# Which TV property has the most spinoffs/in-universe franchise shows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [September 2, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652 "2024-09-02T22:24:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [September 3, 2024, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652/41 "2024-09-03T17:38:18Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I may be the only person alive who remembers _Out of the Blue_. I remember Out of the Blue (and the related Happy Days episode in whixh we learn that it takes Satan himself in order for Chachi to seem like a warm and wonderful person) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652/42 "2024-09-04T14:10:03Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The [Tommy Westphall universe](https://thetommywestphall.wordpress.com/the-master-list/) From the link,… > [@](#): > > **St Elsewhere** has direct connections to twelve other television series – many of them direct crossovers of character to and from the series. Others make mention of specific parts of the **St Elsewhere** fictional universe, placing them within the same fictional sphere. > > **So?** > > If **St Elsewhere** exists only within Tommy Westphall’s mind, then so does every other series set within the same fictional sphere. I’m going to take a slight exception to that. For example, one series mentioned was M\* A\* S\* H. If a character from M\* A\* S\* H shows up in St. Elsewhere, or someone is watching it or whatever, it doesn’t mean that it is unique to the St. Elsewhere universe; Tommy could see the series IRL (universally) and incorporate it into his dream. It takes a character from St. Elsewhere showing up in another show to add that show to the Tommy Westphall universe, and I highly doubt that there were enough crossover characters to get from St. Elsewhere back to MASH. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652/43 "2024-09-10T18:32:05Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > You lose points for not having used the phrase ‘[And then there’s Maude](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9NY8R-LmIw)’ Totally fair. God will get me for that. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2024, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652/44 "2024-09-10T18:44:25Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Would it be possible to ban all mention of Tommy Westphall and his universe from this thread? I _knew_ this was going to happen. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652/45 "2024-09-10T20:33:50Z")
What about the John Munch universe? ---
**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:** [September 10, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652/46 "2024-09-10T21:15:47Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I may be the only person alive who remembers _Out of the Blue_. I do not remember it, but that’s one of the worst theme songs ever. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/m6UBPGfOZ1I/hqdefault.jpg "OUT OF THE BLUE opening credits ABC") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6UBPGfOZ1I) ---
**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:** [September 11, 2024, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652/47 "2024-09-11T04:30:14Z")
It is a subset of the Tommyverse. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652/48 "2024-09-11T19:59:44Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > **Mork and Mindy** wasn’t really a spin off, it was just using Happy Days as a launch pad for a completely unrelated show. But if you go with that, all those series could be a spin-off from **Love American Style**. Not true. Mork was never intended to have a show of his own when the character first appeared, any more than Laverne and Shirley did. Okay, his _second_ appearance was to get people ready for the spinoff, but the character had already been established. On the other hand, both _Blansky’s Beauties_ and _Out of the Blue_ had characters on Happy Days for the sole purpose of selling their new shows, the same way that Larry on _Hello, Larry_ appeared just once on _Diff’rent Strokes_. The earliest example of something like this that I can think of was an attempt to make a pilot (not picked up) with Ken Berry called _Kelly’s Kids_, which started out as an episode of The Brady Bunch. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652/49 "2024-09-11T20:08:47Z")
I remember seeing that episode of the Brady Bunch and how awkward it was. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652/50 "2024-09-11T22:29:21Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Not true. Mork was never intended to have a show of his own when the character first appeared You’re right, I misremembered it. The first episode was all a dream, even though it was retconned during syndication that Mork made everyone forget about him. Then the idea for a spinoff came. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-property-has-the-most-spinoffs-in-universe-franchise-shows/1006652.md?page=2)