The Spin-off
TV Development Trends & Behind-the-Scenes Drama
Another day, another reboot. The Spin-Off crew dives into this year's TV development trends, including the seemingly unstoppable pattern of bringing old shows or movies back from the dead. And, are behind-the-scenes struggles to blame for this year's disappointing fall broadcast season, or is it just another example of the system being broken?
By Michael Schneider • • 34m ListenGilmore Girls now joins the ranks of old shows that will get a second chance at an ending on Netflix. Reboots, reunions and new takes on familiar franchises have been a standby of the industry for decades, but fall's wave of old titles coming back from the grave has people wondering if the trend is one worth pursuing, given that so many of these reboots flop.
Other development trends of the season include trying to find the Empire element in everything and the elusive search for high-concept comedies in the vein of Last Man on Earth.
Now that we're almost a month into the fall season, the overall response to the broadcast offerings continues to be...meh. Female-led dramas like Quantico and Blindspot are having the most success, and may soon be joined by Supergirl. Other highly anticipated shows like The Muppets just haven't landed quite right, possibly because they were rushed to air.
And while show-runner changes and re-castings are par for the course for new shows, a full half of this year's freshman shows had some kind of major retooling behind the scenes. That doesn't always mean a death knell for a show, but it can perhaps be an indication that the current system of making so many mediocre pilots is fundamentally broken.
End of show Downloads:
Lesley: FXX's"You're the Worst" continues to be one of TV's most original comedies in ages. Season 2 of the show also takes on major issues in a thoughtful and inventive way. And now in Season 12, Grey's Anatomy still entertains.
Joe: Aziz Ansari's new show, "Master of None," lands on Netflix on November 6. It's funny, smart and thought-provoking.
Mike: Sunday nights have officially become unmanageable. Between The Leftovers,The Affair,Last Week Tonight,Last Man on Earth, and The Walking Dead if you want to watch all the Sunday night shows on Sunday night, you won't be getting much sleep.
