May upfronts are upon us. It’s that special time of the year in the TV industry when decisions are made as to which shows will be renewed for another season and which pilots will be picked up to series. Unfortunately, since there’s only so much room on a network’s schedule, the rest won’t be able to make it to next fall or spring.
Spinoffs, however, operate under a different set of circumstances, because their fates are often decided much earlier when the characters and stories are first introduced in an episode of the original series, also known as a backdoor pilot. In a vow of confidence, The CW’s Arrow spinoff The Flash, which received a series order today, was lucky enough to film a standalone pilot, but Supernatural spinoff Bloodlines had to make do with a backdoor pilot that aired in April.
Sadly, critic response to that backdoor pilot wasn’t pretty with many saying Bloodlines was nothing like Supernatural, the show fans had spent nearly nine seasons watching since it first premiered on The WB. Others claimed it to was too much like the network’s other show, The Originals, while most just agreed the episode was downright disappointing. So it’s not too much of a surprise now that The CW has confirmed Bloodlines won’t be moving forward to series.
The good news from all this is that even though the story and tone of Bloodlines didn’t quite work out, The CW remains open to the possibility of creating another Supernatural spinoff. But it’ll need need to happen soon if they want to use Supernatural as a springboard again because the show’s upcoming season 10 could be its last.
Now, there are a couple of ways The CW could go with a new spinoff. First, a premise more like the one found on Supernatural, where characters investigate paranormal cases, could probably go a long way in appealing to current fans. Second, using old or current characters to establish a new storyline has always been a tried and true method to lure in viewers (see: Angel). And since Bloodlines had neither of these things going for it, it’s not a huge surprise that the spinoff didn’t sink in with viewers.
Do you think The CW should try to create another spinoff of Supernatural? What would you like to see on the next go around?
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Supernatural airs Tuesdays @9pm on The CW.
