The Bad Sitcom Ideas? thread prompted me to start this slightly different one. They may not necessarily be bad sitcom ideas, but just didn’t catch on. Hence the new thread.
OBSCURE SITCOM SPIN-OFFS
What’s your favorite? I’ll start:
Family Ties
spun off into
The Art of Being Nick
It was the story of Nick, Mallory Keaton’s old boyfriend. He is still a tough guy who says “ay!,” but now he has a new girlfriend - a single mother. Hilarity and zany antics ensue.
Everyone knows Happy Days spun off Mork and Mindy, L & S, and Joannie Loves Chachi, but it also spun off a show called
Happy Days itself was a spin off of Love American Style.
Also, Alice spun off the show Flo.
Time of Your Life is still fresh in our minds, but it is destined to be an obscure spin off.
The Heights from 90210.
704 Hauser was a spin off of All in the Family 20 years later.
Fish from Barney Miller
Billy from Head of the Class
The Tortellis from Cheers
Enos from Dukes
Top of the Heap (with a young Matt LeBlanc) from Married W/ Children (Also it became Vinny and Bobby)
When I was in Italy once, I saw a show called THE ROPERS. It starred Norman Fell and that red-headed women who played his wife on Three’s Company. I probably saw the pilot (and only show ever made of that series).
Oh no it lasted at least a seaon. The neighbors were a bald man, a hot blonde, and their young kid.
Marc
The Ropers actually aired for a while. Long enough to get into syndication.
And don’t forget the other spin-off of Three’s Company: Three’s a Crowd.
John Ritter (aka Jack Tripper) marries has a wife and a father-in-law and zany hijinks ensue.
Well there was a precedent. The English show Three’s Company was based on (what the hell was the name?) already had a spin-off- the name of which I do remember, Robin’s Nest. Same idea, the main character (Robin in this case) gets married, starts his own resturant, deals with horrible father-in-law.
In fact both shows were just like the American counterparts execpt they were, y’know…funny.
Could Trapper John MD be considered a spin-off from MASH?
For that matter, wasn’t there a spin-off with Harry Potter Klinger and Radar at one point?
After MASH. I never saw it, but I heard it was terrible.
The Ropers were in the top five its first season. It quickly ran out of gas. It does hold claim to one of the greatest opening musical numbers in the history of television (will Fell conducting like a marching band leader with a plunger).
Wasn’t Jeffry Tambor part of the cast?
How can no one have mentioned “Just The 10 Of Us”? (Spun off from growing pains.) Of course, we need to make a distinction between real spin-offs and concocted ones. By this I mean when a long-running show introduces a few new characters in one episode and the very next episode those characters go on to develop their own show. The example I can remember is some short-lived sitcom about a modeling agency spun off from Who’s the Boss. One week Sam is approached by them out of the blue, the next week she’s rejected by them, that night they have their own show, and nobody on “Boss” ever mentions the incident again.
–Cliffy
P.S. Mrs. Roper was played by Audra Lindley. (Also Phoebe’s grandmother from Friends.)
Yes, he played the bald neighbor guy.
The reverse of this occurred with Trapper John, M.D. The connection to MAS*H was established in the first episode, then never mentioned again.
Principle characters were Potter, Mrs. Potter, Klinger, Mrs. Klinger (Soon-Lee) and Father Mulcahy. Compared to the progenitor, it was bad. Had the Trapper John approach been used, the show might not have been cancelled in the middle of the second season. The IMDb lists Radar was a guest twice and Col. Flagg once. The one with Flagg was probably the finale.
“Man about the House” was the English series, IIRC.
That’s right. The first spin off was “George & Mildred” which I assume is what the US ‘The Ropers’ was based on.
It was pretty popular and long running, but then we’re talking about 1970s ITV sitcoms which were uniformly dire.
A good point. The Ropers were certainly a real spinoff. So was Just the Ten of Us (which had a great opening score as well). The Dad on the ten of us played Mike’s basketball coach for quite a while before the spinoff.
Found a great
website.http://home.earthlink.net/~jinxo/maincrosslistb.html
It has all of the spinoffs, crossovers, and shared universes.
Doesn’t anybody remember the HILL STREET BLUES spinoff called BEVERLY HILLS BUNTZ with Dennis Franz?
Didn’t think so.
Didn’t the Mary Tyler Moore show spin off at least a couple? I remember Rhoda, and Lou Grant, and didn’t even Phyllis get her own show briefly?
All in the Family spun off Archie’s Place, I think, as well as The Jeffersons.
And perhaps the most successful combo of all, Cheers and Frasier.
Family Matters i believe was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers. Hariett Winslow worked with the Larry and Balky. How did i ever watch that crap.
So what is the longest spin-off geneology? By that, I mean spin-offs of spin offs. For example: Love American Style - Happy Days - Joanie Loves Chachi. All in the Family - Jeffersons - Checking In. All in the Family - Maude - Good Times.
Is there any set of sit-coms with more than a three program geneology?