While probably everybody has heard that "Grey's Anatomy" looking to spinoff a new show from their popular character neonatal surgeon Addison Shepherd, I want to take a brief look at the strategy itself.
The major thing that seems to be a really good way of testing the waters is the way that the pilot episode is being presented. Calling it a back-door pilot, ABC (DIS) is offering it as a regular show in the series toward the end of the year, via a two-hour special.
The special will focus on Addison Shepherd leaving Seattle Grace, which will happen if ABC decides to go with the spinoff next season.
This is good because it will be a good story that fans should really like, whether the action is taken in the show or not. It's a trial-balloon that won't really cost anything to do, other than shaping the story around the potential continuation of Shepherd's life. This isn't something that's been done very much in Hollywood, and offers an exellent chance to see if a character can have an audience built around them before simply launching them away from a series.
Brooks Barnes, writing for the Wall Street Journal, and cited by Sam Ford from Convergence Culture said that "No new show is a safe bet in the fast and fickle TV business, but a spinoff is a safer bet. Rather than launching cold, spinoffs come with a built-in audience already invested in the concept or character."
One successful spinoff launch that this has worked for in the past was when The Jeffersons was initiated from All in the Family, where the same strategy of using a regular episode in the series as a back-door spinoff, worked great for them.
We may start to see a lot more of this done if this succeeds for ABC. Having Shonda Rhimes, "Grey's" creator/executive producer write the episode also increases its chances of successfully navigating the waters.
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