# Spinoff of a spinoff **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2026, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467 "2026-01-08T11:57:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/1 "2026-01-08T11:57:39Z")
Watched ABC’s 20/20 Golden Girls anniversary show last night. Did a Wikipedia search just to refresh my memory about the show and it had 2 spinoffs, “The Golden Palace” which I kind of remember, “Empty Nest” that I do remember, and a spinoff of that called “Nurses” that I don’t remember at all. Any other TV shows that one of the spinoffs had a spinoff that involved the same characters played by the same actors? The Big Bang Theory had the same characters (Sheldon, Mary, Meemaw) but different actors so George and Mandy doesn’t fit what I am asking. I thought at one time Frasier, a spinoff from Cheers, was to have a spinoff involving Niles and Daphne but don’t know if it ever made it into production. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/2 "2026-01-08T12:11:30Z")
_Good Times_ was a spinoff from Maude - featuring the same actress playing the same character- and Maude spunoff _All in the Family_ - with Bea Arthur as Maude in both cases ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/3 "2026-01-08T12:12:52Z")
Happy Days → Laverne & Shirley → Laverne & Shirley in the Army All in the Family → Maude → Good Times All in the Family → The Jeffersons → Checking In JAG → NCIS → Any of the NCIS spin-offs ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/4 "2026-01-08T12:29:03Z")
Yeah, forgot about “All in the Family” spinoffs. The Jeffersons to Checking In I remember. Maude to Good Times, didn’t realize the connection as I was somewhat younger and wasn’t allowed to watch Maude. Lavern and Shirley in the Army? Never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/5 "2026-01-08T12:36:16Z")
> [@a6ka97](#): > > Lavern and Shirley in the Army? Never heard of it. Cartoon. Which had some of the live-action cast as voice actors. If cartoons count, then you also have _The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang_, since _Happy Days_ is a spinoff of _Love, American Style_. (Which makes _Lavern and Shirley in the Army_ a spinoff of a spinoff of a spinoff.) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/6 "2026-01-08T13:03:56Z")
_Mary Tyler Moore_ → _Rhoda_ → _Carlton Your Doorman._ The last was an animated pilot with Lorenzo Music, who was the voice of Carlton on _Rhoda._ The pilot was broadcast, but not picked up. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/7 "2026-01-08T19:54:15Z")
Liquid Television —\> Beavis and Butthead → Daria / King of the Hill. Too much of a reach calling Beavis and Butthead a spinoff from Liquid Television? Aeon Flux and The Maxx also spun off from it. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/8 "2026-01-08T20:34:21Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Liquid Television —\> Beavis and Butthead Is that really a spinoff though? When I think spinoff, I tend to think more along the lines of _Frasier_ where a main character goes off and has their own show. Less so ones where they include a character in a backdoor pilot way, like having Mork from Ork in _Happy Days_, or having Gibbs in two episodes of _JAG_ to spin _NCIS_ off. But that’s more like a SNL skit that became its own show; it feels a little different than a typical spinoff. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/9 "2026-01-08T20:39:55Z")
Yeah, I thought it might be kind of a reach myself. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/10 "2026-01-08T20:45:43Z")
I don’t want to tackle the whole _Star Trek_ franchise but there must be chains of spinoffs that would, well, make your head spin. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/11 "2026-01-08T20:50:28Z")
The Danny Thomas Show —\> The Andy Griffith Show —\> Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. and Mayberry RFD. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/12 "2026-01-08T20:50:48Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I don’t want to tackle the whole _Star Trek_ franchise but there must be chains of spinoffs that would, well, make your head spin. I can’t think of any. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/13 "2026-01-09T01:48:50Z")
SNW could be seen as a spin-off of both TOS and Discovery. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/14 "2026-01-09T02:42:01Z")
I think most Star Trek series are a new creation in the same universe and not a spin-off. I think of spinoffs as _starring_ the character lifted from the earlier show (like _Joey_ being a spinoff of _Friends_) so, for instance, wouldn’t really consider DSN to be a spinoff of TNG because it isn’t primarily _The Adventures of Miles O’Brien_. (Just as _Prodegy_ isn’t a spinoff of _Voyager_ even though it includes Janeway). But others may be less strict about that definition. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/15 "2026-01-09T03:06:16Z")
How about the CBS rural comedies: Beverly Hillbillies → Petticoat Junction-\> Green Acres 1961, 1963, 1965 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/16 "2026-01-09T03:08:52Z")
Does _Bosch_ - _Bosch Legacy_ - _Ballard_ count? ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/17 "2026-01-09T03:19:27Z")
Weren’t they more of shared characters across different shows than spinoffs? ---
**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:** [January 9, 2026, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/18 "2026-01-09T03:23:48Z")
Did anyone mention this yet? _Love, American Style_ → _Happy Days_ → _Mork and Mindy_ ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/19 "2026-01-09T03:35:51Z")
_The Flintstones_ → _The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show_ → _The Flintstone Comedy Hour_ ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467/20 "2026-01-09T03:44:17Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > How about the CBS rural comedies: > Beverly Hillbillies → Petticoat Junction-\> Green Acres They took place in the same “universe,” and shared some secondary characters and locales (particularly the latter two), but I’m not sure if they were spin-offs, so much as “sister shows.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoff-of-a-spinoff/1026467.md?page=2)