10 Abandoned TV Spin-Offs We Still Wish Had Happened

We love a good spin-off, especially the rare spin-offs that are better than the original series that they spawned from. Some of the most memorable episodes of a given series are superbly staged backdoor pilots setting up a beloved extended chapter. Of course, not every spin-off gets to take flight, with some pilot episodes never even seeing the light of day. But the concepts behind these unproduced continuations and side stories are still intriguing in their own right, despite not receiving a series order.

If anything, a spin-off pitch that was passed upon only heightens the mystique around these untold stories. With that in mind, we’ve gathered the unrealized spin-offs that we still think about and how they could’ve expanded their respective worlds. Some of these proposed shows actually had their pilots aired in some form while others never even got to the filming stage. Here are 10 abandoned TV spin-offs we still wish had happened instead of becoming an unfulfilled glimpse at what could’ve been.

One of the worst TV character exits of all time was the departure of Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia) from “Gilmore Girls.” The bad boy with a heart of gold was lighting the screen as a love interest for Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel), only to suddenly leave the picturesque New England town of Stars Hollow. This was done to accommodate setting up Jess as the protagonist of his own spin-off series “Windward Circle,” taking the character to Venice Beach, California to search for his long-lost father. The proposed series received a backdoor pilot in “Gilmore Girls” Season 3 under the title “Here Comes the Son.”

The network reportedly passed on “Windward Circle” because the prospect of filming a series in and around Venice Beach was too prohibitively expensive. This meant Jess was awkwardly absent for much of the subsequent seasons of “Gilmore Girls,” occasionally resurfacing in an effort to reconnect with Rory. With Jess being such an interesting character, he could’ve definitely carried an entire show on his rebel with a cause shoulders. Instead, we just had to settle on a rehash of his forced “Gilmore Girls” love triangle in the revival.

When the British sci-fi series “Doctor Who” made its revival after a lengthy hiatus in 2005, the time-traveling Doctor’s first companion was Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). Rose maintained an energetic and occasionally flirty dynamic with the Doctor, particularly forming romantic tension with the 10th Doctor (David Tennant). After Rose was written off the series, she was intended to star in the spin-off series “Rose Tyler: Earth Defence,” protecting the planet from otherworldly threats. The spin-off went as far as to be ordered and budgeted by the BBC, only for “Doctor Who” then-showrunner Russell T. Davies to personally intervene and pull the plug.

Davies felt the idea of a show revealing Rose’s life was just as fantastical without the Doctor undercut the impact of her exit from the main series. Instead, the series received a similar spin-off in “Torchwood,” which positioned other recurring character Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) as leading Earth’s defense against extraterrestrials. Piper reprised her role as Rose, as well as other characters, several times in “Doctor Who,” including a surprise appearance in the Season 15 finale. But we would have loved to see Rose draw from his cosmic adventures to defend Earth in a spin-off that could’ve decisively made her a hero in her own right.

Whereas “Gossip Girl” focuses on wealthy teenagers at a contemporary Manhattan private school, the show tried to set up a prequel spin-off in its second season. The penultimate episode, “Valley Girls,” served as a backdoor pilot to a proposed spin-off of the same name. Throughout the episode, Lily van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford) recalls her own teenage years getting into trouble in ’80s Malibu. The younger Lily is played by Brittany Snow, while her sister Carol is played by Krysten Ritter, forming the flashbacks’ core dynamic.

The CW ended up passing on “Valley Girls,” keeping its adventures firmly in the present rather than venture into period piece territory. Network executive Dawn Ostroff speculated that introducing the spin-off concept as a backdoor pilot instead of a traditional pilot order may have hurt its prospects. While Ostroff kept the possibility for a spin-off open, the “Valley Girls” premise did not, unfortunately, move forward. Nearly a decade after the conclusion of the original “Gossip Girl,” the show received a revival in 2021, though this proved to be short-lived.

As “The Office” entered its ninth and final season, Rainn Wilson was still willing to play his fan-favorite character Dwight Schrute in some capacity. This led to the season containing a backdoor pilot starring the character called “The Farm,” with the episode maintaining the series’ mockumentary format. The episode has Dwight and his never-before-seen siblings Jeb (Thomas Middleditch) and Fannie (Majandra Delfino) inherit a farm. Convincing the two to relocate back into the country to keep their family legacy alive, the trio prepare to run the farm themselves.

NBC passed on “The Farm” because the network reportedly wasn’t enthusiastic about the proposed spin-off’s premise. It was decided that Dwight worked better in an office setting with other characters who weren’t as weird as him rather than being the focus of a rural sitcom. Over a decade later, “The Office” eventually did get a spin-off with “The Paper” retaining its familiar charm. That said, we do miss seeing the antics of Dwight Schrute regularly on our screens and “The Farm” could’ve brought the character into a whole new light.

Some of you are probably seeing this and are wondering what we’re talking about, since “How I Met Your Mother” did eventually get a spin-off series. And yes, “How I Met Your Father” ran on Hulu for two seasons before being cancelled in 2023, leaving its lingering paternal question unresolved. But even before this, there was a spin-off planned, titled “How I Met Your Dad,” that had a pilot produced in 2014. The proposed show had “How I Met Your Mother” creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas joined by co-creator Emily Spivey.

Retaining the original series’ core structure, older protagonist Sally Javits (Meg Ryan) reflects on how she met her daughter’s father, with the show set within flashbacks to these formative vignettes. The younger Sally is played by Greta Gerwig, fresh off a separation from her first husband and rediscovering herself. Though “How I Met Your Dad” was dead at CBS, plans for a spin-off to “How I Met Your Mother” continued, eventually leading to the 2022 Hulu series. As for Greta Gerwig, she came out just fine, going on to direct a little movie based on “Barbie.”

The second season of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” added new main characters Bobbi Morse (Adrianne Palicki) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood). The pair are ex-spouses and highly competent S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives who handle much of the season’s action while navigating their messy personal dynamic. After the third season, the pilot for a spin-off, titled “Marvel’s Most Wanted,” starring the complicated couple after they disavow S.H.I.E.L.D. Oded Fehr was cast as a reportedly well-known Marvel character, though his role’s identity was never officially confirmed.

After a pilot was produced for the spin-off, ABC passed on “Marvel’s Most Wanted” and “Agent Carter” Season 3, feeling their prospects weren’t as strong as they hoped. In the aftermath, Lance briefly returned to “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” for a guest-starring role in Season 5, but Bobbi never resurfaced during the show’s run. The pilot for “Marvel’s Most Wanted” has yet to publicly see the light of day, leaving its quality and direction a mystery. That makes the departure of Bobbi and Lance from the main series all the more frustrating, leaving for a spin-off that never coalesced.

The 2009 sitcom “The Middle” brought a more nuanced perspective to familial comedy as it delved into the dynamics of the Heck family in small-town Indiana. The family’s middle child is teenager Sue Heck (Eden Sher), who was set to receive her own sequel spin-off series. Shortly after the end of “The Middle” in 2018, Eden Sher confirmed they were shooting a pilot for the proposed continuation. Tentatively titled “Sue Sue in the City,” the spin-off was intended to follow an adult Sue as she relocated to Chicago.

The ill-fated Sue Heck spin-off from “The Middle” took place three years after the events of the main series, with Sher reprising her role. ABC passed on the series by November 2018, leaving the adult adventures of Sue Heck unrealized along with the Heck family’s television future. Sher now hosts a rewatch podcast about “The Middle” with co-star Brock Ciarlelli while sharing their experiences making the sitcom. But nearly a decade later, we would’ve loved to have seen Sue take the spotlight and show audiences how much she had grown up from her character’s awkward early days.

Given that “Supernatural” was a staple on The CW for 15 seasons, the show saw several attempts at launching a spin-off series. The most intriguing spin-off premise that didn’t get picked up was “Wayward Sisters,” which aired as a backdoor pilot during Season 13 of the main series. The episode centers on recurring character Sheriff Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes) teaming up with her surrogate daughters Claire Novak (Kathryn Newton) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen) to face monsters. Working together with other eclectic characters, the ensemble rescue “Supernatural” protagonists Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) from a sinister pocket dimension.

“Wayward Sisters” did not go to series at The CW, leaving Jody’s continuing monster-hunting adventures with Claire and Alex up to the imagination. Jody does appear in subsequent seasons of the main series and survives its events, but never takes the center stage once again. “Supernatural” would instead get a prequel spin-off with “The Winchesters,” in addition to an anime adaptation which was released in 2011. However, we still wish we got a chance to see a side to this universe outside of the Winchester family, especially given how rich its lore truly is.

There was a time when the Arrowverse, an interconnected set of shows based on DC Comics properties, absolutely ruled The CW’s programming line-up. As the shared universe’s inaugural show, “Arrow,” wrapped its run with its eighth and final season, it included a backdoor pilot to continue its legacy further. Titled “Green Arrow & the Canaries,” the show is set in an alternate future for the Arrowverse following the reality-altering crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” The proposed spin-off revolves around Oliver Queen’s daughter Mia (Katherine McNamara) as she teams up with the time-displaced Black Canaries to defend the Star City of the year 2040.

With its trio of familiar crime-fighters, “Green Arrow & the Canaries” feels like a logical extension of the lingering plot threads from “Arrow.” McNamara brings a more buoyant energy to the proceedings that Stephen Amell did as the often sullen Oliver Queen, while Katie Cassidy and Juliana Harkavy are both reliably good. Similarly, the action set pieces are right within the wheelhouse of “Arrow” and its tried-and-true fight choreography. “Green Arrow & the Canaries” was passed by The CW as the Arrowverse itself eventually came to an end with “The Flash” Season 9.

One of the most brutal original series to air on The CW was “The 100,” which was set in a post-apocalyptic future after Earth is devastated by nuclear weapons. The seventh and final season of the series included a backdoor pilot for a proposed prequel spin-off series. While the spin-off itself never had a publicly confirmed name, the episode’s title was “Anaconda,” which opens with the fiery armageddon forcing humanity to shelter in fallout bunkers. Leading this small contingent of survivors is the fanatical Bill Cadogan (John Pyper-Ferguson), who becomes obsessed with finding a mysterious portal to other worlds.

Series creator Jason Rothenberg explained that “The 100” prequel spin-off was set up to chart the sibling rivalry between Callie (Iola Evans) and Reese Cadogan (Adain Bradley), Bill’s children. Rothenberg also shared that more than chronicling humanity’s survival immediately after the apocalypse, flashbacks could shed a light on the world before the bombs fell. Ultimately, after two years in development, “The 100” spin-off did not move forward at The CW and it wasn’t picked up by any other platforms. That closes the door on “The 100” and any lingering questions about its tribalistic post-apocalyptic world for the foreseeable future.