# Spin off TV shows. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339 "2005-08-16T22:30:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/21 "2005-08-17T00:59:20Z")
I had copywrited down at first, but it just sounded wrong. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/22 "2005-08-17T01:00:22Z")
Copyrighted even. :smack::smack: ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/23 "2005-08-17T01:17:34Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I can’t believe no one has mentioned the Law & Order and CSI franchises, which are the big players in spinoffs these days. I don’t watch any of the L&O shows these days but I think the only one that could qualify as a spin-off is SVU, because it features Kragen who was originally on L&O. But IIRC he was absent from L&O for several years prior to the debut of SVU so it’s still kind of a stretch. > [@jayjay](#): > > Not quite true. Deep Space 9 had Miles O’Brien as (if not THE central character) a central character. It also featured members of the TNG crew prominently in the pilot episode (Picard especially). Likewise, Voyager’s pilot featured DS9 rather prominently in the beginning. > > I still wouldn’t consider any of them spinoffs, but what you posted isn’t quite accurate. OK, DS9 I would concede as a sort of semi-spin-off because of O’Brien but it’s tenuous. That characters from TNG appeared in the DS9 pilot and DS9 characters appeared in the Voyager pilot doesn’t, as you agree, make them spin-offs. Let’s see, other spin-offs, other spin-offs… “Family Ties” spun of Mallory’s boyfriend Nick into his own show that tanked quickly (I want to say it was called “Life with Nick” or “Nick’s World” or something similar, but I’m too lazy to look it up on IMDB). “Designing Women” spun off Suzanne into “Women of the House,” although it has an L&O issue because of her absence from the original show for several years. Now, how to classify a show like “Golden Palace”? It featured three of the four leads from “Golden Girls” (minus Bea Arthur) and had a new title, so is it a spin-off? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/24 "2005-08-17T01:40:52Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > _Mork & Mindy_, _Laverne & Shirley_ and _Joannie Loves Chachi_ were all spinoffs of _Happy Days_. _Mork & Mindy_ wasn’t really a spinoff. Network executives wanted to give the series some exposure before it started. To that end, Mork made his first appearance on the show that was #1 in the ratings for two years running. > [@Blake](#): > > ‘MASH’ begat ‘Trapper John MD’ Only if you’re referring to the 1970 movie, not the 1972-'83 tv show. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/25 "2005-08-17T01:45:33Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > This [massive site](http://www.poobala.com/crossoverlist.html) probably lists every spinoff and show crossover. That is an amazing site (though poorly designed). Who had the time and resources to compile all that relatively meaningless crap? And as far as I could tell, its very accuracte. **Simply amazing!** ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/26 "2005-08-17T01:50:10Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > _Mork & Mindy_ wasn’t really a spinoff. Network executives wanted to give the series some exposure before it started. To that end, Mork made his first appearance on the show that was #1 in the ratings for two years running.Only if you’re referring to the 1970 movie, not the 1972-'83 tv show. 😉 Probably true, but where do you find the official definition of a “spin-off”? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/27 "2005-08-17T01:52:57Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > _Mork & Mindy_, _Laverne & Shirley_ and _Joannie Loves Chachi_ were all spinoffs of _Happy Days_. > > _Mayberry, RFD_ was not so much a spinoff as a continuation of _The Andy Griffith Show_, which was itself a spinoff of _Make Room For Daddy_, the Danny Thomas vehicle. You Forgot Gomer Pyle ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/28 "2005-08-17T02:15:33Z")
> [@jrfranchi](#): > > You Forgot Gomer Pyle See post #4. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/29 "2005-08-17T05:22:23Z")
The Practice spawned Boston Legal. Of note is that a Boston Legal character made a reference to the show Boston Public. (The high school show centered around the teachers.) Later, the Boston Public principle then appeared on Boston Legal as a defendant in a court case, thus shattering that crossover reality. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/30 "2005-08-17T06:05:59Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > ‘MASH’ begat ‘Trapper John MD’ What about the quickly-forgotten _AfterM_A_S_H?\* ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/31 "2005-08-17T06:30:36Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > What about the quickly-forgotten _AfterM_A_S_H?\* Oops, I forgot. Quickly. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/32 "2005-08-17T09:59:15Z")
A bit of a stretch but 60 Minutes begat 60 Minutes II. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/33 "2005-08-17T12:09:58Z")
IIRC, _The Facts of Life_ was a spinoff of _Different Strokes_. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/34 "2005-08-17T13:05:46Z")
In the categories of forgettable: Dukes of Hazzard spun off Enos Alice spun off Vera ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/35 "2005-08-17T14:03:50Z")
> [@TommyTutone](#): > > In the categories of forgettable: > > Dukes of Hazzard spun off Enos > > Alice spun off Vera _Flo_, surely? I don’t remember one with Vera at all. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/36 "2005-08-17T14:06:11Z")
Oh! Just remembered one! Didn’t _BJ and the Bear_ spin off _Sheriff Lobo_? ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/37 "2005-08-17T14:12:37Z")
_Knots Landing_, I’m pretty sure, was a spin-off of _Dallas_, with the uniting character being Gary Ewing. They were also united, at least initially, by similarly funky, disco-esque theme songs. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/38 "2005-08-17T14:37:21Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > The Practice spawned Boston Legal. > > Of note is that a Boston Legal character made a reference to the show Boston Public. (The high school show centered around the teachers.) Later, the Boston Public principle then appeared on Boston Legal as a defendant in a court case, thus shattering that crossover reality. And I know The Practice had a crossover with Ally McBeal. But all four series are David E. Kelley shows, so they all exist in the same “shared universe.” ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/39 "2005-08-17T14:38:30Z")
I should note that Steve Urkel from Family Matters made guest appearances on Full House and Step By Step (the Brady Bunch ripoff with Suzanne Somers and Patrick Duffy and their multiple kids), thus linking those three shows and also Perfect Strangers, which Family Matters originally spun off from. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339/40 "2005-08-17T14:58:13Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > The Practice spawned Boston Legal… Didn’t The Practice morph into Boston Legal rather than spin off from it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-off-tv-shows/317339.md?page=3)