Magazine News: Because We Need More of Us

Spinoffs have given the world some good things: Heavy Metal spun off from National Lampoon; Fangoria spun off from Starlog; Sports Illustrated spun off from Time; Lou Grant spun off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

On the other hand, spinoffs have also given the world some bad things: Happy Days begat Joanie Loves Chachi.

So it's probably a toss-up whether one should be worried about the end of civilization because Us Weekly is putting out a spinoff called Us Hair, which will focus on ... * can't type ... this ... sentence * ack * ... focus on -- celebrity hair styles. It is going to be something called a "bookazine," reports WWD. That means it's a one-shot, no-ads publication sold on magazine stands, destroying America's moral fiber copy by copy.

Us Weekly King Jann Wenner apparently also wants to spin off a magazine called Us Style, adds WWD, but that has been delayed by either the current bad economy or an attack of common sense.