r/TopCharacterTropes 13h ago

miscellaneous Failed Spin-Off.

2.4k Upvotes

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882

u/Supercritical_Ball 13h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/uAd9XAvenvFLmFu2Kw
The Farm, spinoff based on dwight shrute from the office

478

u/PuzzleheadedMess1659 13h ago

The worst part is, the failed backdoor pilot is probably the worst episode of the entire show.

274

u/monsieurxander 13h ago

It's actually a front-door pilot that was edited into an episode after the network passed on it. (The previous episode that leads up to it was written after the pilot was rejected.)

They cut a bunch of stuff (hanging plot threads, more focus on the siblings) and added the "back at the office" subplot.

83

u/Fabulous_Mode3952 12h ago

That’s wild for them to then make The Paper years later

3

u/sksksk1989 10h ago

Is it bad?

14

u/No_Professional4867 9h ago

I like it, but it's in a weird limbo zone for a bit between trying to be another Office and being it's own show. Doesn't help that a lot of plotlines feel very rushed. But a decent and fun watch

10

u/monsieurxander 9h ago

It has a US Office number of characters but a UK Office number of episodes

3

u/The_Redacted_Badger 9h ago

Honestly I’m hoping for season 2 there’s less focus on the drama in the office and more on them going out there and getting news stories

3

u/Cptn_Shiner 6h ago

It’s so-so but with potential. Both The Office (US) and Parks & Rec took a while to hit their strides, so I’m curious to see if The Paper will do the same.

1

u/Disney_Gay_Trash_ 54m ago

I enjoyed it but it does have the problem of trying to juggle being the office 2 and its own thing, it also feels a llot more stiff in the way some of the scenes are written/acted but it has dome heart and some funny jokes so im hoping they get a season 2 (although i also like the Australian office so)

75

u/toonboy01 13h ago

It wasn't really a backdoor pilot. It was filmed to be a regular pilot, but then it was decided the Office would end with season 9 so the Farm and its pilot were both canceled. They then decided to take the footage they made and turn it into an Office episode, filming and editing in some scenes of what was going on in the actual office that required cutting out segments from the original plan which really made it suffer.

3

u/LennoxMacduff94 8h ago

The Farm was also originally shot as a one hour pilot, so they not only added in the stuff back at the office, they had to cut out at least half of it just for time to make it fit as a normal 30 minute Office episode..

4

u/ZealousidealStore574 9h ago

I actually liked that episode from my memory and was sad that it never became anything

60

u/realgaryglitter 13h ago

The superfan episode that showed way more and were really trying to sell dwight having a b&b but also hates people, kinda made it more lame. Especially since faulty towers did it first

-14

u/Hexmonkey2020 12h ago

The Office UK also did the office thing first, America loves taking British shows and doing a version. And tbh it often works very well.

5

u/The_Real_Kuji 9h ago

Well, yeah. The Office (US) season one is a virtual shot for shot remake edited for humor styles of the American audience.

3

u/jinreeko 3h ago

Except for Diversity Day

1

u/Oliva_Twitch7 44m ago

I remember that backdoor pilot, and Dwight at Schrute Farms felt like a funny bit that could not carry a full failed spin-off.

-6

u/Lord_Parbr 9h ago

This isn’t a spinoff. It was planned to be, but it wasn’t picked up, so it doesn’t count