In this week’s edition of “Bad Ideas With NBC,” The Office’s Dwight Schrute is getting his own series. The studio feels confident enough in Rain Wilson’s quirky character to give the green light to a spin-off, centered entirely around Schrute and the farm he operates. If the schedule goes according to plan, the series will begin airing in mid-2013.

Seriously, is anybody psyched about this? Spin-offs are a slap in the face by television execs, sending a message along the lines of: “we’re too lazy to come up with new, original content, but we’re banking on the fact that you’re stupid enough to consume the same product twice.” Rarely, if ever, do off-shoots manage to capture what made the original series successful. I’ll be thoroughly shocked if Dwight! (or whatever they call it) lasts longer than a season. Remember, this is a character who is very much dependent on other members of the show to be funny. It’s going to take some incredibly inspired writing for this project to be deemed a success in the eyes of Office fans.

[/Film]