Were there ever plans for a Passions spinoff?

[DRW50]

I know they had a few web-only stories, but I thought, somewhere around 2000 or 2001, reports were circulated that NBC was spinning off some of the younger characters like Jessica and they would have their own show, possibly on Saturday mornings. Or am I making all this up?

[bellcurve]

There were plans for a Saturday Morning spinoff and even a pilot was shot(working title, Harmony High). The spinoff would have revolved around Tabitha playing "den-mother" to a niece who went to Harmony High School. I think there would have been a few crossovers between Passions characters, but it wouldn't have been anyone permanently moving over the Saturday sister show.

I assume that this would have been a single-camera show or a multi-cam show without a laugh track, given that this was the trend when TNBC evolved post-Peter Engel/Saved By the Bell(i.e. Just Deal(one of my faves), Sk8, and All About Us).

But NBC decided to use recycled Discovery Kids programs in their Saturday morning block and ceased airing original teen dramedies. Jimmy Reilly(according to Michael Logan in TVGuide Magazine) was paid handsomely for developing the concept.

Also, I read(around the time "Hidden Passions" was released) that NBC was interested in developing the book into a mini-series prequel or a "Movie of the Week." That would have been a fun and interesting mini-series. As much as I hated Passions as a series, I loved "Hidden Passions." It was a great, trashy romance novel.

ETA: Just Deal was created and written by former ATWT Co Head-Writer, Jessica Klein. I hear her stint on ATWT was boring as hell, but I absolutely loved how fun, lighthearted, and sometimes realistic that show was. It was no Degrassi(in terms of content or melodrama), but the characters on the show felt more real than on any other TNBC dramedy.

[DRW50]

Thanks. I wish the show had gone through, it could have opened up some new avenues for soaps. I guess now NBC has no interest in anything involving soaps.

[bellcurve]

Here's a link to an article on Dustin Cushman's Passions page about Harmony High. Apparently, Reilly also had plans to develop teen dramas for NBC Studios.

http://www.passionscentral.com/harmonyhigh/

[DRW50]

The pilot isn't on Youtube or anywhere is it?

Jessica Klein wrote for ATWT twice. I haven't seen very much of her first time, although I believe she was the one who heavily wrote for Marcy (Marisa Tomei) and put her together with the prince. The second time was boring, and some of it like Molly stalking Lily was stupid, although I think I may have preferred her stories if they had had a chance to play out (like Barbara and John having a child, the David/Emily romance, and the early Carly/Jack relationship). I wasn't a big fan of the Lorraine Broderick/FMB era of the show which followed Klein.

Thank you for all these details, I really appreciate them. You wonder how different things might be for NBC and original daytime programming if some of this had gone through.

[jcar03]

I don't think it ever made it to the pilot stage. It sounds like it was developed by not actually made.

[Toups]

Thanks for posting the link to the article, BC. I didn't have that article before.

I definitely would've preferred to see what JER would've came up with instead of Tom Langan/Ken Corday's generic "Salem High".

Jim.

I believe you're right. I don't remember any casting for it.

[bellcurve]

I'm pretty sure I remember Logan saying in TVGuide that there was a pilot shot.