It is not unusual for recurring characters on a well-liked sitcom to obtain profitable spin-off reveals. For instance, “Comfortable Days” spawned “Laverne & Shirley” and “Mork & Mindy,” the latter of which originated from what was first regarded as 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 received reveals like “Seinfeld,” which drew spectacular audiences again within the day however did not give beginning to any kind of spin-off collection.
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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 lawyer Johnnie Cochran. And because it seems, Morris made the same pitch, as he said at a 1999 press occasion (through the Chicago Tribune) that he was growing a spin-off that may see his fast-talking lawyer character working at a “very austere white regulation agency.” He added that “Seinfeld” co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David have been on board as government producers and that he hoped for a midseason 1999 launch on the mother or father present’s community, NBC.
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The collection, as Morris defined, was possible not going to characteristic anybody from the primary solid of “Seinfeld,” because the actor doubted Richards was up for reprising Kramer. “Julia (Louis-Dreyfuss) is not that thinking about one other weekly grind, and I do not assume Jason is, both,” he continued. “Jackie has his personal power and conflicts. We’ll go from there.”
NBC claimed it was unaware of Morris’ deliberate Seinfeld spin-off collection
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 collection 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 exterior the ‘Seinfeld’ franchise,” he associated. “The general public would not let him go. For the reason that ultimate 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 stated, ‘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 in regards to the possibilities of his present getting greenlit, NBC’s response when requested for touch upon the potential spin-off basically doused chilly water on the entire affair. A spokesperson informed the San Francisco Chronicle that the community was not conscious of Morris’ pitch for Jackie Chiles to get his personal collection. “That is the primary we’re listening to about it,” the consultant stated. “It is information to the community.”
That was just about the final anybody heard of a attainable Chiles spin-off, and it is in all probability simply as nicely.
Why a Jackie Chiles spin-off would not have labored
If executed proper, parodies of key figures from much-publicized authorized circumstances just like the O.J. Simpson homicide trial can work fairly nicely. Keep 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 meant) 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 movie star fascinating as the primary character on a weekly sitcom.
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As well as, characters primarily based on folks from high-profile water-cooler occasions can shortly grow to be dated. Whereas present-day viewers can take pleasure in most of “Seinfeld” with out asking older associates or kinfolk to elucidate the jokes and references, the identical possible would not have utilized to Phil Morris’ proposed spin-off — who is that this Jackie Chiles, and why is he speculated to be humorous? Lastly, there’s the risk of racially insensitive humor and storylines sneaking into the combo, given how Chiles was speculated to be the lone Black lawyer 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 finally got here of his pitch for a Chiles spin-off.
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