KAREN + JACK (Will & Grace spinoff) Fall 2009? (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

from IMDB news:

 

[Parker Clack]

This could be really good if they keep the characters the same. I thought some of the best bits from Will and Grace where the scenes with Jack and Karen. If I remember right Will and Grace originally was going to be called What about Jack or something along those lines.

Parker

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

I guess this isn't a total surprise since their careers have gone nowhere since Will and Grace went off the air.
Sometimes supporting characters should stay just that.

 

[Jon Martin]

But then there is FRASIER, who did pretty well.

I think it could work. The two were, arguably, more interesting than the leads.

 

[Malcolm R]

Hopefully Shelley Morrison (Rosario) and Leslie Jordan (Beverley Leslie) would become regulars. Of course, they'd have to bring Beverley back from the dead. But I can think of several funny ways to do it, so I'm sure the writers could figure it out.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Most sitcoms fall into one of three categories: They feature a wild-and-crazy leading character who drives all the normal people around him nuts (I Love Lucy, Home Improvement) a relatively sane lead (or leads) who anchors the show and reacts to the whacko supporting characters (see The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Murphy Brown, Seinfeld) or a wacky band of regulars where only the guest characters are normal. (The Addams Family, Cheers, Gilligan's Island, All in the Family.)

Will & Grace was clearly in the DvD/Seinfeld "normal leads" tradition. The "whacky sidekicks" on these shows are often superficially more popular than the leads as measured by fan mail and audience response, just as desert tends to be the most popular part of dinner. But most adults would not want to subsist on chocolate cake and ice cream (even were this nutritionally possible.)

(This even applies to talk shows. In the early 1970s, Jerry Lewis was a hugely popular guest and guest host on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. He'd break up set pieces, attack the cue cards and just generally carry on like a lunatic - much to the delight of the audience in the studio and at home, as reflected in the ratings. So naturally it seemed like a good idea to give Lewis his own late night talk show. It bombed. Watching a man tear up somebody else's house can be funny. Watching him tear up his own house is just sad. The qualities that make a good guest don't necessarily make a good host.)

Sidekicks have not historically done well as leads in their own series. Rhoda, Phyllis, Kramer anyone? Lou Grant worked because they kept the character's name and basic attitude and changed everything else, including the format from sitcom to drama. You could have done the same show without any connection to MTM, just change the name of the lead character. (Just as Trapper John, M.D. was just another hospital show with little connection - especially after the first season - to its alleged parent show. It found an audience. AfterM*A*S*H, which was explicitly a direct sequel built around supporting players from the original didn't.)

I wish them all the best, but history (and the math) are not in their favor.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Malcolm R]

There was no "Kramer" spin-off, but you can also add "Joey" to the list.

I understand what you're saying. But it's also an easier sell for the networks to take a chance on spinning off a known property instead of trying to determine what new shows audiences might like. Similar to Hollywood and why we get so many sequels.

Besides, you can fail with one spin-off but still hit with another. If the producers of "Cheers" had given up on the spinoff idea after "The Tortellis," we never would have got "Frasier."

 

[RomanSohor]

There was no "Kramer" show, but Michael Richards did a show, where he played a private investigator that looked and acted exactly like Cosmo Kramer

 

[Garrett Adams]

Vic Nardo. The PI who quickly died, killed by his network.

 

[ForumWatts]

Most people said The show should have been called Jack & Karen Everyone Loved Karen, i did too. Some one said Will and Grace don't do anything, Well Karen and Jack did always steal the show...

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Joseph DeMartino

Sidekicks have not historically done well as leads in their own series. Rhoda, Phyllis, Kramer anyone?

As I recall, Rhoda was a pretty huge hit in its first few seasons. It even regularly beat the show that spawned it, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It only fell apart when the writers, out of a lack of imagination, divorced Joe and Rhoda.

That being said, Jack and Karen are no Rhoda.