# Friends Spin-Off / Sit-Com Show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302 "2003-07-27T20:15:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/21 "2003-07-28T17:55:17Z")
The **Married With Children** spinnoff Top of the Heap, was followed by **Vinnie and Bobbie** in 1991 and 1992. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/22 "2003-07-28T18:43:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*I’m surprised Joey could be a New York actor for eight years and never appear on _Oz_ or one of the _Law & Order_ shows. \*\* Joey was in an episode of Law & Order but his scene got cut. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/23 "2003-07-28T18:52:31Z")
Ah twickster you are incorrect. Ursala is Phoebe’s twin who was a porn star. What ever happened to Ben? Ever since Rachel had Emma Ross never has Ben. Whatever happened to Phoebe’s triplets? You never hear of her visiting them or the outcome of them. They have aged Emma drastically so Phobe’s twins should be around 8. Joey’s show will never make it on its own. FRIENDS works because it is the six of them. Personally I don’t see any of them succeeding outside FRIENDS. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/24 "2003-07-28T18:52:39Z")
Schwimmer was also a recurring character in the first season of _NYPD Blue_. He lived in the same building as John Kelley (David Caruso)'s ex-wife. He had a run-in with a mugger and took to carrying a gun for protection. Suddenly I can’t remember if he ended up shooting another would-be mugger, or if somehow he got shot himself. I think he got killed, because his character disappeared – but that might have been because Caruso’s character left. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/25 "2003-07-28T19:06:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Isabelle \* > What ever happened to Ben? Ever since Rachel had Emma Ross never has Ben. He caught monkeypox from Marcel and died. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/26 "2003-07-28T19:11:13Z")
Oh no! Not the dreaded monkeypox! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/27 "2003-07-28T19:35:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by featherlou \* > \*\*Oh no! Not the dreaded monkeypox! \*\* It’s true. Of course, Marcel had to be put down, which explains _his_ disappearance. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/28 "2003-07-28T19:47:13Z")
## quote: ## Originally posted by featherlou Oh no! Not the dreaded monkeypox! It’s true. Of course, Marcel had to be put down, which explains his disappearance. NO NO NO Marcel went on to do movies and Beer commercials. He was not put down. ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/29 "2003-07-28T23:55:16Z")
Can someone explain to me how **Top of the Heap** is a spinoff of **Married With Children**? What characters did they have in common? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/30 "2003-07-29T00:12:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Isabelle \* > \*\*Ah twickster you are incorrect. Ursala is Phoebe’s twin who was a porn star. > > \*\* You are both right and wrong. Ursula was a character in Mad About You and Pheobe’s sister. [There was even a crossover episode.](http://www.poobala.com/friendsandmad.html) Ursula was a porn star (this was established on Friends and never mentioned in Mad About You.) ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/31 "2003-07-29T00:39:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by roadrunner70 \* > \*\*Come to think of it, wasn’t Ross in a sitcom previously, I think he was Henry Winkler’s son or something? Or was I drinking WAAAAY too much back in the late 80’s/early 90’s? \*\* No, you’re right. I think the show was “Monty” and Henry Winkler was Month. I don’t know that I ever watched it so I don’t know if Ross was Monty’s son or the the daughter’s boyfriend. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/32 "2003-07-29T00:49:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bryanmaguire \* > \*\*Can someone explain to me how **Top of the Heap** is a spinoff of **Married With Children**? What characters did they have in common? \*\* I think this is one of those occasions where a pilot episode for a new series was stuck into an existing series. Those episodes always stand out because the normal characters only make brief appearances while the rest of the show focuses on new characters we’ve never seen before, or only once or twice. A good example is the episode of \*\*The Brady Bunch[/] with Ken Barry. His character his wife adopted 3 boys from an orphanage, one white, one black and one asian, and were trying to deal with the ensuing “controversy” (as controversial as the Brady’s got, anyway). The regular cast just sort of popped in and out. It had pilot written all over it, but never took off. In fact, I can’t recall any of those attempts that did. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/33 "2003-07-29T00:56:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bryanmaguire \* > \*\*Can someone explain to me how **Top of the Heap** is a spinoff of **Married With Children**? What characters did they have in common? \*\* If you watch MWC reruns, eventually you will see an episode with Joey and some old guy, and they do stuff, and at one point go to the shoe store and talk with Al. Then Joey and the old guy do more stuff. Woo-hoo! ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/34 "2003-07-29T01:08:05Z")
Now you mention it **Tars Tarkas** that does sound kind of familiar. A lame premise for a spinoff though. I always thought they should have done spinoff about Bud. Every week he would think up some really clever way of getting girls to sleep with him. Then something would go wrong at the last minute and he wouldnt get any. Comedy gold. Occasional guest appearances by Ed O’Neill wouldnt hurt either. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/35 "2003-07-29T14:43:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skammer \* > \*\*Schwimmer was also a recurring character in the first season of _NYPD Blue_. He lived in the same building as John Kelley (David Caruso)'s ex-wife. He had a run-in with a mugger and took to carrying a gun for protection. Suddenly I can’t remember if he ended up shooting another would-be mugger, or if somehow he got shot himself. \*\* Scwimmer played “4B,” a guy who lived in John’s wife’s building and IIRC occasionally served as her ad hoc divorce lawyer. He was beat up by a mugger in his laundry room so he began to carry a gun. John told him that this was dangerous and he should just let the cops handle things but he persisted and was successful when the mugger came back (I can’t remember if he shot the mugger or just scared him off). This made him overconfident and as he tried to apprehend a diffirent criminal he was fatally shot. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/36 "2003-07-29T15:00:12Z")
Having now looked at an NYPD Blue episode guide, I’ve learned that Schwimmer appeared as 4B in the first four episodes of the show; in episode four his character was killed off. –Cliffy, again ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/37 "2003-07-29T16:19:45Z")
I’m sure the producers of this Joey show are hoping for success along the lines of _Frasier_. I think it’s more likely to be similar to _After M_A_S_H\*. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/38 "2003-07-29T17:29:26Z")
Well, LeBlanc has had the worst time doing any non-_Friends_ gigs of the six regulars. Kudrow & Aniston have made successful indie film splashes, Cox had the _Scream_ franchise, Schwimmer gained some street cred with dramatic parts (_Apt Pupil, Band of Brothers_), and Perry just scored an Emmy nod for his _West Wing_ appearance and had the successful _W9Y_. LeBlanc has what? _Ed_? _Lost in Space_? He’s strictly an also-ran in _Charlie’s Angels_. He may be talented for what he does, but he’s had the hardest time finding other parts that work for him. He needs the spin-off more than the others. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/39 "2003-07-29T18:26:25Z")
There are now reports of a Phoebe spin-off as well (possibly featuring Aisha Taylor, who appeared in this season’s last several episodes). [http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=129587](http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=129587) (scroll down) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302/40 "2003-07-29T18:33:56Z")
If I were to pick a spin-off that they will as successful as I would guess it would be “Three’s a crowd.” da na na na na na [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-spin-off-sit-com-show/191302.md?page=3)