The Office: Why the Spin-Offs Failed

[@trinaq]

I remember seeing the proposed Dwight spin off episode when I was about 14, and being confused, since it seemed like an entirely different show, with a different tone and characters. This was before I learned about Obvious Backdoor Pilots. It felt too late in the game to be introducing Dwight's wacky family members, plus the character of Dwight worked better in the office setting.

[@Attmay]

They didn’t want to take him off the show while it was still popular.

[@StefferKatz]

Yeah, I’m rewatching Season 9, and as it goes on, you begin to notice the attempts to focus the show more on Dwight’s wackiness and retcon his goofy family into things…like his Aunt Shirley suddenly appearing, a mention of his “ne’er-do-well siblings” out of nowhere, his tall cousin appearing more and applying fir the salesman job (since the guy who played Mose was now on Parks & Rec). Maybe I’m reading too much into it. 🤷

[@TravJam317]

I still wish we had an episode of "A Day in the Life of David Wallace", where it would focus mainly on David Wallace's point of view of dealing with Michael. Maybe some HR hijinks where we get to see David dealing with the corporate HR person that he hates (mirroring Michael's rivalry with Toby). And we can see that maybe the David Wallace that we view as being a completely level-headed, responsible, normal person, is actually far from that. I mean, we did get a glimpse of that when he was unemployed.

[@TooMuchToThink1]

Yes! This would have been way better

[@43liL]

That sounds terrible

[@foxfire1112]

This sounds so boring, he's not funny

[@MicHell66]

@@foxfire1112reason for the spinoff. We don’t know that. He might’ve had a very interesting life

[@foxfire1112]

@@MicHell66 Following David Wallace sounds like such an incredibly boring terrible idea of a show. It's like making a show about the building's security guard instead of the characters we care about

[@michaellake7677]

Not everything's a lesson, Ryan. Sometimes you just fail.

[@SirAsdf]

I can't believe they almost Scrubs Season 9'ed The Office.

[@meowza]

“Wuphf” would’ve been a great spin-off. The series could see Wuphf fail over and over as Ryan continuously pivots the company into more and more ludicrous start-up ideas in a “The Office meets Silicon Valley”-esque show.

[@RustyX2010]

They actor that plays Dwight's brother is in Silicon Valley

[@StefferKatz]

@@RustyX2010 As was Gabe Lewis (Zach Woods)

[@Brandatello]

The way Kevin stares at the cupcake and the gang tries to distract him is one of my top favorite scenes in the entire show.

[@mst3kanita]

I love how the most judgy character on the office got to go to Dwight's aunt's funeral. also, mom went down hill once roscoe and his dad left the show.

[@Eagleman552]

Angela is way more judgy than Oscar lmao

[@joseandrade7333]

I’m pretty sure The Farm would’ve worked in today’s age of streaming, either as an exclusive whole spin-off or some sort of short special series.

[@Attmay]

An alleged ex-Nazi doing battle with a woke lefty would have gotten really old really fast. The pilot of *Cheers* originally had a racist woman in a wheelchair as a character, but they cut her out before the premiere. She likely would have ruined the show and made it look like a female-centric *Archie Bunker’s Place* knockoff.

[@arlichar11]

so i said for long time, it be same reason why office wasnt good after michael left, was that he was the connection between everyone, his relationship with everyone why it was so funny... noone else had those relations... (he hated toby, had long history with people, dwight was his right hand man/friend, etc .. , so without him its just employees ! but im honest surprise they didnt try spinoff to an andy singing show.. cause they were so up his rearend and gave him so many singing opps on the show lol

[@kodiekulp]

I enjoy this channel if you're in I watched a few videos and then it got lost in my recommended. I'm glad to have found it again. I'm going to watch a few episodes to get caught up. Cheers channel person!

[@Jffeeney3rd]

They really overestimated the star quality of Dwight, and also the guy who played him. Wasn’t his “school of rock” rip off movie like the biggest bomb in theater history?

[@jpetersgoyanks]

A spin-off is Dwight running Shrute farm, Dwight running the office is just The Office.

[@Attmay]

The idea of having Dwight run the office sounds like what they wanted to do with *the Facts of Life* after season 9: they wanted a semi-reboot with Blair as headmistress of Eastland. Lisa Whelchel basically quit show business to be a wife and mother, so that didn’t happen.

[@SkankHunt3000]

That wacky uncle idea reminds me of the classic show ‘Heil honey I’m home!”

[@DreamWhale]

The in-episode ads for other episodes aren't really working. It'll kill your retention mate, I'd drop them.

[@greenkoopa]

It doesn't bother me. I have Premium so I don't see ads normally...how is a small channel supposed to promote their material?

[@benjaminolson7206]

I think the problem is that it is an "all of tv" oriented channel, but most would be viewers are only interested in content related to the shows they are familiar with. The phenomenon of the back-door pilot is interesting enough to get me to click on a video about a show I rarely watched and only know a little about but not enough to get me to click on one about a show I never watched and know nothing about. All the videos pitched during this video where about shows I am not familiar enough with to be interested in watching a video about. Meanwhile as someone for whom "the Office" is comfort food had it been a pitch for another "the Office" related video I would probably be watching it right now rather than writing this comment.

[@bunkbeds3001]

Yes, let's all listen to DreamWhale, and follow the method they used to obtain the enormous amount of subscribers that they...oh, uh. Nevermind 🙄

[@amcaesar]

That’s two Breaking Bad alums in that pilot.

[@youtubegarbage7876]

first 6 seasons of office, 9 seasons of Simpsons, 15 minutes of Lost....America does not know when to quit

[@Attmay]

Tell that to Liza Minnelli…

[@Larry]

The UK Office had a theatrical movie a few years later, where David Brent becomes a band manager.

[@Attmay]

Funny how Americans consider movies based on TV shows to be cash grabs when the English do them all the time. Monty Python wasn’t the only TV show from England to make a movie in the 1970s.

[@Makeshift_Mulder]

It's pretty incredible how many interviewers had to have the phrase "backdoor pilot" explained to them. I bet Larry King just wanted the explanation for the audience he was in television for so long.

[@oaf-77]

Interviewers are surrogates for the audience, is a balance, some interviewers are too knowledgeable and just come off as insufferable and don't give the subject a chance to talk at all

[@MattKennedy311]

No wonder the spinoff failed. Toby was in charge

[@RustyX2010]

The reason why Dwight is a different person when he's at the farm was because he's not at the office and he can chill at home.

[@BlinksAwakening]

The original spinoff that turned into Parks and Rec was by far the best idea going forward they had for a spinoff, but it's great that it became it's own series, because when all is said and done, I think I honestly like Parks and Rec more than The Office, at least overall. Parks never had the lows that The Office did (especially in that last season (excluding the finale of course)).

[@WarEagleTimeMachine]

Terrible idea all the way around. Office has the distinction of being one of the last successes of the traditional network tv framework, and one of the first successes of the streaming model.

[@Attmay]

The part about the aunt having a video will is a lot like *Filthy Rich,* the show Dixie Carter and Delta Burke did before *Designing Women* for the same creator. It’s a long-shot if anybody who worked on this remembered that unless they came across it on KZbin and counted on nobody remembering it.

[@ginichilders9619]

It's absolutely HILARIOUS to me how this one exec was so mad and bitter that one "untitled Office Spinoff" that ultimately became Parks and Rec.

[@pigglypoof]

17:40 sure she says that but let’s be real, the later seasons we’re on a decline and most people remember the office more for Michael Scott Please don’t bring it back

[@addictstatic]

At least most television series end gracefully. I honestly think Fox/Disney has a legion of bots watching the Simpsons

[@BlitzMedia1216]

I really enjoy Paul's line of giving the farm a chance. It truly is a gamble with most shows and many times we dont know if it will take off. But look at what the office did, it almost didnt continue after season 1. All the way to launching an idea down the road of making a new show that casted a character they almost didnt keep who turned into Mario and Star Lord. Butterfly effect...

[@DuckAvenger]

I remember people on facebook asking the Facebook page to not have any more of these episodes

[@robgronotte1]

Seems like NBC might as well release the full original pilot, it would be fun to watch.

[@benjaminolson7206]

That seems unlikely (it's not clear that it ever reached a final, edited form as the pilot, and there's no money to be had in finishing it as a one off hour long pilot for a show that never happened), but if Peacock's "Superfan" cuts of the Office ever make it to season 9 we'll probably see a lot more of what would have been the pilot.

[@AlienCowThatMoos]

Have you done Highlander: The Series? The last season is 80% backdoor pilots! And they're all the same pilot. The producers wanted to do a spinoff with a strong independent female immortal, so they made a dozen episodes focusing on a different lady immortal and her new cast of friends to see which one clicked. In the end, none of them did and they made an Amanda spin-off instead.

[@atomicabe]

No, we haven't. Thanks for the heads up, adding HIGHLANDER to the list.

[@darrellludlow]

Maybe the spinoffs didn't work because the cliche of an off-camera documentary was just played out. And by the time the series finished, it was inconsistent not even well-executed.

[@Attmay]

None of the shows that did it were consistent about it. *Modern Family,* you know what I’m talking about!

[@brianmcg321]

They should do a Creed spin off where he moves to Seattle to live with his cantankerous dad and does a call in radio show.

[@Attmay]

They can call it *Hello, Creed* since who remembers *Hello, Larry* by now?

[@erinmalone2669]

If The Farm had make it to air it would have been profitable . They absolutely had a solid fan base and the office was turning good Nielsen ratings. I don’t know what replaced what would’ve been the farm or the office but I think new management usually mucks things up

[@FrenkTheJoy]

I liked "The Farm." And I mean, Frasier did really well even though we were introduced to his brother that was never mentioned before and his dad that he said was dead.

[@linkdk59]

Never heard about this Farm spin-off before hah. But I have fond memories from this episode. Except that I didn't like how insane Dwight is in the intro, throwing dirt at people. Now that's Flanderization

[@adamqjsmith]

I had no idea there were office spin offs

[@gelatinskeleton8745]

I sincerely loved the American version of the office. Loved it. But, I can’t see a show about Dwight truly being successful. Even the office got bad in the last season….

[@markjacobs3337]

I guess it is good that The Farm didn't become a series. Zeke is good playing Douglass on Bob Hearts Abishola

[@Drewhink]

I liked and commented when you got to the part about the soundalike. Great move, much appreciated in how much that improves the production value

[@icecreamhero2375]

Why didn't they release the full hour pilot on the dvd?

[@atomicabe]

Excellent question

[@cptjockitch]

People like the office because people see there own life. Lots of office workers and even regular everyday Americans can see someone in the office in there work place . Nobody can see anything relatable in the farm. It was dumb.

[@markjamesmeli2520]

I used to LOVE "The Office," I was totally in on it. But.....following the 2007-2008 TV writer's strike, I just BURNED on it. Some shows that started out good had a "burn factor" to me. "That 70's Show" and "The Drew Carey Show" were both like that, in my book. "Office" should have ended at least two seasons before it did. Your video paints a more rosy picture of the end, seen through nostalgic sun glasses. Nothing wrong with that...ask me how I feel about "Still Standing." Anywho, Steve Carrell's drama, diva routine, leaving the show was a bit much. What was amusing turned to puke pretty fast. Of course a Dwight spin-off wasn't going to work..."The Office" WAS his spin off after the 2007-2008 writer's strike. That spin-off failed because of THE OFFICE CURSE. Look at the cast. Brilliant! All of them!! But, in spite of the show's success, most of them became glorified has-been's once the show was completed. All lot of them went on to doing voice-overs, a movie role or two, non Office television roles, bit parts, podcasts. Believe me, as of now, there isn't much "new" coming down the pike for "Office" fans.

[@Attmay]

Hollywood isn’t big enough for both Amy Adams and Jenna Fischer just as it wasn’t big enough for Ricky Schroder, the boy from *Kramer vs. Kramer,* and the OG Pete from *Pete’s Dragon.*

[@SirPumpkinSlice]

I swear Dwight mentioned siblings at some point. Though mind you most people don't announce how many if any siblings they have. we are lucky this episode did not euin the finale. I don’t see why they could not include Angela and Phillip.

[@rjmacready5151]

Interesting you mention Miami Vice. One of the episodes of the final season was a backdoor pilot for a 21 Jump Street-knockoff. Look up "Leap of Faith."

[@atomicabe]

Yes! We have a future episode planned for that backdoor pilot.

[@mijajajaja]

Atomic Abe: _Remember Dakota Johnson's character?_ Everyone: _Nope! Sure don't_

[@nb8419]

Oh my gosh I didn't realize that was Majandra Delfino, but she did look familiar. I used to like Roswell, I was disappointed when that ended.

[@jacobbrown9894]

Finding it very hard to just scan past the idea that the like biggest sitcom since Friends almost had an incest subplot with Dwight and Esther??? Like at least they put it out to like third cousins which is like basically just a random person but introducing her in the context of "One of his relatives coming to their aunt's funeral" still marks it as an incest theme and like WHAT

[@veerchasm1]

A Dwight Spinoff would’ve been great

[@Attmay]

They should have waited until the end of the show, then it might have had more of a chance of working if it had been about Dwight and Angela adjusting to married life and being parents. Going from a workplace comedy to being a domestic comedy.

[@SirPumpkinSlice]

They would have had to pay Gervais and Merchant money. Its whg they made sure Parks and Rec was not connected.

[@GeorgeyTheApe]

Spinoffs are needed less often than they're not.

[@mattphillips3537]

What still confuses me is if this spin-off was made would Angela be in it or would Dwight and Angela not have got together in the end?

[@vivekpartap1346]

they probably would have had dwight left the office midway through the season like what they did with micheal earlier, which honestly would've been the worse possible way to send off his character. As a dwight fan, Im happy the spinoff didnt happen and he therefore got his happy ending.

[@ammagnolia]

I have an idea for an Office Spinoff...... The documentary crew originally wanted to use a financial center and loan officers as their subjects during 2004. It would be 1 or 2 seasons and based on my brothers experience working under a crazed coke head during the early 2000s (post 9/11). It would be WAY less politically correct (more in tune with original office). The boss character is based on a real guy and I don't think anyone will believe how much of this script is based on true stories told by all his employees. He fought women. He fist faught guys over loans. He fist fought his boss. Slept in the office because he didn't know how to get home from partying.... The idea would be the crew cancels the entire project after two seasons because they knew eventually anything they film wouldn't be able to be released to a large audience so they leave state. And eventually hook up with Dunder

[@Drew791]

13:10 the A story and B story in this “backdoor pilot” was awkwardly tossed together like Kevin’s salad. I see what you did there 😉

[@Attmay]

How much worse could the original version have been? I hope that sees the light of day someday, especially with the extended episodes on Peacock.

[@pikapal91746]

Please make a video about the various Mister Ed spinoffs.

[@KevinGeeksOut]

Moko!

[@pikapal91746]

@@KevinGeeksOut There was also Pine Lake Lodge and Ed the Matchmaker

[@K37-h1z]

The documentary crew filmed a backdoor pilot and 9yrs of a documentary about a paper company. How much do you think they made?

[@get8bit]

After Michael, Dwight was the character people came for. His spin-off would have worked if they gave it a few episodes. I think it was just jarring to people at first. Frasier was a totally different show than Cheers, and you're not going to get it after just one episode!

[@edfa3706]

Nope, too much Dwight kills the show.

[@get8bit]

@@edfa3706 FALSE.

[@usagiwerd6664]

You should do a back door pilot episode on the supernatural one. With the Boston boy, I would like to see that and I see you have not done that yet on this channel

[@atomicabe]

Thanks that's a great idea. We'll add it to the list. (It's a long list.)

[@roborat]

​@@atomicabeit should definitely jump higher on the list

[@lizzylahaie]

I want an office spinoff where their kids go to the same school called “the schoolyard”

[@gregmorris2022]

How did they get the red Mustang out of the grave?

[@KhanunFC]

The Farm episode sucked but now that I know the potential I feel like they should now spin off the farm with Mose, Zeke, Angela trying to do a bed and breakfast after sunset Mifflin is finally run to the ground due to the change to mostly digital during covid. That would be kind of hilarious...especially because we could see Phillip grown up and Angela trying to be the true boss of the bed and breakfast while Dwight and the guys being just insane. I would watch it

[@KhanunFC]

Just call it Shrutte Farm...and please...the crazy Nazi uncle has to gave at least some backhanded comments...like he can be a bit of a canon conspiracy guy that watches Fox news and treats Angela like a lady incarnation of The Furher (she kind of is) 😂

[@magnus9839]

Why is this an 18 minute video

[@marcusm.8185]

Greg Daniel’s didn’t create The Office, he adapted it for the US audience 😬

[@shannonlovell842]

I was hoping they would put together a show with the Shrutes vs Mcpoyles from IASIP, something like the 2 families were pennsylvainian enemies for generations but have a romeo and juliet like story line.

[@canag0d]

How is “Scott’s Tots” not the worst episode ever?

[@joshconnorr]

because it’s funny

[@Attmay]

The episode itself isn’t bad, it’s just a bitter pill for some people to swallow because it’s too real.

[@ilikecinema33]

I’m glad The Farm was never made. It doesn’t make since to Dwight’s storyline. He was always destined to be Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin and I’m glad the show ended that way (A spinoff of Dwight running the office would’ve worked better).

[@okonh0wp]

Aw man, I would have loved NBC to have valued The Office more

[@robertohull5048]

has there ever been a backdoor pilot that has been picked up

[@alancrisp1582]

🤔 Yes many in fact. American network television 📺 has always been a very tough market, the hardest in the world to be successful !.

[@pikapal91746]

Top of the Heap was.

[@JoeJoe-lq6bd]

I think The Facts of Life was started from a backdoor pilot on Diff'rent Strokes.

[@Attmay]

That is true. Its success made them think that they could repeat it with subsequent back door pilots. None of them were based on established characters, and all of them failed to sell. *Gimme A Break!* is the ultimate lost opportunity for backdoor pilots. They were 0 for 3 in the ones they actually did do, most of them based on celebrity-driven one-shots, but they should have tried spinning off some of the supporting characters who were pushed into the background or off the show altogether. Those might actually have worked, and they couldn’t have been worse than the least successful shows that came and went on NBC concurrently, but they didn’t try it that way!

[@JeremiahBurtononfiremusic]

Have done the back door pilot of The Jefferson’s?

[@Attmay]

Which one? All I remember is the actual four-episode spinoff with Florence now taking orders from Larry Linville in a show that couldn’t outrun *Hello, Larry.*

[@JoeJoe-lq6bd]

Rainn Wilson grew up just outside of Seattle and in a wealthy suburb just outside of Chicago. I'm not sure what his rural upbringing would have been.

[@benjaminolson7206]

While not rural in the sense of "far removed from the city" I would not be surprised if the now very suburban town he grew up in outside of Seattle was mostly farmland 40-some years ago when he lived there. I don't know Seattle well, but if its like most major American cities most of the places that are now its suburbs were probably still pretty "rural" (to the eye of an urban person at least) in the 70s and 80s with a few early suburban developments being plopped in amongst vast stretches of farmland.

[@AK.__]

Great video, thank you. I actually liked "The Farm", as being unusual add bit awkward episode.

[@cagedtigersteve]

I would watch a Creed spinoff.

[@atomicabe]

Me too. Would watch. I just watched the movie HEART LIKE A WHEEL and the actor who played Creed shows up. He's been acting for a while.

[@StefferKatz]

@stefferhatz 0 seconds ago You should do an episode about all the back door spin-offs that “The Facts of Life” attempted. There were a bunch!

[@Attmay]

I would give my eyeteeth to see a video like that. I’m ashamed of myself for not making it already!

[@nb8419]

I would have liked this spin off.

[@kyliethelittlespider-mangirl94]

Vee Infuso said it best in his video about this

[@brickhouse2265]

I wouldn’t call parks and rec a complete failure

[@halomon123]

Are you going to do Gilmore girls behind the back door pilot?

[@atomicabe]

coming soon!

[@betweenthedimensions8315]

Behind the backdoor pilot sounds like the title of a porn film.

[@atomicabe]

ha!

[@Attmay]

That’s what she said!

[@poppinc8145]

Would you please do a review of _Labor Pains_ (2009)? It's an overlooked romcom film starring Lindsay Lohan that premiered on ABC Family in the US but screened in theaters overseas. It was the last romcom Lindsay did before her recent romcom _Falling for Christmas_ (2022) exactly 13 years later.

[@hinduismwithpremananddasbhagat]

The Office was good cause it was grounded in reality (on some level). A Dwight farm that is bonkers would lose that. While Dwight was funny due to the folks he interacted with. A show of Dwights would just be too much.

[@Attmay]

Trying to make it more like *Newhart* still would not have worked and would just make it feel like a ripoff of a much better show. Over that show’s run, the Stratford Inn became less of the focus as Dick spent more of his free time hosting a TV show. Initially, he and his wife Joanna were New Yorkers escaping from the city’s increasing crime rate and decreasing quality of services. That aspect is often overlooked. Perhaps if somebody else of the same background had played Bob Newhart‘s role, the show would have been called *White Flight.* But if this new show had been picked up, for it to be a success, it would have had to have had something to ground it in reality while giving it something beyond the farm itself. That’s how *Newhart* was able to sustain itself over eight seasons. They managed not to lose sight of the difference between the real and the surreal and why it matters.

[@Papillon234]

The most informative and joyless AI analysis ever.

[@OldDemonTooth]

One of the worst backdoor episodes ever was from The Goldbergs, with almost ZERO relation to the original show.

[@DETHMOKIL]

Oh hey new video neat.

[@L33tSkE3t]

As an Office fan, I would NOT like to see Uncle Stan. It felt like a weird sketchy knockoff that I feel would have ruined the character.

[@freddierodriguez3036]

The show is Michael and everyone else is there for support. I love Dwight and he’s my favorite character, however, Dwight’s role is funny because he takes himself seriously in a company run by a boss who doesn’t. Dwight being in a farm in his own element would not have equaled funny.

[@rickwilliams967]

It's probably because of the fact that spin offs very rarely are as good as the original. Not a safe bet generally speaking. Just do something new folks, stop trying to ride on people's coattails.

[@markoutwithmark]

John Krasinski is the biggest and best con man in Hollywood. He's convinced people he has talent even though he has the range of a beet.

[@Attmay]

How does it feel for him to basically be the millennial Blake Edwards?

[@WarEagleTimeMachine]

Dwight is that you?

[@markoutwithmark]

@@WarEagleTimeMachine I love this response. Truly, honestly, and with no sarcasm. I love it because it’s clever. Well done!!

[@xx7secondsxx]

Stanley would've been a good'n!

[@ganglabesh]

i still need to buy office monopoly game

[@mikecarroll3538]

Parks and Rec was a spin-off they got the old copier from the office

[@joemckim1183]

Parks and rec was an aborted spinoff that was allowed to be its own thing.

[@NoelHaven]

Mispronouncing “woof”? C’mon 😂

[@CAINE1984]

That farm show sounds funny as fuck

[@xx7secondsxx]

Mann.... I'm glad this didnt go through! I HATE DWIGHT AND ANGELA!!!! Soooo much! This would've been 😬😳🤢🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮🤯

[@grainyglimpses]

Young Dwight might have worked similarly to Young Sheldon

[@Attmay]

Between the two, I’d rather have seen Young Dwight! The one character on any show I would like to see get that treatment would be Al Bundy.

[@rayjay1543]

Is Drew Barrymore's whole schtick now just sucking up to people!? It just seems insincere/over-acted. It was the most overacted looking thing in the whole video. That being said, what's WRONG with TV networks? They're idiots. Florida Stanley would have been worth a shot by far. Good thing there's the interwebs. Maybe Florida Stanley can still be made. Do it!

[@Attmay]

That makes me wish Esther Rolle was alive to do a guest appearance.

[@SunShine-qk4rb]

❤

[@blade8989]

Hjjjiii

[@jburnett180]

That spin off does not look good.

[@IAEMThatIAEM]

the office was bad after season 4.... to me

[@jobckts682]

Thing. Very week.