The Vampire Diaries has been on the air for six seasons and is about to air a seventh. In that time, the show has seen a considerable audience tune in, at least for CW standards, and has even spun off an entire story based around the Mikaelson family returning home to New Orleans called The Originals. With all of the success the franchise has seen, all hope for another spinoff is not yet lost. This week, showrunner Julie Plec spoke out about the possibility for a third series based around the characters from The Vampire Diaries.
I never would've thought that The Vampire Diaries would have a viable spinoff until I met the Originals…[Now] I look at the casting of the Heretics and I think, 'Oh, they're interesting - could they be their own show?'
In the interview, Plec also explains how she didn’t know The Originals could be its own series until Klaus and his siblings began to be written for more and more each week. So, for a third show to work, the right characters would have to be involved.
It all sounds good and well, but it should be noted that there are two pretty big obstacles in the way of a third series ever becoming a series. As Plec mentioned to The Digital Spy in the interview, she’s the showrunner on both The Vampire Diaires and The Originals and is taking on a third series when new drama Containment hits the schedule in 2016. Here’s what she had to say about that.
I don't think I could actually do four shows - I'll be very honest about that.
The other major obstacle, of course, is ratings. Recent seasons of The Vampire Diaries have dropped under the two million mark in terms of Live + same day numbers, and while The Originals numbers stayed fairly steady during Season 2, that show has never been as popular as The Vampire Diaries still is. I think part of the problem is that the supernatural trend has died down in the six years since the vampire drama hit the schedule. Enough people still like the dramas that they probably won’t be cancelled soon, but that doesn’t mean there’s a ton of room for a third drama in the franchise, even if it does revolve around witches rather than vamps.
Still, Plec has a good eye for characters and actors and if she sees a way to make another series, she has a lot of clout with the CW already. However it all works out, it looks like we’ll be seeing Julie Plec around the CW for years to come. For now, catch new episodes of The Vampire Diaries (sans Nina Dobrev) and The Originals on Thursday, October 8 at 8 and 9 p.m. ET, respectively. In addition,
[[ href http television www.cinemablend.com ]] here’s what else is coming up this fall.
