Tuesday Favorites.... Spin off shows

CDGator

Not Seedy
Lifetime Member
There are a lot of spin off shows on TV but rarely are they as good as the original. Some may argue that Frazier was better than Cheers. I'd say it's a close second. However The Simpson's was definitely better than the Tracey Ullman show. I'm not sure that I've ever seen it, TBH.


What's your favorite spin off show and was it better than the original?
 

g8r.tom

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
There are a lot of spin off shows on TV but rarely are they as good as the original. Some may argue that Frazier was better than Cheers. I'd say it's a close second. However The Simpson's was definitely better than the Tracey Ullman show. I'm not sure that I've ever seen it, TBH.


What's your favorite spin off show and was it better than the original?

:ban2:
 

cover2

I've grown old
Lifetime Member
Most of the spin-offs I can recall weren’t very good. For instance, Mayberry RFD from The Andy Griffith Show was pretty bad. However, we loved Gomer Pyle USMC, which also spun off from Andy Griffith. Until we found out about him and Rock Hudson…
 

Nalt

Well-Known Member
The Beverly Hillbillies ran from Sept., 1962 until March, 1971. They spun off Petticoat Junction which ran from Sept., 1963 until April, 1970. PJ spun off Green Acres which ran from Sept., 1965 until April, 1971. IMO, Beverly Hillbilliies (the original) was the best of those three and even though Donna Douglas, Elly May was smoking hot, the girls of Petticoat Junction tipped the scales in huge fashion. So PJ would be one of my favorite spinoffs.

The Jefferson's was a spinoff from All in the Family. AitF was great and they touched on a lot of the politics of the day and did so very well by presenting both sides of the particular issues, i.e. the Vietnam war debates that Archie and Meathead would have. Incidentally, Meathead is still the flaming liberal piece of trash he portrayed on AitF. But the spinnoff, The Jeffereson's was incredible. They weren't "as" politically based as was AitF but still touched on several such as the inter-racial marriage issue that was very big at that time and the black/white issues that were, and still are in some places today. This spinoff was also one of my favorites.
 

Gator By Marriage

A convert to Gatorism
Lifetime Member
Frasier would be my favorite, but a lot of those mentioned - Gomer Pyle, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, The Jeffersons, and the Simpsons - were all pretty good. The Andy Griffith Show was also actually a spinoff as Andy appeared previously as "Sheriff Andy Taylor" on the Danny Thomas Show.
 

Nalt

Well-Known Member
Although technically NOT a spinoff, The Walton's was based on stories, and movies entitled "Spencer's Mountain" and "The Homecoming" by Earl Hamner. Mrs. Nalt and I got to meet Mr. Hamner in 2012. He was a very kind and down-to-earth kind of person.
 

g8r.tom

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
The Beverly Hillbillies ran from Sept., 1962 until March, 1971. They spun off Petticoat Junction which ran from Sept., 1963 until April, 1970. PJ spun off Green Acres which ran from Sept., 1965 until April, 1971. IMO, Beverly Hillbilliies (the original) was the best of those three and even though Donna Douglas, Elly May was smoking hot, the girls of Petticoat Junction tipped the scales in huge fashion. So PJ would be one of my favorite spinoffs.

The Jefferson's was a spinoff from All in the Family. AitF was great and they touched on a lot of the politics of the day and did so very well by presenting both sides of the particular issues, i.e. the Vietnam war debates that Archie and Meathead would have. Incidentally, Meathead is still the flaming liberal piece of trash he portrayed on AitF. But the spinnoff, The Jeffereson's was incredible. They weren't "as" politically based as was AitF but still touched on several such as the inter-racial marriage issue that was very big at that time and the black/white issues that were, and still are in some places today. This spinoff was also one of my favorites.
I had forgotten about the Jeffersons. I loved that show.
 

Nalt

Well-Known Member
I hated AiTF and Archer Bunker's attitude. He scared me as a kid and I thought he was a jerk.
I loved the Jeffersons though.
Archie was a jerk but Meathead was a total idiot. Edith made that show entertaining IMO. Oh, and Gloria. When I was young and ignorant I thought she was hot... WWIT? :crazy:
 

Gatordiddy

Member in good standing
Lifetime Member
Loved Laverne and Shirley and Mork and Mindy but absolutely despised Happy Days then and now. Tom Bosley playing a fat **** pussified father and the stupid Fonz character who you wish someone would have cold cocked from behind when he did his ghey “aaayyy” schtick in the mirror.

and you just have to know that the Fonz was knocking the bottom out of Mrs. C.
 

Altitude Gator

Lurking from Altitude
Lifetime Member
All in the Family also spun off Maude...which I thought was kind of lame. But it spun off Good Times...which was Dyn-O-Mite!

I also loved Lou Grant that spun off the Mary Tyler Moore Show, but it could have been better with Ted Knight!

Better Call Saul is a pretty good spin off.

I don't consider things like Law and Order: SVU a true spin off, but just a version of the original show. Like the CSUs and the various NCIS location versions (although, I think NCIS was a spinoff of JAG, but that may not be right).
 

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