If there is one big revelation I have had about the culture of television, it is this: Finding a person who doesn't like The Office"" is almost impossible.It's one of those lucky shows everyone seems to be fond of, and even if they don't follow it regularly, any mention of the series will at least get a whimsical little chuckle out of even the most cynical TV viewer.
Well, ""Office"" fans had reason to rejoice last week, as NBC announced that a spinoff of ""The Office"" will air in 2009. The new series will premiere after the Superbowl, a slot that attests to the immense success and popularity of ""The Office."" No details have been released yet, but that hasn't stopped fans from speculating which ""Office"" character will be featured in the new show and what hilarious exploits said character will get up to.
Now, I don't mean to spoil everyone's fun, but when I heard the news about the spinoff, I hesitated before jumping on the party wagon with everyone else. Before ""Office"" fans across the world condemn me to the fires of hell for being skeptical, know that it's not because I dislike ""The Office."" It's because that little word - ""spinoff"" - can either make or break a TV show, and there is usually no in-between. Spinoffs are tricky that way: They can either win fans over completely or leave them totally disappointed.
Take ""Joey,"" the godforsaken ""Friends"" spinoff that most of us wish we could erase from our memories forever. The show seemed to start off okay, even winning a People's Choice Award, but ratings steadily declined as people realized just how much of a trainwreck ""Joey"" was. The acting was horrible and the characters didn't resonate with audiences, but even more than that, the character of Joey just didn't work as a lead role. In an ensemble cast like that of ""Friends,"" Joey was able to work off the other characters successfully. On his own, the character just didn't succeed the same way.
But there are rare spinoffs that end up doing quite well. ""Private Practice,"" a spinoff of ""Grey's Anatomy,"" ended up with one of the most-watched season premieres of September, despite its unfavorable reception from critics. The key to the show's ratings was keeping the tone and style of the series as similar to ""Grey's Anatomy"" as possible, but tweaking the setting and the characters just enough to make ""Private Practice"" stand on its own.
With so many hit-or-miss spinoffs out there, it's tough to predict whether or not the one proposed for ""The Office"" is a good idea. Much like ""Friends,"" the strength of ""The Office"" is its ensemble cast. My fear is that removing one of those characters from the show to stick in a spinoff could mean disaster for the winning formula ""The Office"" has perfected. Of course, if it's done right, the spinoff could be a huge hit. If the show's creators follow the example set by ""Private Practice,"" the show could easily win over audiences.
We'll have to wait until 2009 to find out just what the spinoff is made of, but until then, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that this one will be a hit.
Baffled Casey would even suggest the failure of a show called 'Dwight?' Put her stapler in jell-o or just send your outraged e-mails to mysliwy@wisc.edu.
