CW President on Vampire Diaries Spinoff: A Focus on Klaus, "Dysfunctional" Originals

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The CW President Mark Pedowitz took center stage this morning at the Television Critics Association winter press tour and, as you might expect, spent a portion of his question-and-answer period focusing on that network's latest big news:

A potential Vampire Diaries spinoff titled "The Originals."

Daniel Gillies as Elijah
Claire Holt Pic

"The genesis of that came from a conversation with Warner Bros. and Peter Roth," Pedowitz said. "I'm a big believer if you have something that's working and you can incubate [it], it's a good way to get pilots on the air... We're basically going to go and focus on the Original family."

And the head of that family, of course, is Joseph Morgan's Klaus, who viewers will learn in the April 25 TVD episode was a founding father of New Orleans. Pedowitz confirms he will be the lead character, but:

"Hopefully some of his siblings will come along. Klaus is just a great character and the Original family has such great dysfunctional family dynamics, we felt that was a great way to take the show."

Phoebe Tonkin will will also "be coming on board the spinoff," the executive  said, adding that he very much wants her part of "The CW family."

The Originals will be set in contemporary New Orleans and will fit in tonally with The Vampire Diaries.

Among other highlights from Pedowitz:

  • A ninth season of Supernatural sounds like a strong possibility: "We are pleased with how Wednesday night has worked out with Arrow and Supernatural. Creatively, the show is in a great place. There’s always a good shot [it could return].”
  • All 13 episodes of Emily Owens, M.D. will air: "We’re very proud of the show. For whatever reason, we couldn’t get it fully sampled.”
  • No word yet on a new season of 90210, but if it ends this season, fans can expect a major send-off.
  • There is no final script yet for Amazon, but it will be an "origination" story along the lines of Smallville and casting is underway.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.

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