Which spinoffs were better then the original?

I like "Mayberry RFD" and "Gomer Pyle, USMC" waaaay more then "The Andy Griffith Show"!

I so agree with you on both of those. I'm sorry, but Andy was good, but I liked the ensemble of "Mayberry R.F.D." and the hilariousness of "Gomer Pyle". If TAGS had a better ensemble (not just Andy, Barney, and THEN SOMETIMES Aunt Bee, Opie, etc..) and was a bit funnier, I may have liked it better.

I tend to like Laverne & Shirley more than it's parent show Happy Days. To me, Laverne & Shirley seemed funnier (with good morals in it) than Happy Days. Happy Days was good too but not as good as Laverne & Shirley was.
I like both shows alot.

Originally posted by LucyFan:
I tend to like Laverne & Shirley more than it's parent show Happy Days. To me, Laverne & Shirley seemed funnier (with good morals in it) than Happy Days. Happy Days was good too but not as good as Laverne & Shirley was.
I like both shows alot.



I Agree! I Loooovvveee "Laverne & Shirley"!

Again, I agree. I used to watch "Laverne & Shirley" religiously in the mornings (and I still catch it when I'm up that early), but I could never really sit through a full episode of "Happy Days". I think that Penny Marshall is HILARIOUS!

I agree. Penny Marshall was hilarious in Laverne & Shirley as well as Cindy Williams. In Fact, those two actresses are two of my favorites next to Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance.

Another Spin-Off I found better than the original was The Jeffersons. The Jeffersons could be serious and funny at the same time, whereas with All in the Family couldn't. It was either funny OR serious, but not both. Also, I found All in the Family a tad bit boring.

I was set to say that I couldn't think of a spinoff better than the parent show. Then I saw "Laverne & Shirley" mentioned, and I have to agree with that one -- way funnier than "Happy Days". A very underrated show, especially during the Milwaukee years.

I think....
-The Facts of Life was better than Diff'rent Strokes
-Laverne and Shirley was better than Happy Days
-The Jeffersons is better than All in the Family[well, maybe thats a tie]

I always liked Empty Nest much better than The Golden Girls. I also have always enjoyed Good Times much more than Maude.

Originally posted by Sean Snow:
I like "Mayberry RFD" and "Gomer Pyle, USMC" waaaay more then "The Andy Griffith Show"!

Same here! I told my dad (a big Andy fan) that though, and he thought I was crazy.

This is a great topic!

Can't really comment on L&S vs Happy Days, I liked HD while the guys were in High School, but didn't watch it after that...and I never watched L&S...

But, by listing the following, I think you good folks out there may have hit on just about every instance where the spin off was better:

1) Gomer Pyle vs AG Show...I can't watch A.G. Show any more, but I can watch Gomer any time...and there are a huge # of GPs that I never get tired of watching..

2) Empty Nest - I never liked Golden Girls, but I liked EN a lot...Kristy M was sooo cute, and the other girl's character was really funny. And I like David Leisure (in small doses, like we got on this show).

3) Good Times - definitely better than Maude, which I hated...and it plays much better today, IMHO, in spite of the 70s setting.

4) Facts of Life vs. D.Strokes...I was never a big DS fan, although I thought Dana Plato was one of the cutest girls on TV at that time...she just wasn't featured enough on that show to keep me interested...not only that, but I hated all of the housekeepers except for Mrs. Garrett...And Facts of Life got a lot better (I thought) when they trimmed the cast down to the four main girls...

5) I also agree that the Jeffersons was better than AITF...IMO, AITF was great for about the first 3 years or so, but after Mike and Gloria moved out and had the baby, the whole premise of the show was destroyed...but for the first 3 years or so, I loved AITF and never missed it (we didn't have VCRs in THOSE days) :-)

But great job, folks...I can't think of another spin off that was as good or better than the original...

One point though...I'm not a "Frasier" fan, but I loved "Cheers"...does anyone out there think that "Frasier" is better? I know it's won numerous awards (not that I take awards that seriously...I mean, I know what's good and what's not :-) , but does anyone think it's a superior show to "Cheers"? That's about the only other possibility I can think of..

Well Cheers did win 28 awards the second comedy to recieve the most awards (right after MTM with 29)

I like L&S better because it has more physical comedy.Like the hospital bed scene.The sofa scene.The closet bed scene.I could go on!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by JT:
I like L&S better because it has more physical comedy.Like the hospital bed scene.The sofa scene.The closet bed scene.I could go on!!!!!!!!

I think of Laverne & Shirley as a younger version of Lucy Ricardo/Lucy Carmichael and Ethel Mertz/Vivian Bagley. All three shows had a lot of physical comedy and the situations in L&S were very similar to those of I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show. Please take note that Garry Marshall, the creater of Laverne & Shirley, was also one of the writers for The Lucy Show.

1. Maude was better then All in the Family
2. The Jeffersons was better then All in the Family
3. Rhoda was better then The Mary Tyler Moore Show
4. The Facts of Life was better then Diff'rent Strokes
5. Laverne & Shirley was better then Happy Days

[This message has been edited by boechsner (edited 11-20-2001).]

I think Empty Nest was far better than The Golden Girls (HATE that show!) and I think Nurses was even better than EN. Unfortunately, it lasted the shortest amount of time. (3 seasons, I think)

Originally posted by TVLanFan
One point though...I'm not a "Frasier" fan, but I loved "Cheers"...does anyone out there think that "Frasier" is better? I know it's won numerous awards (not that I take awards that seriously...I mean, I know what's good and what's not :-) , but does anyone think it's a superior show to "Cheers"? That's about the only other possibility I can think of..

I like Cheers and I like Frasier, but I like Frasier better. I like the whole Niles and Daphne thing, and they keep that fresh - in my opinion - which makes me want to watch it more. I still watch both though, but I KNOW I've seen every episode of Frasier, whereas I haven't yet of Cheers.

And I'm another one who liked Golden Girls better than Empty Nest...I really didn't like Empty Nest.

Ahh well, to each their own.

**Gracie moo**

The Simpsons IS better than The Tracey Ullman Show (at least from what I can remember):p

see i liked cheers better then Frasier (the spin off). i dont know thats just my opinion....

I like Cheers better better than Frasier because I like the chemisry between all the characters. I like AITF better than the Jeffersons and Maude, In AITF they had all the characters and I think they were best together..

I like Diff'rent Strokes a lot more but FOL was better

I like Frasier but I like Cheers waaaay better. I am a HUGE Cheers fan.

L&S was better than happy days, I love laverne and shirley! though happy days was good too! L&S was sooo funny and its crazy how they never won an emmy, that ticks me off!! they were so good!

I think that Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. was better than Andy Griffith, and I think that Laverne & Shirley was better than Happy Days. Some of the Andy Griffith were better than some GP, though, and same w/ HD & L&S.

I disagree. Laverne and Shirley is my 2nd favorite show--right behind Happy Days. I am obsessed with both, but Happy Days is still better. I like the high school days the best--when they got to the 80's Laverne and Shirley was DEF. better. I like HD's better though because I saw it first-Im sure if I watched L&S before HD's it would be the other way around--who knows?? As for Cheers--sorry but I cant stand the show!! I think its because when I was real young my parents ALWAYS watched it lol-so blame it on them! But I really like Frasier-especially Niles!!!! :lol: As for Facts of Life--much better than Diffrent Strokes, but DS is still pretty good!! L&S had more physical comedy, but Happy Days had that bond between the cast that just clicked...until Ted McGinley came along and tried to be Richie- yea RIGHT!

i can't beleive there are people who dislike The Golden Girls. Anyways

1. I like Fraiser better then Cheers

2. I like The Jeffersons better then AITF (i do like AITF alot, but it aint nearly as funny as The Jeffersons)

Originally posted by Gregorio
I like Diff'rent Strokes a lot more but FOL was better

Ditto

I think The Facts of Life was better than Differnt Strokes.

I think the Jeffersons are way better that All in the Family, I like Diff'rent Strokes but I don't think it's better than FOL, Cheers was better than Fraiser.

Though neither show was ever great "Family Matters" was Probably better then the show it spun off of "Perfect Strangers". Family Matters was enjoyable at times up until the poit Judy Winsow (Laura's younger sister) disappeared without a trace and Urkel stared cloning himself and altering his personality and then alterd the personality of his clone to be cool.

I THINK SINCE 1975 THE ONLY SPINOFF THAT WAS BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL WAS LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY WHICH BEAT HAPPY DAYS IN THE RATINGS AFTER IT DEBUTED IN 1976.

"I like Cheers and I like Frasier, but I like Frasier better. I like the whole Niles and Daphne thing, and they keep that fresh - in my opinion - which makes me want to watch it more. I still watch both though, but I KNOW I've seen every episode of Frasier, whereas I haven't yet of Cheers. "

That is what I don't agree with you on. CHEERS was better than FRASIER. Don't get me wrong, I love 'Frasier', it's a great show. But if Frasier was better, why didn't they make a show about him without ever putting him on Cheers.

The point about knowing you've seen the episodes, I don't agree with you either. I like not seeing all episodes, it sort of makes it excited, sort of like having new episodes.

SHOWS I THINK WERE BETTER THAN ITS DESCENDEE...

The Jeffersons over All in the Family
Family Matters over Perfect Strangers
Lucy Desi Comedy Hour over I Love Lucy
Friends over Mad About You (sort of ... the whole Ursula connection)

I can't think of any more.

I totally disagree with a lot of you!

All in the Family is a great show! I've seen every episode. I think someone said that it was never serious and funny at the same time and that made it not as good as the Jeffersons. I think that's what makes it different from all the other shows. It has depth to it, you know? And the episodes when Archie goes over to that waitresses house and Edith gets really upset with him were truely touching! Don't get me wrong I love the Jeffersons, it's just not better.

As for Family Matters being better than Perfect Strangers! Perfect Strangers was hilarious! I also liked Family Matters while I was little but now that I've watched both shows as an adult I've realized that the story lines on Family Matters were basically meaningless and more corny than funny. Perfect Strangers had a lot of physical comedy.

Also, I enjoyed it was Urkel cloned himself. The show was in need of a 'hunk' and the brother Eddie was NOT cutting it! Sometime I just watch the show to see the 'cool' Urkel. (That's pretty embassing! lol)

How can anybody not like the Golden Girls!!!! It's a funny show with meaning and great actors! I would like to know the reasons behind your not liking it. Empty Nest and Nurses were funny but they cannot hold a candle to Golden Girls, after all, Golden Girls has been on rerun for a long time. And I never see either of the others shows on anymore.
:wave:

I love AITF, but I think Jeffersons is better. AITF is one of my favorite shows of all-time though.

I made a mistake by saying Family Matters was better than Perfect Strangers. FM is nothing compared to PS.

I forgot about Cheers! Frasier is definitly a funny show but it hasn't made me want to keep watching. I'll watch it when there is absolutely nothing else on. But every night I watch Cheers on Nick-at-Night. I like the whole Sam and Diana thing as well as the Rebecca years. I'm curius as too which you people prefer.

Originally posted by iloveTV
I totally disagree with a lot of you!

All in the Family is a great show! I've seen every episode. I think someone said that it was never serious and funny at the same time and that made it not as good as the Jeffersons. I think that's what makes it different from all the other shows. It has depth to it, you know? And the episodes when Archie goes over to that waitresses house and Edith gets really upset with him were truely touching! Don't get me wrong I love the Jeffersons, it's just not better.

As for Family Matters being better than Perfect Strangers! Perfect Strangers was hilarious! I also liked Family Matters while I was little but now that I've watched both shows as an adult I've realized that the story lines on Family Matters were basically meaningless and more corny than funny. Perfect Strangers had a lot of physical comedy.

Also, I enjoyed it was Urkel cloned himself. The show was in need of a 'hunk' and the brother Eddie was NOT cutting it! Sometime I just watch the show to see the 'cool' Urkel. (That's pretty embassing! lol)

How can anybody not like the Golden Girls!!!! It's a funny show with meaning and great actors! I would like to know the reasons behind your not liking it. Empty Nest and Nurses were funny but they cannot hold a candle to Golden Girls, after all, Golden Girls has been on rerun for a long time. And I never see either of the others shows on anymore.
:wave:

I think the jeffersons and all in the family was even and the same thing with the cosby show and different world. Golden girls just didn't hold my interest and Family Matters was defintely better than perfect strangers-

I prefer Cheers over Frasier, even though Frasier is in my top ten favorite shows of all-time. I prefer the Rebecca years more than the Diane years, but they were both great. It was sort of surreal in "ONE FOR THE ROAD" when they were face to face.

Originally posted by AdiTheGame
I love AITF, but I think Jeffersons is better. AITF is one of my favorite shows of all-time though.

I made a mistake by saying Family Matters was better than Perfect Strangers. FM is nothing compared to PS.

Perfect strangers was horrible-i just think for male characters, they were too soft and silly-

I agree they were too soft, but the sillyness made it hilarious.

I definately like cheers better than frasier. Frasier can be too "opery" sometimes as cheers and the cast being goofy more often. Plus i think frasier kinda copied cheers by making a Roz- a Sam in a skirt...

"a sam in a skirt."

That put a weird picture in my mind.

lol

Originally posted by Burke Snow Winters
Which spinoffs were better then the original?

I like "Mayberry RFD" and "Gomer Pyle, USMC" waaaay more then "The Andy Griffith Show"!

Ugggh! Mayberry RFD has to be about the WORST excuse for a TV show I've ever seen. NEVER did it make me laugh. Ken Berry's character, and most of the others, were totally bland and uninteresting, much unlike the wide assortment of characters from the early days of The Andy Griffith Show. And this is supposed to be a show about a small town in North Carolina? Then why is it that NOBODY on that show has a southern accent? As for Gomer Pyle, that has to be the most annoying character ever created for TV. The Andy Griffith Show, in its early years when Don Knotts was around, was an exceptional series. Gomer Pyle, USMC and Mayberry RFD (especially) suck big time!

Originally posted by LucyFan
I tend to like Laverne & Shirley more than it's parent show Happy Days. To me, Laverne & Shirley seemed funnier (with good morals in it) than Happy Days. Happy Days was good too but not as good as Laverne & Shirley was.
I like both shows alot.



I hate both shows. They are both loud and not the least bit believable. Laverne and Shirley was an attempt at creating a new version of Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance. But Ball and Vance were professionals who took great pains to bring out the best performance in the most subtle of ways. But Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams were anything BUT subtle in their performance. They tried to compensate for their lack of acting ability by being as loud and exaggerated as possible. As for Happy Days, I did like it when it first started. The show was written and produced as a genuine reflection of a 1950s family. The plots and the acting were very realistic. But then a couple years later, they decided to turn it into The Fonzie Show, and brought in a studio audience full of screaming teenage girls. The plots were anything but believable at that point and it lost every bit of the charm that it had in its beginning.

Originally posted by LucyFan


I think of Laverne & Shirley as a younger version of Lucy Ricardo/Lucy Carmichael and Ethel Mertz/Vivian Bagley. All three shows had a lot of physical comedy and the situations in L&S were very similar to those of I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show. Please take note that Garry Marshall, the creater of Laverne & Shirley, was also one of the writers for The Lucy Show.


Please take note also that Garry Marshall was one of the writers who ruined The Lucy Show. The Lucy Show was an excellent show before he came along.

Originally posted by boechsner
3. Rhoda was better then The Mary Tyler Moore Show

[This message has been edited by boechsner (edited 11-20-2001).]

I HARDLY think so! The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the most well written and best acted sitcom in the history of television. Rhoda was a disastrous mess. They couldn't even decide what to do with her. Is she single? Is she married? How 'bout divorced? Does she have a job or not? The format of that show got changed about every six months before CBS finally gave up after a few years and gave it the ax.

Originally posted by britt britt
L&S was better than happy days, I love laverne and shirley! though happy days was good too! L&S was sooo funny and its crazy how they never won an emmy, that ticks me off!! they were so good!

My gosh, it seems perfectly obvious to me why those shows never won any Emmys.

You have a lot of obscene opinions, do you not?

Originally posted by SOLOMON


Perfect strangers was horrible-i just think for male characters, they were too soft and silly-

I agree.

Originally posted by JaneTVFan


Ugggh! Mayberry RFD has to be about the WORST excuse for a TV show I've ever seen. NEVER did it make me laugh. Ken Berry's character, and most of the others, were totally bland and uninteresting, much unlike the wide assortment of characters from the early days of The Andy Griffith Show. And this is supposed to be a show about a small town in North Carolina? Then why is it that NOBODY on that show has a southern accent? As for Gomer Pyle, that has to be the most annoying character ever created for TV. The Andy Griffith Show, in its early years when Don Knotts was around, was an exceptional series. Gomer Pyle, USMC and Mayberry RFD (especially) suck big time!

I need to modify one thing here. I liked the Gomer character when he was on The Andy Griffith Show as a minor character. But giving him the central role on his own series was overdose. In small doses, the character was funny. In large doses, he was annoying.

I always thought that Fraiser seemed so different from Cheers, almost totally unrelated. Fraiser is hysterical, but he seems to be much more pretentious in Fraiser. Almost makes you wonder why he even hung out at Cheers anyway in light of all the places Him and Niles go.

I was watching the anniversary marathon the other day on N@N or TVL and I heard Fraiser say his father got shot and died!!

I knew he got shot, but died? Guess they hadn't thought of the spin off at that point.

The Jeffersons was slightly better than AITF
Laverne and Shirley was better than HD
FOL was better than DS
HL was slightly better than DS

I always thought that Fraiser seemed so different from Cheers, almost totally unrelated. Fraiser is hysterical, but he seems to be much more pretentious in Fraiser. Almost makes you wonder why he even hung out at Cheers anyway in light of all the places Him and Niles go.

I agree. Personally I prefer Frasier over Cheers, but I really love them both.

I often wonder about why Frasier went to Cheers too... and Lilith too! Still, I'm not complaining ;) I think Frasier was fantastic in Cheers, and IMO the reason he is more refined now is because he has Niles with him meaning that he can do all the pretenrtous things he always wanted to do back in Boston - his family all know what he's like so he doesn't need to play it down so much. And that's good news too! :p I like pretentious Frasier...

Rob

The Jeffersons was funnier than All In The Family, though I like at least the first 3 or 4 seasons of AITF, after that forget it. The Jeffersons was the only Norman Lear show that didnt take itself too seriously. They just were funny.

Laverne & Shirley was way funnier than Happy Days.

Family Matters was much funnier than Perfect Strangers, though they did let it run too long.

Green Acres was funnier than Petticoat Junction, though it had a whole different flavor than PJ, which was downhome and sentimental, whereas GA was more surreal and cynical.

No way was Mayberry RFD better than Andy Griffith, however the color episodes of AG are definitely inferior to the B&W episodes. I turn the channel when the color ones come on.

L&S = MUCH better than HD.
What about Mork and Mindy though? I haven't seen enough episodes to decide myself.

The Jeffersons = MUCH better than AITF

Frasier = Slightly better than Cheers

The Facts of Life (espcially the Eastland years) = MUCH better than DS

A Differnet Word = Slightly less than The Cosby Show

I haven't seen enough episodes of Empty Nest to decide between that and Golden Girls (and I love Golden Girls)

Rhoda = MUCH less than Mary Tyler Moore (though Rhoda was still a good show)

I haven't seen Phyllis at all so I wouldn't know between that and MTT.

I really like Family Matters but I have never seen that show that came from so I don't know about that one either.

And now if you don't mind me adding a very recent cartoon series:

All Grown Up = MUCH better than all recent episodes of Rugrats





Now for show which would make good spinoffs (IMO)

I think that Roz deserves a spinoff from Frasier.
I think that Darlene and David should have had a spinoff from Roseanne.
I think that Crystal should have as well, and also the hair saloon (from Roseanne).
I think that Lenny and Squigy should have been spun off from L&S.
I think that Don should have had a spinoff from 3rd Rock from the Sun.
I think that Mary should have had a spinoff as well (from 3rd Rock).
I think that Newman should have had a spinoff from Seinfeld (hey, Wayne Knight would have been starring in two shows at once if both my spinoff ideas for him were true. So maybe just one or the other but its difficult to choose!)


Anyone else have any ideas for spinoffs that should have been?

The only one I can think of is Good Times being so much better than Maude.

Originally posted by GoldenGuy
i can't beleive there are people who dislike The Golden Girls. Anyways my ex girlfriend hated golden girls but i like it

1. I like Fraiser better then Cheers

2. I like The Jeffersons better then AITF (i do like AITF alot, but it aint nearly as funny as The Jeffersons)

Good Times
The Jeffersons
Family Matters
Different World - Personally I thought this show was better than the Cosby show!
The Parkers - I liked the Parkers more than Moesha

I liked "Laverne & Shirley" much, much better than "Happy Days", until L & S moved to califiornia, and half the town went with them-in what has to be the most ridiculous sitcom change in history! "H.D." was allright the first season, until they added that AWFUL live audience, changed the Cunninghams living room, and the series became "The Fonzie show". (I heard that ABC wanted to rename it "Fonzies Happy Days" :rolleyes: but the cast objected-thank god!!!)

Facts of life was WAY better than Different Strokes, but DS had a much cuter girl ( Whom i had a huge crush on at the time ) Simpsons are better than Tracy Ullman, which i watched more for the Simpsons segments than the sketches...but i did like it

I HARDLY think so! The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the most well written and best acted sitcom in the history of television. Rhoda was a disastrous mess. They couldn't even decide what to do with her. Is she single? Is she married? How 'bout divorced? Does she have a job or not? The format of that show got changed about every six months before CBS finally gave up after a few years and gave it the ax.
Well... I wouldnt say Rhoda was THAT bad...at least until they had her divorce, THAT was a mistake, btw, I think MTM was far superior though, also. :confused:

I know, the post is three years old. But still....

CHEERS was better than FRASIER. Don't get me wrong, I love 'Frasier', it's a great show. But if Frasier was better, why didn't they make a show about him without ever putting him on Cheers.

....that's why they call it a spinoff.



Anyways, I prefer Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy over Happy Days.

I prefer The Jeffersons over All In The Family.

And Family Matters over Perfect Strangers.

As for Cheers and Frasier (my 2 favorites series).... at their best, Frasier was better. But Cheers was more consistent throughout its run. Cheers gets the slight edge, IMO, but Frasier is just behind in a close second.