# TV spinoffs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2002, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-spinoffs/124905 "2002-08-21T12:41:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-spinoffs/124905/1 "2002-08-21T12:41:31Z")
What TV show (American, because that’s all I know) had the most spinoffs? (BTW, this is not a riddle, I don’t know the answer). One of my guesses would be “All in the Family.” The spinoffs include (in no particular order): **The Jeffersons** (Bunker’s neighbors) **Maude** (Edith’s cousin) **Good Times** (Maude’s maid) **Archie’s Place** (mostly about Archie and the bar, set after Edith died) **Gloria** (about Archie’s daughter and her son; not sure if the show was called Gloria or not) ---
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-spinoffs/124905/2 "2002-08-21T13:07:37Z")
I remember that Happy Days had a few spinoffs, too: Laverne and Shirley Mork and Mindy Joanie loves Chachi Blansky’s Beauties and an animated Happy Days ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-spinoffs/124905/3 "2002-08-21T15:36:53Z")
From [this article](http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Marilyn/Archive2002/020209-11.html) Dear Marilyn: What TV show had the most spinoffs, who starred in them and how long were they on? Steve, Bedminster, Pennsylvania Dear Steve: All in the Family begot five other sitcoms–Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Checking In and Gloria. The latter aired from 1982 to 1983 and starred Sally Struthers as single mom Gloria Bunker Stivic. (Mike Stivic left the marriage and went off to live on a commune with a flower child.) Checking in spun off from the spinoff The Jeffersons in 1981 and was off the air in less than a month. The show starred Marla Gibbs playing her role as The Jeffersons maid who gives up domestic work to become the executive bookkeeper at an upscale hotel. Then there were three very successful spinoffs: Bea Arthur’s Maude (1972-1978); The Jeffersons (1975 to 1985), with Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford; and Good Times (1974-1979), which spun off from Maude and focused on her maid, Florida Evans (Esther Rolle), and her family. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-spinoffs/124905/4 "2002-08-21T15:50:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Knighted Vorpal Sword \* > \*\*What TV show (American, because that’s all I know) had the most spinoffs? (BTW, this is not a riddle, I don’t know the answer). > > One of my guesses would be “All in the Family.” The spinoffs include (in no particular order): > > **The Jeffersons** (Bunker’s neighbors) > **Maude** (Edith’s cousin) > **Good Times** (Maude’s maid) > **Archie’s Place** (mostly about Archie and the bar, set after Edith died) > **Gloria** (about Archie’s daughter and her son; not sure if the show was called Gloria or not) \*\* _The Jeffersons_ had a short-lived spin-off called [_Checking In_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0081839), starring the maid character, played by Marla Gibbs. It lasted less than one season and Gibbs returned to the “de-luxe apartment in the sky”. Like _Good Times_, _Checking In_ can be considered a spin-off of a spin-off. And Caroll O’Connor’s “sequel” series (his afterFamily, as it were) was called _Archie Bunker’s Place_. That makes six direct and indirect spinoffs, which is a record as far as I know. **monster’s** cited article may not choose to count _Archie Bunker’s Place_, since it’s more of a sequel than a spin-off. The show continued with the same primary character, in the same house, but with a new supporting cast. It’s more of a retooling than a spinoff, one could argue. Even more debatable is the short-run 1994 series _704 Hauser_, which features a black family that had moved into the Bunker’s house in Queens. Judging from the IMDb summary, the combination of liberal parents and arch-conservative son sounds like a rip-off of _Family Ties_, with racial elements thrown in. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-spinoffs/124905/5 "2002-08-21T16:00:22Z")
If spin offs of spin offs count then I would vote for All in the Family. The Jeffersons spun off Florence about their maid but it didn’t last a whole season also. My vote would go to All in the Family. Mary Tyler Moore also had a lot of spin offs but I don’t think it quite compares. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-spinoffs/124905/6 "2002-08-21T17:46:14Z")
I think it’s All in the Family, too, if you limit yourself to live-action (as one probably should). However, if you count animated spin-offs, then Happy Days has more, because not only was there a Happy Days cartoon, there was also a Mork & Mindy cartoon and a Laverne & Shirley cartoon. Of course, Happy Days started off as a skit on Love, American Style, so actually that is the show with the most spin-offs. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-spinoffs/124905/7 "2002-08-21T18:58:25Z")
Well, the original Dragnet had a few. it had Dragnet 7?, Adam 12 and that Emergency! thing. In a werid sort of way, I suppose that you could count the Star Trek offspring as “spin offs”. And I think that is at either four or five now, not even counting the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-spinoffs/124905/8 "2002-08-22T15:18:26Z")
Five, counting cartoons. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-spinoffs/124905/9 "2002-08-22T15:27:49Z")
Six, if you count _Rescue 911_. Like _anyone_ would have watched that if it didn’t have Captain Kirk on it.