Spin-Offs That Became Popular Series

[kingskip]

Girlfriends-- The Game

 

[cwf1701]

Dragnet--Adam-12

of note, Kent Mccord, who would play Officer Jim Reed made several appearances on the 1967 Dragnet as various LAPD officers, including a couple pre-Adam-12 appearance as Officer Reed (first name not revealed in the Episodes).

 

[vjm]

Dragnet--Adam-12

of note, Kent Mccord, who would play Officer Jim Reed made several appearances on the 1967 Dragnet as various LAPD officers, including a couple pre-Adam-12 appearance as Officer Reed (first name not revealed in the Episodes).

Dragnet--Adam 12--Emergency

 

[onairb]

Dragnet--Adam-12

of note, Kent Mccord, who would play Officer Jim Reed made several appearances on the 1967 Dragnet as various LAPD officers, including a couple pre-Adam-12 appearance as Officer Reed (first name not revealed in the Episodes).

Dragnet--Adam 12--Emergency

Were characters on 'Emergency' introduced on 'Adam 12'? I know that Reed and Malloy made an appearence on 'Emergency' early on. The Brooks and Marsh 'Directory' does not list 'Emergency' as a spinoff.

 

[JakeLongwell]

Soap - Benson
SCTV - The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley

 

[FredLeonard]

Dragnet--Adam-12

of note, Kent Mccord, who would play Officer Jim Reed made several appearances on the 1967 Dragnet as various LAPD officers, including a couple pre-Adam-12 appearance as Officer Reed (first name not revealed in the Episodes).

Dragnet--Adam 12--Emergency

Were characters on 'Emergency' introduced on 'Adam 12'? I know that Reed and Malloy made an appearence on 'Emergency' early on. The Brooks and Marsh 'Directory' does not list 'Emergency' as a spinoff.

This was a cross-over, not a spin-off. The Emergency characters appeared on Adam-12 after their show launched to promote the show.

IMHO Adam-12 does not qualify as a spin-off because "Reed" was not a regular on Dragnet. McCord was cast in Adam-12 based on his Dragnet appearances. Reed and McCoy made cross-over appearances to promote Adam-12 when it launched. If they'd done a show about Bill Gannon, the only regular on Dragnet 6* besides Friday, that would have been a spin-off.

Most of Jack Webb's shows were set in the same universe but that doesn't make them spin-offs of Dragnet. Robert Conrad also appeared on Adam-12 to promote The DA.

 

[ROBGv1]

Cosby Show--Cosby

 

[anotherguyTN]

Cosby Show--Cosby

Not really a spinoff. Although it starred Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad they played entirely different characters and there was no connection to any part of The Cosby Show other than still being set in New York.

 

[FredLeonard]

Cosby Show--Cosby

Not really a spinoff. Although it starred Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad they played entirely different characters and there was no connection to any part of The Cosby Show other than still being set in New York.

Rashad was not originally cast as the wife. The actress they first hired did not work out. Cosby played a grumpy, blue collar type intended as a clear contrast to his earlier role as an avuncular, upper-middle class professional.

 

[WMC2006]

Dynasty -- The Colbys

The title of the thread is spinoffs that became POPULAR series. Are we talking spinoffs or POPULAR spinoffs?

Was the Colby's (and, for that matter, some of these other shows mentioned) all that popular? The Colby's lasted just a couple of seasons and, I believe, ended with Fallon Carrington being taken away in a UFO. Blansky's Beauties didn't last that long either.

When Three's Company ended, it became Three's A Crowd with John Ritter continuing on as Jack Tripper but that lasted one season.

Baywatch spunoff Baywatch Nights. The only good thing that show did was bring us Angie Harmon. ;D

 

[vjm]

I think the thread was about spinoffs that became popular in their own right.

Was the spinoff able to make its own place as it were.

The are numerous examples.

3 generations:

Danny Thomas Show---Andy Griffith Show---Gomer Pyle and Mayberry RFD
Dragnet---Adam 12---Emergency
All in the Family---Maude---Good Times
Love American Style---Happy Days---Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy
JAG---NCIS---NCIS L.A.

The rest:

All in the Family---Jeffersons
Soap---Benson
Different Strokes---Facts of Life
Dallas---Knots Landing
Cosby Show---A Different World
Perfect Strangers---Family Matters
Cheers---Fraiser
Family Guy---The Cleveland Show

The key is that the spinoff had to have had a respectable run.

There are a ton of spinoffs that flopped, but only a handful that proved their worth.

 

[Ultimajock]

The key is that the spinoff had to have had a respectable run.

...minimum of three seasons? Or more than that?...

 

[vjm]

The key is that the spinoff had to have had a respectable run.

...minimum of three seasons? Or more than that?...

Enough episodes so that the spinoff itself was syndicated as it's own show.

Example...Mayberry RFD had 87 episodes in 3 seasons, enough for daily syndication.

anything along those lines.