem like you went too native after reaching the coast. (Where does Gillespie live, anyway?)
Gillespie? If you mean Nick, he used to live out here, but he's gone back east.
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