ABC considers Crownies spin-off
Exclusive: ABC1 Channel Controller Brendan Dahill confirms Crownies will not return in its current form -but a spin-off is in the works.
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EXCLUSIVE: Ambitious legal drama Crownies will have its final episode on ABC1 next week, but the drama may have life in the form of another spin-off.
“Crownies won’t be coming back as Crownies,” ABC1 Channel Controller Brendan Dahill tells TV Tonight.
“But we are talking to (producers) Screentime about a spin-off. There are lots of things I love about Crownies and lots of things that were done brilliantly, and I’m really proud of Crownies.
“I’m genuinely surprised it didn’t engage a bigger audience than it did. Genuinely surprised. But I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are plenty of brilliant things in it and we’re talking to Screentime at the moment.
“That’s why we haven’t made the announcement yet about no Season Two. It’s not a Season Two of Crownies, it’s a spin-off from Crownies that takes Crownies and the characters in a slightly different direction.”
The 22 part drama was ABC’s most ambitious and expensive drama in years, but launched to modest ratings and mixed reviews.
“The criticism comes in the more soapie elements and fair enough. But there were plenty of really on-the-pulse moments. The Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, babies dying of dehydration in the car because people leave them there. There were so many cases when you open your paper they’re right there and the production team were right on the pulse of what Australian courts are inundated with,” Dahill explains.
The show was not announced as returning during ABC’s 2012 Programming Launch this week because Dahill says he was still considering his options in recent weeks.
“I’ll be completely honest, I was undecided. There’s bits of Crownies that have really worked and I didn’t want to throw them away because of (poor) ratings,” he says.
“So what Screentime have come up with is a really great compromise that allows us to keep the best bits, and learn and move on.”
He also cites Hamish Michael and Marta Dusseldorp as two of his favourite performers in the show.
“Hopefully they will get recognised when Awards season comes around, but they’re up against some stiff competition.”
A spin-off is rare in Australian drama but it isn’t unprecedented. As far back as 1976 Solo One was a spin-off from Crawford Productions’ Matlock Police. E Street also had a major makeover while The Flying Doctors became RFDS. Pacific Drive was changed from a late night M rated show to a PG daytime show when it got axed. A Country Practice and Neighbours also switched networks while Chances bore no resemblance to its original premise.
Dahill emphasises it is still early days on the development of the spin-off.
“Nothing is signed. We’re still talking through creatively how it’s going to look.
Screentime is positive, creative and energised all the time and we’d love to keep that going.
“I’m hoping it might be late 2012, but it might end up in early 2013, purely because we’ve got such a rich drama slate in 2012 and I will be hard-pressed to get it in the schedule.
“We’ve learned from the experience and Screentime have learned.
“Hopefully next time round we’ll get it better.”
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- Tagged with A Country Practice, Chances, Crownies, E Street, Matlock Police, Neighbours, Pacific Drive, RFDS, Solo One, The Flying Doctors
70 Responses
I think Crownies was brilliant. I liked all of it, the characters, the cases and yes even the “silliness”. I despair for our Australian society if quality shows like this aren’t appreciated. It’s as realistic as it can be while still being entertaining to watch. The silliness factor that others are ridiculing is far more common than most people think. People are fragile and often stupid beings that make crazy decisions in the heat of the moment. No one is perfect.
Crownies was complete rubbish.
I loved Crownies. It was the best show of 2011. I cannot believe season 2 won’t be made, please, please reconsider…..
Crownies is very well-written and well-cast. I love how it portrays the lives of these young lawyers in our modern world. I also love all the cases they deal with and their relevance to today’s society. They give us an interesting perception on all these different issues. I certainly hope they make a second series using the same cast and concepts as in the first series. Well done to the entire production team and thanks to ABC for showing us this entertaining series!
I really enjoyed Crownies and never missed an episode. I’m extremely disappointed it isn’t coming back and hope it is reconsidered… Definitely the best show on TV this year!!
Loved it! Please do a second series/ spin-off whatever! Just bring it back.
I watch Crownies on ABCIView each week and have watched some episodes twice. This is a brilliantly made TV show and am sorry to see it is finished. I applaud the fineness of this show and please do more Aussie shows. Beats CSI etc etc which I never watch. The cast and the acting was brilliant. Thank you
I thought “Crownies” was an excellent show.. Good writing, acting, production.. dealing with topical complex issues in sensitive, creative and realistic ways.. Particularly loved Richard and Tamsin’s characters.. Please make sure the show is brought back to screen, but for goodness sake, don’t “dumb it down” or sensationalize for the sake of more audience. instead, up the ante, and keep the writing, characters and plot tight.. It is a relief to have complicated but likeable characters such as the ones portrayed.. all of them. Good work, ABC..
Very sorry it’s ending. Really looked forward to watching it each week. More enjoyable than most other stuff on the box.
Will miss my Thursday night fix of Crownies! In a sea of Crappy American sitcoms and crime shows Crownies was one of only a few shows that was worth watching on Free to air TV. I just don’t understand the masses obsession with inferior American shows over quality Home grown or English shows!
I think that Crownies has been 1 of the best tv programs this year, it had everything, even the sillyness was realistic. It touched upon sensitive issues, and overall a very entertaining series. I for 1 will be sorry for this series to end, and find it hard to comprehend some of the criticisms that have been made.
I was frustrated by Crownies.
I watched every episode and parts of each fired up well – were real and interesting and confronting.
Then there was all this unbelievable silliness – absurd, childish, just really stupid behaviour. Self indulgent and lame.
Let down by the writing as usual.
Cut all that out and let’s get grown up. Could then be good.
Don’t know what all the negative comments are about. OK – the soapie scenes are a bit much but the drama in the DPP is fantastic. Wish we saw a bit less of Erin and Tatum and a lot more of Janet and Tony.
Crownie is the only tv show that l watch, and it is incredibly amazing. And to anyone that commented on here saying how bad the show was, but could write about specific details from various episodes. Why did you watch it if you didn’t like it?
I thought Crownies was great TV…..haven’t missed an ep and I am a bit annoyed that we have to wait til 2013 but I guess something is better then nothing
All in all, I’ve really enjoyed watching Crownies.
I liked all of the characters, especially Richard and his continuous fuck-ups.
I don’t want to focus on the negative points, but… The court/case drama elements didn’t mix well with the soap elements, for me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing Richard’s fake gay room, but it was a little bit unrealistic. Well, very unrealistic when you think about the gravity of the cases back at the DPP.
Some of the things that happened were almost Neighbours worthy. Funny, but not well suited to the rest of the show.
Also, I was really disappointed with the end of the case with the murderous kid. It was a big build up and then nothing really happened.
As for the positives… I liked all of the characters and their respective actors and actresses. The women were always sporting impeccable hair-dos, which is a plus for me! The cases seemed very realistic and some of them were quite gut wrenching. I’m really looking forward to the finale, but in another sense, I’m not! I don’t want it to end!
I would love to see more Crownies, there is lots of room for improvement, which is always a good thing. I applaud the writers, or whoever (no idea), for branching out and mixing things into it.
PS: Is it just me, or does Tatum have a rape/abuse secret? Maybe that is brought out in the last episode>?
I have loved every episode of Crownies. The ABC yet again provides an avenue for a drama that entertains while capturing ur attention. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s better than the crapola on the commercial channels. The hot female cast helps too!
I tried to watch it, despite the pathetic title.
However the first episode featuring people in sexy costumes at work (I forget the reason) was enough. The ABC lost me for Thursday nights from then on.
(Didn’t enjoy The Slap ep 1 much either.)
Too much good drama around on Thursdays (True Blood, now Dexter) on Fox!
I love crownies, I’d be happy to see it come back in any capacity.
Crownies was a drama primarily intended to be entertaining TV, as opposed to The Slap, which was drama made to be thought-provoking TV.
Both have earned their place in the ABC’s line up this year, although I’d quibble with the episode orders whereby I would have ordered i.e. The Slap from 8 to 10 or 12 eps and Crownies from 22 to 10 or 12 eps.
Overall it’s good to see quality drama back on ABC and can’t wait to see series 2 of Rake next year.
I enjoyed the show.
Sometimes made me think, sometimes made me laugh.
Hope it comes back in some form. What I’ve seen so far on my dvr recordings, I have liked. Wish there wasn’t so much emphasis on ratings. Rush was also good, but gone do to high production costs. Hope Crownies sticks around or they’ll be no aussie dramas left, except maybe East West and Offspring.
Crownies is simply dreadful, there’s not a single major character that engendered any sympathy with the audience. I pity anyone who thinks it’s ‘clever’, it’s the complete opposite, it is dumb and dumber. It sucks the big one over and over again.
I can’t think of a single one of the junior solicitor characters who doesn’t actively repel the viewer, they are stupid beyond belief, drunk all the time, absurdly juvenile in almost every situation and totally unable to make us suspend our disbelief. The sex and romance scenes are some of the worst to ever appear on Australian TV (and that’s saying something), totally laughable and again totally unbelievable. Last night’s episode was a pitiful joke with everyone panicking about who would/should get laid off, the answer was obvious – all of them! Erin’s supposedly emotional departure was cringe inducing and all I felt was relief that the silly twit was finally gone.
The only way a spinoff might work is if they get rid of all the junior characters (and get some new writers who can give the characters some real depth and believability), and that hardly seems like something you could call a spinoff.
Very thought-provoking series which appealed to anyone who had the slightest of an educated background. There are so many shows based on crap and petty drama. It was so refreshing to watch Crownies. A wonderful show and I hope the ABC continue with the series in any shape or form!
I really liked Crownies and I’m glad it at least has a chance to come back next year in some form. At the start I wasn’t so sure – but it got great as it went on. I particularly liked the case about the soldier who died at the training camp – that was really well done.