ABC To Air Kate Walsh-Fronted "Grey's Anatomy" Spin-Off
FEBRUARY 21, 2007: Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that ABC TV network is planning to air a two-hour movie starring Kate Walsh which is expected to serve as a pilot episode to a new "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off centered around her character Addison Montgomery.
The pilot which would be broadcast on ABC during May sweeps is still work in progress and the series creator Shonda Rhimes has not settled on the show title.
The sexy neonatal surgeon Addison Montgomery played by Walsh would therefore be leaving Seattle Grace hospital come spring.
The network has declined to comment at this time.
Although spin-offs are generally considered somewhat less risky projects as they are centered around a character the audience has already invested in, for every success story ("Knots Landing" out of Dallas, "Frasier" out of "Cheers" or "Melrose Place" out of "Beverly Hills, 90210") there are also numerous failures ("The Colbys" out of "Dynasty", "Joey" out of "Friends", "Models Inc." out of "Melrose Place", etc.)
Old-fashioned spin-offs where a popular character leaves a successful show to start a new series are rare in today's fickle TV universe. TV schedules today are filled with strong dramas that tend to spawn new franchises with an entirely new cast of characters such as C.S.I. or Law & Order.
Shonda Rhimes has recently told a panel of TV critics it has become increasingly difficult to fit all 12 regular Grey's Anatomy characters into storylines. She wishes to be fully involved in the new drama and for this reason she has ditched her new pilot project starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan who played Denny on the medical drama.
ABC has not made the final decision whether to pick the new series for its fall schedule or not. The decision will as always be based upon the ratings performance of the two-hour spin-off movie and will likely have to be made before ABC presents its fall schedule at the Upfronts in May.
Labels: ABC, Grey's Anatomy, Kate Walsh, Private Practice
posted by Justin Van De Kamp at
12:45 PM
4 Comments:
Great article Justin. I think its too soon for a spinoff, ABC must be getting desperate. Addison is a good character but spinning her off into her own series I think is not a great idea, unless they come up with a brilliant and original concept, with great support characters. What do you think?
Hey, Roland! :)
I do suppose ABC is getting a little desperate since they have many holes in the schedule (mainly on the comedy front, look at that mess of a Wednesday line-up) and their biggest hits "LOST" and "Desperate Housewives" may have reached their respective peaks (ratings-wise).
Having said that, Shonda Rhimes has proven herself many, many times and she may just be the right person to pull this off.
It's definitely a bold move (such as the drama's Thursday night scheduling), so who knows - it might as well pay off. We'll see come May.
I movie staring Addison, I can take, but I dont think a Grey's Spinoff with JUST Addison, wont fly. I might tune in, but I just dont see it taking off. POSSIBLY, it could be a success, but I just dont see Addison bringing in the ratings. ABC sounds Desperate, they havnt struck gold since drama gold since Grey's Anatomy, so Im guessing that they are Desperate.
no no no ...... i love you, kate walsh BUT NO!!!! u cant have ur own series .... stik with greys anatomy.....god im so confused..... greys anatomy roxx...but what if addison's anatomy fails? what then? will addison return to greys anatomy or will she be out for good? because that really cant happen!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home