Creating a successful TV show is extremely challenging. First, a network or streaming service has to like an idea enough to greenlight a pilot. However, landing one episode is only half the battle because the process of getting it ready can be difficult due to notes from higher-ups and other roadblocks. Once the pilot is complete and the studio gives it a thumbs-up, though, it’s relatively smooth sailing from there. The creatives can focus on fleshing out characters and crafting interesting storylines that will continue for many seasons. And once a show finds its footing, it can take big swings.
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One of the ways a series pushes the envelope is by including a backdoor pilot, essentially an episode for a spinoff series that it sneaks in to gauge interest. Backdoor pilots have been a thing for decades, but they don’t always work out. There have been more than a few shows that fail to do enough to get another show off the ground.
1) “The Farm” (The Office)
The last couple of seasons of The Office are rough, to say the least. Michael Scott is gone, and the show struggles to fill the void he leaves behind. One way The Office attempts to overcome its struggles is by working in a Dwight Schrute spinoff.
Season 9’s “The Farm” follows Dwight as he attends his Aunt Shirley’s funeral. His entire family reunites for the occasion, and Dwight convinces his siblings to return home to the farm and help him run it. The rest of the story happens off-screen because NBC didn’t move forward with the pilot.
2) “Wayward Sisters” (Supernatural)
Supernatural‘s first backdoor pilot is in Season 9, featuring a young hunter in Chicago who goes up against crime families led by monsters. The CW passed on the idea, but that didn’t stop the show from giving it another shot in Season 13.
With the fan-favorite character Jody Mills at the helm, “Wayward Sisters” is all about the cop taking in a group of girls who lost their families due to supernatural events. She trains them up and turns them into elite hunters. Unfortunately, The CW didn’t see enough potential in Supernatural‘s second backdoor pilot, either.
3) “Green Arrow and the Canaries” (Arrow)
Arrow‘s final season is jam-packed due to the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event. Of course, Oliver Queen is at the center of it, and since he dies during the crossover, the last couple of episodes of his show take things in a different direction.
Season 8, Episode 9, “Green Arrow and the Canaries,” takes place in a future where Oliver is gone and his daughter, Mia, must navigate life without him. However, she doesn’t stay out of the action for long because Laurel Lance and Dinah Drake show up and throw her into a conflict with a crime family in Star City. Since the Arrowverse shows were winding down at the time the backdoor pilot aired, Arrow didn’t get one last spinoff.
4) “Parting Shot” (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
ABC wanted to capitalize on the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so it put Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on the air, following the adventures of Phil Coulson and his allies. Two of his friends, Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter, stick around until Season 3, when the show writes them off ahead of their spinoff show.
Bobbi and Hunter end up in the middle of an international incident and have to leave their team behind in “Parting Shot.” Marvel’s Most Wanted was going to continue the story, but the spinoff didn’t get picked up
5) “Assignment: Earth” (Star Trek)
Captain Kirk and his crew travel back in time in the final episode of Star Trek Season 2. They meet a mysterious man named Gary Seven who claims that the future will change if he’s not allowed to complete his mission. Despite having reservations, Kirk helps Seven destroy a missile that will start World War III and sends him on his way.
It turns out that “Assignment: Earth” was originally written as a pilot. Networks didn’t have any interest in it, so it became an episode of Star Trek that Gene Roddenberry and Co. hoped would gain some momentum. Their wishes didn’t come true, and Seven had to see his story get told in a comic book.
Which of the backdoor pilots on this list do you wish got to turn into shows? Are there any other failed spinoffs that you can think of? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm.
