It is not unusual for recurring characters on a well-liked sitcom to obtain profitable spin-off exhibits. For instance, “Pleased Days” spawned “Laverne & Shirley” and “Mork & Mindy,” the latter of which originated from what was first considered a “horrible” episode script. (There’s additionally “Joanie Loves Chachi,” although because the saying goes, you possibly can’t win ’em all.) On the opposite finish of the spectrum, you’ve got bought exhibits like “Seinfeld,” which drew spectacular audiences again within the day however did not give beginning to any type of spin-off sequence.
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Nevertheless, it wasn’t for an absence of making an attempt that the “present about nothing” has nothing by the use of spin-offs. George Costanza actor Jason Alexander pitched a few spin-off concepts, one in every of which might have centered on Cosmo Kramer’s (Michael Richards) lawyer, Jackie Chiles (Phil Morris), who was a parody of O.J. Simpson’s protection legal professional Johnnie Cochran. And because it seems, Morris made an analogous pitch, as he acknowledged at a 1999 press occasion (through the Chicago Tribune) that he was growing a spin-off that will see his fast-talking lawyer character working at a “very austere white legislation agency.” He added that “Seinfeld” co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David have been on board as govt producers and that he hoped for a midseason 1999 launch on the father or mother present’s community, NBC.
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The sequence, as Morris defined, was doubtless not going to characteristic anybody from the principle solid of “Seinfeld,” because the actor doubted Richards was up for reprising Kramer. “Julia (Louis-Dreyfuss) is not that taken with one other weekly grind, and I do not suppose Jason is, both,” he continued. “Jackie has his personal vitality and conflicts. We’ll go from there.”
NBC claimed it was unaware of Morris’ deliberate Seinfeld spin-off sequence
Throughout that very same press occasion, Phil Morris defined why he felt the time was proper for a Jackie Chiles spin-off, saying that his expertise taking part in the character in a sequence of Honda commercials satisfied him that audiences needed to see extra of Kramer’s lawyer on their tv screens. “They’ve given us the sense that this character would exist outdoors the ‘Seinfeld’ franchise,” he associated. “The general public would not let him go. Because the closing episode, folks had been clamoring for one thing that reminded them of ‘Seinfeld.'” The actor additionally famous that Jerry Seinfeld himself gave him his blessing after initially rejecting the pitch. “He mentioned, ‘You already know, you are proper. It is time for this man. He is a killer character. You are going to be a big-time TV star.’ These have been his precise phrases,” Morris recalled.
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Whereas Morris appeared very optimistic concerning the probabilities of his present getting greenlit, NBC’s response when requested for touch upon the potential spin-off primarily doused chilly water on the entire affair. A spokesperson instructed the San Francisco Chronicle that the community was not conscious of Morris’ pitch for Jackie Chiles to get his personal sequence. “That is the primary we’re listening to about it,” the consultant mentioned. “It is information to the community.”
That was just about the final anybody heard of a potential Chiles spin-off, and it is in all probability simply as properly.
Why a Jackie Chiles spin-off would not have labored
If executed proper, parodies of key figures from much-publicized authorized instances just like the O.J. Simpson homicide trial can work fairly properly. Bear in mind when Johnnie Cochran (voiced by Trey Parker) entered the “South Park” universe and represented Chef (Isaac Hayes) within the season 2 episode “Chef Help”? The parody, in addition to Cochran’s “Chewbacca protection,” made sense (no pun supposed) as a result of the lawyer was a one-shot character — his technically posthumous, wordless cameos in season 14’s now-banned episodes “200” and “201” however. In the meantime, even a mere 10-episode season of a Jackie Chiles spin-off would have gotten drained and repetitive; he was good in small doses on “Seinfeld,” however there are solely so some ways you possibly can maintain a parody of a real-life celeb attention-grabbing as the principle character on a weekly sitcom.
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As well as, characters based mostly on folks from high-profile water-cooler occasions can rapidly develop into dated. Whereas present-day viewers can get pleasure from most of “Seinfeld” with out asking older pals or kinfolk to clarify the jokes and references, the identical doubtless would not have utilized to Phil Morris’ proposed spin-off — who is that this Jackie Chiles, and why is he presupposed to be humorous? Lastly, there’s the chance of racially insensitive humor and storylines sneaking into the combination, given how Chiles was presupposed to be the lone Black legal professional in a agency of stuffy, by-the-book white attorneys. What might need been hilarious in 1999 may very well be construed as insensitive for extra trendy audiences.
All that’s to say that Morris — and “Seinfeld” followers — dodged a bullet when nothing in the end got here of his pitch for a Chiles spin-off.
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