# Spinoffs that change genres **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661 "2012-03-03T19:17:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/41 "2012-03-06T22:44:44Z")
I don’t know if this is considered a spinoff, as it’s a sequel/reworking of the series, but the drama _Tattinger’s_ (about a restaurant) became the sitcom _Nick & Hillary_. Also, was _Beverly Hills Buntz_ (a spinoff of _Hill Street Blues_) a comedy? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/42 "2012-03-06T23:19:47Z")
Happy Days -\> Mork & Mindy. Yes, both sitcoms, but such radically different styles. The first was about remembering the past fondly, while the spin-off was about examining the presejnt day. And while we’re on the subject, what about Happy Days’ cartoon spin off, where the genre became science fiction adventure. > **[The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonz_and_the_Happy_Days_Gang)** > > The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang is an American animated science fiction comedy series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Paramount Television and originally broadcast during the Saturday morning schedule on ABC from November 8, 1980, until November 28, 1981. It is a spin-off of the live-action sitcom Happy Days. > Henry Winkler (The Fonz/ "Fonzie"), Ron Howard (Richie Cunningham), and Donny Most (Ralph Malph) all reprised their respective roles for The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang. > The se... ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/43 "2012-03-07T00:23:53Z")
_Happy Days_ (sitcom) spun off _Mork & Mindy_ (science fiction). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/44 "2012-03-07T01:06:46Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I don’t know of any legal rights under copyright law (or trademark law for that matter) that would be avoided merely by avoiding use of the word “spinoff.” I can see it being cheaper to pay the book or movie people for the rights to the character than to the TV people for the rights to be a spinoff. > [@aldiboronti](#): > > I can think of one show which in its final season morphed into a completely different genre, I don’t recall any other show which did that. > > I’m talking about [Burke’s Law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke%27s_Law) with Gene Barry. It ran for a few years as a cop show, pretty good one too, with Barry playing the Police Commissioner. Then in its final season, spurred no doubt by the popularity of James Bond and _The Man From Uncle_, the producers changed the whole thing and Barry, playing the same character, suddenly switched professions and became _Amos Burke, Secret Agent_. From cop show to spy show in the blink of an eye. Not just that, from a good cop show to a jaw-droppingly bad spy show. The patient did not survive the operation. Wonder Woman went from WWII to a (then) modern day secret agent type setting. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/45 "2012-03-07T01:47:41Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > _Lou Grant_ is the first thing I thought of. _Trapped John MD_ was a spin-off in name only. Without looking it up I wouldn’t be surprised if that show was 99% finished and at the last minute the network pinned the “Trapper John” moniker onto it just to boost interest in it. May have worked because it was an incredibly banal medical drama yet it ran for several seasons. As a kid who was a fan of M_A_S\*H I watched the premiere for that very reason. The opening scene was of Pernell Roberts snoozing at the hospital, waking up and saying, “Hawkeye? Radar where’s Hawkeye?” Some nurse says something about not being in Korea anymore, and that was about the only link to the previous show they ever did! ! No, there wasn’t much to link Trapper John to M_A_S\*H - but there wasn’t much to link Lou Grant to the Mary Tyler Moore show, either. They were spin offs- not a continuation of the same show with missing characters and/or a change in focus ( like All in the Family which became Archie Bunker’s Place ) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/46 "2012-03-07T01:52:13Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I don’t know of any legal rights under copyright law (or trademark law for that matter) that would be avoided merely by avoiding use of the word “spinoff.” [There was a court case about it, though.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapper_john_md#Production_notes) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/47 "2012-03-07T02:06:54Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > _Happy Days_ (sitcom) spun off _Mork & Mindy_ (science fiction). You don’t say. And did any other Happy Days spin-offs have a science fiction setting? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/48 "2012-03-07T03:02:24Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I can see it being cheaper to pay the book or movie people for the rights to the character than to the TV people for the rights to be a spinoff. Whether one is cheaper than the other is impossible to predict based on generalizations. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > [There was a court case about it, though.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapper_john_md#Production_notes) I can’t seem to track down the details of that case, but I’m pretty positive that none of it turns on the word “spinoff,” which is not a term of art in copyright law. The short, uncited description in the Wikipedia article makes it sound like the issue of whether Trapper John was derivative of MASH the TV show or whether it was derivative of MASH the film (which was derivative of the Hooker novel). ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/49 "2012-03-09T10:05:42Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > No, there wasn’t much to link Trapper John to M_A_S\*H - but there wasn’t much to link Lou Grant to the Mary Tyler Moore show, either. They were spin offs- not a continuation of the same show with missing characters and/or a change in focus ( like All in the Family which became Archie Bunker’s Place ) Yeah, but the difference for me was _Lou Grant_ was a pretty decent show (haven’t seen it in 30+ years so maybe my memory is just more forgiving). Trapper John was just an incredibly generic, lame, boilerplate _Medical Center_ show. And Ed Asner’s performance did do justice to the MTM character, just in a mostly dramatic setting (i.e. he was a decent, likeable, somewhat curmudgeonly newspaper editor). There was really no attempt (that I could see) in TJ to pay homage to either Wayne Rogers’ or Eliot Gould’s character. Wasn’t there a competing Trapper John-type show that ironically did star Wayne Rogers? It was based on a Walter Matthau movie. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/50 "2012-03-09T11:06:56Z")
House Calls with Vanessa Redgrave. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/51 "2012-03-09T11:41:54Z")
Sorry, Lynn Redgrave. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/52 "2012-03-09T12:42:03Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > You don’t say. And did any other Happy Days spin-offs have a science fiction setting? _The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang_(1980), a half hour Saturday morning cartoon with the group traveling in a time machine. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/53 "2012-03-09T14:13:52Z")
For someone named Czarcasm, you seem to have a strange problem with actually spotting sarcasm. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/54 "2012-03-09T14:51:26Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > For someone named Czarcasm, you seem to have a strange problem with actually spotting sarcasm. Sorry, but I have no way to tell how deep or shallow your knowledge base is, and thus I mistakenly thought you were sincere in your request. I have since adjusted my opinion of your sincerity, and your manners. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/55 "2012-03-09T17:02:37Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The short, uncited description in the Wikipedia article makes it sound like the issue of whether Trapper John was derivative of MASH the TV show or whether it was derivative of MASH the film (which was derivative of the Hooker novel). It sounds like the Baby Ruth argument to me. Sure, the producers of _Trapper John_ can claim they based their show off the movie or the book if it’s advantageous for them to say so. But realistically, the book came out in 1968 and the movie came out in 1970. The television series ran from 1972 to 1983 and was a huge success. When they made _Trapper John, MD_ in 1979, what do you think they were looking at? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/56 "2012-03-09T17:08:36Z")
Well, that’s merely a question of fact. I’m more interested in the actual jurisprudence. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/57 "2012-03-09T17:15:40Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Doctor Who is a family show about aliens and time traveling. Torchwood, last time I watched it, was softcore porn with aliens. I would love to know your definition of porn. Torchwood is rique at times and targeted at an older audience but it isn’t close to porn, soft or hard. A smattering of curse words, no nudity, some adult situtions. It is most certainly in the same genre as Doctor Who only targeted at a slightly older audience. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/58 "2012-03-09T17:19:20Z")
In 1965 the daytime soap opera _As The World Turns_ spun off a nighttime drama-_Our Private World_. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/59 "2012-03-09T17:36:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Sorry, but I have no way to tell how deep or shallow your knowledge base is, and thus I mistakenly thought you were sincere in your request. I have since adjusted my opinion of your sincerity, and your manners. You’re being wooshed. About an hour before **Bosda** posted about _Mork & Mindy_, **Peter Morris** posted about _Mork & Mindy_ AND the _Happy Days_ cartoon. **Peter Morris** was knocking **Bosda** for not having read his post, and then knocking you for not having read it either. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661/60 "2012-03-09T17:50:40Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > You’re being wooshed. About an hour before **Bosda** posted about _Mork & Mindy_, **Peter Morris** posted about _Mork & Mindy_ AND the _Happy Days_ cartoon. **Peter Morris** was knocking **Bosda** for not having read his post, and then knocking you for not having read it either. I know that, but that is when you tell the victim that she/he has been whooshed, which I certainly was. Talking about a “strange problem” in spotting sarcasm has just a bit of a knife twist to it. Oh, well-no big deal, considering. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinoffs-that-change-genres/614661.md?page=4)