For awhile it seemed as if The CW's only successful business model was forcing its few series that had actual fan bases to air until they squeezed the last bit of blood from the stone - see: Smallville's ten season run. Now it seems as if that plan has a new phase: spin-offs!
Earlier today at San Diego Comic-Con, Bob Singer, executive producer of CW's latest improbably long-running show Supernatural, announced plans for a spin-off series, to be introduced in a backdoor pilot doubling as the upcoming ninth(!) season's twentieth episode. Details are scarce for now, except that it will be more rooted than its back-road, country-traversing parent series.
This news comes just months after fellow CW horror/fantasy The Vampire Diaries launched its own spin-off, The Originals, out of a successful backdoor pilot in April. Gossip Girl also tried - and failed - to launch an '80s-set prequel a few years back.
So there you have it. In the near future, the CW's five day programming will be all shows and their sequels, or prequels, or concurrently running side-stories. Whatever works.
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[via TVLine]
