The Pink Panther was supposed to be a star vehicle for David Niven. Then Peter Sellers started stealing scenes. So they tweaked the script a little, and it became the Inspector Clouseau show.
What supporting characters do you think could carry a book or film of their own?
My nominees:
Jonathan Quayle Higgins, from Magnum, P.I. John Hillerman is dead now, but I would love to have seen a movie or mini-series about Higgins and a half-dozen of his half-siblings.
Joseph, Graham Greene’s character in the 1994 Maverick. Travelling the Wild West, separating gullible palefaces from their ill-gotten lucre.
Paul d’Arnot, from the Tarzan novels. Although I suspect Burroughs’ ignorant stereotypes about Frenchmen would probably be just as bad as his ignorant stereotypes about Africans.
Jay Leno and Fran Drescher played a young couple in the movie American Hot Wax who could have been a great pairing on the big or little screen. They were in the midst of that kind of juvenile courtship full of sexual tension and sarcasm. It was clear then they would have great careers as comedians ahead of them. Life got side tracked by for Fran after that, and Leno turned into the rat bastard that stole the Tonight Show from David Letterman. It’s too bad we didn’t seem them paired like that again, but she did appear on his lousy version of Tonight.
I’m now picturing 007 as the supporting character in a Q movie: sure, we see Bond show up and get handed this or that plot device; but how often was the brains of the outfit in the midst of something else entirely? Always getting a sharp-edged and magnet-powered serving tray ready in time for Achmed’s tea party, or field-testing a piece of jewelry that makes slot machines pay out, or whatever, whenever he isn’t playing around in disguise or trying his hand at drone surveillance or getting swarmed by grateful women right after he swoops in to incapacitate a bad guy?
What, like you couldn’t get two hours out of that?
Moe Szyslak’s story how he became this grumpy misanthrope, and more episodes of his romantic life like in the spin-off show with the lovematic grandpa.
Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard from NCIS could easily have his own spin-off. Steal the format from the old “Young Indiana Jones” show. Most of each episode is actually a flashback where we actually see a young Ducky living the stories his elder self is recounting to a classroom full of young medical students.
Big Pussy from The Sopranos. He was a complex character with mixed loyalties. They should have killed off Paulie. He was a one dimensional clownish character with little room for growth. Also, the actor Vincent Pastore is a better actor than Tony Sirico.
I get what you’re saying: Crowder was freaking amazing.
However, I think they made the right choice. Justified was, at its heart, the show of Crowder and Givens. Actually resolving that feud, in a way that gave Givens not only the actual victory, but also the character victory, gave that show one of the best finales I’ve ever seen. If Crowder had gone to a spinoff, it wouldn’t have been nearly as satisfying to me.
In some ways some shows wasn’t about the stars. How I met your Mother, was Barney and Lily and Marshall show. Ted and the mother were unimportant. Just a title leading to a pointless payoff.
Badger and Skinny Pete would be something I’d watch. Definitely.
Jenna’s offshoot from 30 Rock would be too much though. One or two decent lines per episode were superb, the character would die off with the real details:
“Listen up fives, a ten is speaking”
“Oh, I can play dead. I watched my whole Church group being eaten by a bear”
