Spin offs are a fact of life in television. It seems to be one of the symptoms of the lack of attempted creativity in the industry today. It's an easy, cheaper and almost idiot-proof formula for new programming. All you have to do is take a peripheral or even a one-shot character from a widely popular series and give that character their own show. And whether you know it or not, you've probably seen a spin off. The list is extensive and the spin off shows themselves range from successful (like The Simpsons, which was spun from The Tracy Ullman Show) to forgettable (like Lou Grant) and everywhere in between. However, most spin offs fall into a couple of these categories.

Spin offs usually...

...are stupid.

...are done to avoid the lengthy development process.

...lack a whole lot of creativity.

...are stupid.

...tend to rely too much on the original series.

...are filled with cheese.

...are stupid.

But one thing is for sure, spin offs will probably always exist as long as there are studios out to make a quick and easy buck. I could probably write a book about the history of the ups and downs of spin offs, but that's not what I'm getting pain -- er, I mean paid -- for.

What I am getting paid for is to take an objective (yeah, right) look at the hour-long pilot episode of Abruptly Amy. Abruptly Amy is the first spin off from MTV's longest running fully animated program, Daria (which itself was a spin off of Beavis and Butt-head, which originated on Liquid Television), that chronicles the adventures of Daria's favorite aunt, Amy Barksdale, in her life as an FBI agent, or whatever. I've always liked the character, but she was a little overexposed in her new show, if that's possible. But, I'm still willing to give this thing more of a chance. Besides, now that I'm getting paid to review television shows, I get advance copies of scripts and private screenings of shows way before the general public.

So, without further delay, here is my in-depth autopsy, er, I mean, review of "A New Beginning" in the usual format, with all the gory details.

Easy on that Transmission - One of the things that jumped out at me about this hour long pilot, was the way it suddenly (and frequently) changed gears. It started out as an action packed spy drama, then turned into a story about going back to your roots and ended up as a poor imitation of a bad Jackie Chan movie. Hopefully, all of this shifting was just for the pilot, because it'll be hard for the audience to get comfortable with all of the sudden instability.

Action! - Speaking of all the action, I thought Abruptly Amy was supposed to be about Amy moving back in with her sister and mother to work at the family bakery (which itself, sounds like standard sit-com fodder, nothing special) not an action packed police drama. Don't get me wrong, the action sequences were well choreographed (which makes me wonder, just how much money was spent on a pilot that may or may not be put into production), but they left me wondering what exactly their point was. Unless every episode will have some action-drama, it just doesn't make sense to me.

Judging Amy - Most people tuning in to Abruptly Amy, at least initially, will be somewhat familiar with Amy's character from Daria. But even though we don't know a whole lot about her, she seems to be way out of character in her new series. Maybe this will all be cleared up later, but I don't buy her as an oversexed secret agent that worries so much and is willing to adopt a teenager because she thinks that's what would be best (though, anything is possible).

Continuity? - I wouldn't expect any spin off to be free of continuity errors with its original mother show, but I would at least expect an effort to not completely shatter continuity. There were a lot of small examples that I could site (like all of the mentions of Lawndale as a "big city") but there was one that particularly puzzled me. Rita was portrayed as Amy's 28 year old, younger sister which is just implausible, considering the circumstances from Daria. I believe that there was at least some mention before that Amy was the baby of the family that was ignored by her over competitive, similarly aged older sisters. And even if I could swallow that, Rita is supposed to have a daughter that's old enough to be married. So how old was Rita when she was born?

Cut the Strings - While continuity is welcome, overly gratuitous references to Daria are unnecessary. I know that Abruptly Amy is related to Daria, I don't need Jane, Quinn and Daria to tell me. Speaking of Quinn and Daria, Rita and Amy seemed to have a definite tension between them that is nearly identical to the tension between Quinn and Daria. Why? If they were going to do that, they might as well have called it Definitely Daria and used older versions of the original characters.

Correctable Mistakes - Another thing that really had me baffled was the obvious, very avoidable mistakes in areas that should be taken for granted. Prime suspects include whoever designed the sets, picked out wardrobe and hired actors. Was it just me, or did it seem that two or three different guys were playing Scruffy Joe? The sudden changes in costume were really careless. During the one train scene, Amy suddenly goes from wearing a relatively plain outfit, to a ninja suit (I sure hope someone got fired for that one). People aren't stupid - they will notice this stuff.

Off the Trail - If there was one thing that the writer (who, for this episode, was Alan Smithee, whose had his name attached to some very poor material in the past) succeeded in doing - it was misdirection. I was so certain that Kristovo (you'll know when you see it) was going to try to kill Amy that I almost bet the ranch.

Don't Say It - How many times in one hour is too many to repeat one line? If I hear the line, well, again, you'll know when you see it, one more time, I'll be sick. I was pleading with my TV for more commercials, which aren't nearly as repetitive, every time I heard it.

Andrea - How could I not talk about everyone's favorite mystery from Daria? I think she fared fairly well, except maybe a bit more grizzled than I would expect. Though it would be hard to mess her up too much, since we know next to nothing about her. The only thing that really bothered me was that she was too quick to accept Amy as her "mother."

Now that I'm done with that train wreck, I mean, review; I guess it's time for those more general comments. I didn't particularly care for this, mostly because I'm not quite sure what it was supposed to be. Is it a sit-com? A police drama? A Lifetime movie of the week? And there are so many loose ends from the pilot, alone, like the happy dough. Will every episode revolve around it? And last but not least, what about the running gags that were overwhelmed by "sarcasm"? Will someone from Daria show up every week because it's "in his or her contract"? Are we going to have to listen to thousands of "you used to be ugly" jokes? If I had to sum up Abruptly Amy in one statement it would be that it took all of the cheesy elements of shows like Caroline in the City, Jesse and Suddenly Susan and somehow made them less appealing. I think Jane should have gotten the spin off instead, I give Abruptly Amy two months.

Grade: Incomplete (and I'm being generous, but there is a glimmer of hope)

Mike Quinn has long been know for his Internet reviews of a carload of TV shows, especially Daria. He holds about fifty advanced degrees in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from comparative literature to quantum mechanics (in other words, he's really smart). Right now, he lives outside Philadelphia and splits his time between writing reviews, working as a game official for the National Football League and teaching at Villanova University. He can be contacted by e-mail at mquinn@ece.vill.edu. Click here to read a more extensive bio.

The Delayed Reaction Review is Copyright (c) 2001 Mike Quinn [All Rights Reserved]. Abruptly Amy is (c) 2001 Whoever Claims Responsibility For the Damned Thing.