The Littlest-Known Successful TV Spin-Offs of All Time

[danielshooley]

1. The Andy Griffith Show -- In 1959, veteran TV producer Sheldon Leonard conceived a sitcom with Andy Griffith, then known as a successful Monologuist, as the Sheriff of the fictional small town of Mayberry, North Carolina (modeled after Andys real-life hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina). In early 1960, Sheldon decided to introduce the character on an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled Danny Meets Andy Griffith, telecast that year on February 15, where Danny Thomas is arrested for rolling through a stop-sign in Mayberry. The only holdovers from that pilot, besides Andy, were Ronny Howard as Opie and Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee), who portrayed a different character, the widowed Mrs. Perkins, than Aunt Bee.

2. Family Matters -- This hit 1980s sitcom spun off from Perfect Strangers, with Harriette Winslow (initially an employee at the local fictional Chicago Chronicle introduced in Season 2 of Perfect Strangers in September 1987) as the star character of the show, as portrayed by Jo Marie Payton; the series ranked regularly at #41 in the Nielsen ratings--until 12 episodes into the 1st season, when Jaleel White joined the cast as Urkel, who would become THE series most popular character.

3. The Joey Bishop Show -- This hit early 1960s sitcom, spun off from The Danny Thomas Show, starred rat-packer Joey Bishop as Joey Barnes, a Hollywood PR man introduced on The Danny Thomas Show episode Everything Happens to Me. Although the CBS Television Network passed over on the concept, as created for Joey by Danny Thomas, NBC picked up the series, where it debuted on September 20, 1961; although ratings were low in its rookie season (telecast Wednesday nights at 8 P.M.), a format change (with Joey becoming a New York talk-show host, a role which he would, in real life, reprise for 2 years on ABC, from 1967-1969) helped the show become a cult hit, airing Saturday nights at 8 P.M. on the NBC Television Network; the success was short-lived, however, as NBC, after 3 seasons (its last 2 in color) canceled the show in early 1964; the following Fall, the CBS Television Network picked up the series, where it was filmed in black-and-white once again, airing it Sunday nights at 9 P.M. right after The Ed Sullivan Show; the ratings quickly sank, and Joey Bishops sitcom days were over on March 30, 1965--this time for good.

4. Wings -- This hit 1990s sitcom, a spin-off of Cheers, debuted on April 19, 1990 on the NBC Television Network for a Spring 1990 trial run, before beginning its regular run on September 28, 1990. Although none of the characters were introduced on Cheers, several characters from Cheers made several appearances on the series--among them George Wendt & John Ratzenberger (as their Cheers characters Norm & Cliff, going on a fishing vacation in Nantucket, Massachusetts, only to EAT fish without catching any at the local Nantucket seafood establishment, Captain Andys); Kelsey Grammer (a year before spinning off into his own sitcom, Frasier) as Frasier Crane, going on a working vacation with then-wife Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth) for a seminar on low self-esteem; and Kirstie Alley in a cameo appearance as Rebecca Howe, in an episode focusing on Clint Black.

[PixarFan2006]

The Lone Gunmen - A failed spinoff of The X-Files that only lasted 13 episodes and was immediately cancelled due to poor ratings.

[Elladorine]

Moved this thread to the more appropriate section of Movies, Music & TV.

[Disneyphile]

The Jeffersons, a spin-off of All in the Family.
NCIS and related shows, spun off from JAG.

[SpringHeelJack]

"Wings" wouldn't be considered a spin-off. It would only be so if a character from "Wings" originally appeared on "Cheers." It's just a later show that happens to exist in the same universe (which was not something that was originally established in the show). Not like "Frasier."

[Dr Frankenollie]

Torchwood, a spin-off of Doctor Who. It went from BBC3 to BBC2 to BBC1 during its constantly growing popularity, before going to America with S4.

[milojthatch]

Pinky and the Brain was a spin-off of Animaniacs and was very successful. So was Mama's Family spun off of The Carol Burnett Show, A Different World spun from The Cosby Show, The Colbert Report from The Daily Show, Knots Landing from Dallas, The Facts of Life from Diff'rent Strokes, Saved by the Bell from Good Morning Miss Bliss, Mork and Mindy and Laverne and Shirley spun-off from Happy Days, which itself was a spin-off of Love, American Style, Boston Legal from The Practice, Dexter's Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, Cow and Chicken, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Family Guy (kind-of) from The What a Cartoon! Show, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from Star Trek: The Next Generation (the only true "spin-off" in the Star Trek franchise), Maude and The Jeffersons from All in the Family, and my personal favorite: Darkwing Duck from DuckTales!

Just to name a few of course!

[Disneyphile]

And how can we forget The Simpsons, spun off from The Tracy Ullman Show.

[ajmrowland]

I would think the Simpsons being spun fro Tracey Ullman is pretty well known.