# Sketches that became series? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [October 5, 2022, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738 "2022-10-05T01:55:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/21 "2022-10-05T03:01:14Z")
There was a _Duck Dodgers_ animated series that run for 39 episodes from 2003 to 2005 based off the original _Duck Dodgers in the 24+1/2th Century_ animated short from 1953. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/22 "2022-10-05T03:25:28Z")
Beavis and Butthead started out as characters in a Mike Judge short called Frog Baseball. Just one appearance before their series. Bea Arthur appeared as Maude twice on All in the Family before the series was created. Frasier was not a sketch on Cheers but perhaps the Carla’s ex-husband’s brief appearances on the show could be considered sketch equivalents. His character, Nick Tortelli and other family members appeared in their own forgettable series, The Tortellis. After it’s thankfully brief run the characters of Nick, his 2nd wife, his and Carla’s son Anthony, and Anthony’s wife returned to appearances on Cheers where they had played earlier. Going back before television, The Three Stooges first appeared as part of the vaudeville act Ted Healy and His Stooges. After some movie appearances the Stooges dumped Healy for their own series of movie shorts. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/23 "2022-10-05T12:06:26Z")
Do cartoons count? Ruth Buzzi and Atre Johnson’s park bench characters had a short Saturday morning series as “The Nitwits.” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/24 "2022-10-05T12:06:26Z")
_Elvira, Mistress of the Dark_ and _The Pee Wee Herman Show_ started off as Groundlings sketches. The _Ed Grimley_ cartoon traces back to _SCTV_ sketches. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/25 "2022-10-05T14:00:09Z")
Sasha Baron Cohen’s character of Ali G started in segments on **The 11 O’Clock Show** before getting his own series. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/26 "2022-10-05T14:06:45Z")
_Absolutely Fabulous_ started out as a sketch from the _French & Saunders_ show. Dawn French played the daughter in the sketch. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/27 "2022-10-05T16:46:53Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I know that several Saturday Night Live sketches were turned into movies so I figured that some must have been turned into series but the only one I could find was a recent [streaming series based on MacGruber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGruber_(TV_series)). I envy you not having your brain remind you of dreck like Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan’s clubbin’ bros, and Julia Sweeney’s androgynous “Pat” character. I could go on, but this is painful… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/28 "2022-10-05T16:47:50Z")
Were either of those turned into TV shows? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/29 "2022-10-05T16:49:00Z")
Oops, sorry, those were movies. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/30 "2022-10-05T17:11:37Z")
Don’t forget The Ladies Man and Wayne’s World. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/31 "2022-10-05T18:33:27Z")
Were those turned into TV shows? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/32 "2022-10-05T18:49:25Z")
No, movies also. I don’t know why it’s restricted to TV shows, but other types of productions arising from sketches are interesting to note. At a different point in time TV series could have been the preferred outcome instead of movies. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/33 "2022-10-05T21:34:05Z")
The character of **Swiss Toni** first appeared on the UK comedy sketch show **The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer**. The character then regularly appeared on the UK comedy sketch show **The Fast Show**. There was then a **Swiss Toni** comedy series which lasted two seasons (which since it was a UK series meant a modest 16 episodes.) TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/34 "2022-10-05T22:00:42Z")
The British (6 episode) TV series **Nathan Barley** originated as a recurring bit on Charlie Brooker’s web site **TVGoHome** (which parodied TV listings). ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/35 "2022-10-05T22:02:25Z")
Now that I have checked on Wiki I see another **Fast Show** character, **Billy Bleach** , managed a single season (8 episodes) series which was called **Grass**. Don’t recall watching it myself. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/36 "2022-10-05T22:12:02Z")
The **Steve Coogan** comedy character **Alan Partridge** was created for radio sketch shows. Transferred over to TV sketch shows and ended up with a TV series before continuing on for a Movie and books. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/37 "2022-10-05T22:55:20Z")
Nm—I thought the OP was asking for films. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/38 "2022-10-06T05:13:43Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > _Elvira, Mistress of the Dark_ and _The Pee Wee Herman Show_ started off as Groundlings sketches. Ehh kinda. Cassandra Peterson was usually eye candy while she was a Groundling but said she only had one recurring character which was a Valley Girl. She used that character as the base for Elvira’s personality but Elvira was original to the Horror host gig. ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/39 "2022-10-06T16:00:36Z")
Yogi Bear started out as a featured segment on the Huckleberry Hound show. The bear proved more popular than the dog and he got his own, more successful show. In fact, while Yogi was around in syndication for years, Huckleberry seemed to disappear. ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738/40 "2022-10-06T16:21:13Z")
Elvira was a copy (but not a steal, really) of the much-earlier Vampira. The original actress, who had been offered a chance to revive her old show, bailed out and lost interest in the character until Peterson got really popular. Of course, a lawsuit followed. Peterson won. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sketches-that-became-series/972738.md?page=3)