Spin-off’s have been around since TV began just about. Andy Griffith was a spin-off of The Danny Thomas Show. I guess it seems like a solid idea, if a cast member is a hit on one show, wouldn’t it stand to reason they would be a hit in their own show? Well, sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. So, I wanted to take a look at the one which really worked, and the one’s which were dismal failures.
As we know, lots of shows will try this with recurring cast
members, and of course there is backdoor pilot approach where he meet someone
for the first time ever. For the purposes of this list, I am only talking about
shows which sent a regular cast member to their own series. Dramas do this, but
as usual we will be looking at sitcom examples. Of course, this is all opinion
and feel free to argue, or suggest any I may have missed.
The Best:
#6. Rhoda-It's funny what will work, and what won't. On Mary
Tyler Moore, Rhoda was the loud mouth neighbor. They sent to her own show, and
audiences still loved her. The show lasted a few years, and her wedding is
considered one of TV's most memorable events.
#5. A Different World-This show had its share of controversy
early one. When The Cosby Show sent Denise off to college, this show premiered.
It made a nice compliment to Cosby on NBC. After Lisa Bonet left after the
first year she returned to Cosby and this show continued. It still qualifies as
a spin-off because of how often Hillman was mentioned on Cosby. Also, Cosby
regulars continued to appear.
#4. Facts of Life-This is a case of a spin-off taking after
its parent show so well that it became its own hit. Mrs. Garrett was the Drummonds
housekeeper when she left to be the head of Eastland Girls School. Actually,
the show wasn't so good until they added a new character named Jo, played by
Nancy McKeon, and revamped the format. This show dealt with serious topics just
as its parent show did, and in my opinion was actually a superior vehicle.
#3. Family Matters-This is one of those shows people forget
was a spin-off. Yep, it was. On Perfect Strangers Harriet was the elevator
operator. We even met her husband Carl in an episode (yes, played by Reginald
Vel-Johnson). Basically the show was about a middle class African American
family. Funny, it sounds a little like another show that was on around that
time. Truth is, this spin-off probably would have been a big fail, had it not
been for the addition of Steven Urkel to the cast.
#2. Benson-I loved this show, it was one of the first
sitcoms I really enjoyed. The spin-off from the amazing Soap had the butler
Benson becoming chief of staff for the governor of, some state. Through the course
of the series he would become Budget Director and then Lt.Governor. Robert
Guillaume was so funny on this show with his one liners and put downs, and I
just wish that the rest of the series would come out on DVD someday.
#1. Frasier-Cheers was going off the air, and NBC was
desperate to no lose the audience. So, they took a chance and spun Frasier
Crane into his own show. He moved to Seattle and suddenly had family he never
had before. The amazing thing is, this show really worked! I won't say it is
better than Cheers, but it is certainly up there with it. Something about the
smart writing and witty dialogue connected with people, even if in many ways
this show was just an
Honorable Mention :
The Simpsons-What? Yes, this was a spin-off my friends. The
Simpsons began as a series of shorts on the Tracy Ullman Show. I never watched
her show, like most people, but I know that in 1989 FOX took a chance and spun
the shorts into an actual sitcom, the first animated on since The Flintstones.
It was a little successful. Kidding of course, it was an enormous hit. I wonder
if people in 1989 would have ever guessed people would still be watching
original episodes in 2012! That is unprecedented. Truth is, I was never a loyal
fan, and I think it’s time for the show quietly exit, but that doesn't mean
take away from its impressive place in TV history.
Well, that’s some good examples. Now let’s check out some
less than stellar fare.
THE WORST :
#6. Gloria-Norman Lear's All in the Family was a piece of
television gold. It also spawned a bunch of spin-offs. Jeffersons, Good Times,
Maude, and this little show. Never heard of it? That's because it barely lasted
a season.
#5. Three's a Crowd-Most of these examples are just plain
bad ideas. Here is the first one. After Three's Company finally came to a
close, someone thought it would be great to take John Ritter's character and
spin him off. He moves in with his girlfriend, and her father! Oh, the hijinks!
The thing that made Three's Company so popular was non-existent here, and this
show was as forgettable as it gets.
#4. The Golden Palace-On paper, this probably seemed like a
solid idea. When Golden Girls ended, Bea Arthur’s Dorothy left leaving Rose, Blanche,
and Sophia. Why not create a show just for them? Well, for one thing because
Dorothy was the smart one, and then they had to make Rose a little stronger
which flies in the face of her character. The last brilliant thing they did was
have the ladies run a hotel. Just them, and Don Cheadle. Hope someone took that
paper and burned it.
#3. Joanie Loves Chachie-Wow, talk about bad ideas! Happy
Days had a ton of success with Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, so
why not Joanie Loves Chachi? Because Joanie and Chachie aren't that
interesting! I was lucky enough to miss this show when it was on, but have
heard enough about it. Did they really think Erin Moran and Scott Baio had
soooo much chemistry that they could carry a show? Sorry, and the musical numbers
in every episode just made matters worse. This lasted a short time, and the two were back on Happy Days before long.
#2. AfterMash-Why??? Why would the creators of MASH, one of
the greatest shows in history, think that fans would flock to a new show if
they took a few random cast members and made a St.Elsewhere knock off? The show
featured Col.Potter, Klinger, and Father Mulcahey settling into civilian life at a hospital and was just soooo lame. The
show barely lasted two seasons, and has been considered by many to be one of
the worst shows of all times. For years, it was the prime example of a horrible
spin-off. That was, until......
#1. Joey-NBC hoped that the magic which made
Frasier a hit
would happen again, so they took Joey off Friends and brought him to Los
Angeles. Apparently the networks never realized that shows centered on
dim
witted character just don't work. Anyone remember Flo? On Friends, Joey
was
there for comic relief and his dumbness worked because it was only part
of the
show. It just didn't work here. Can't say they didn't try, but the whole
feel of this show was just, wrong. In my opinion, one of the big
mistakes this show made was
making little to no references to Friends. Every example I mentioned,
even the
bad ones, had references to the parent show including occasional cameos.
Frasier even had Lilith on in its first season. Joey did none of that,
and I think it hurt the show. Joey's friends were everything
to him, and the idea he could just run off to LA and not even attempt to
keep in
touch with them was not only hard to believe, in my opinion it turned a
lovable
character into a bit of a jerk.
Honorable Mention :
Some shows take annoying characters and make shows for them.
Amazingly enough, they don’t work for some reason. Fish was the annoying Barney Miller spin-off, The
Tortelli’s was that OTHER Cheers spin-off, and Top of the Heap was the Married
with Children spin-off no one talks about. Then there are ideas that were just
stupid from the get-go. The Brady Brides anyone?
Spin-off’s are a way of life in television, but as we can
clearly for every one done well there are plenty more out there which are just
terrible. Hope you enjoyed this, and if I missed any please feel free to
comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment