In my opinion I think a supporting character should only get there own spinoff once the parent show is over because it can be hard to compete if the parent show is in the top ten.
It happened to many supporting characters and some could not even return to their parent show. Such as the Ropers leaving Three'scompany, Flo leaving Alice, Florence leaving the Jeffersons, and Grady leaving Sanford and Son. So all those charcters got their own show when the parent show was still doing well. Would anyone want their own show if you were a supporting character while the parent show was still a hit?

It's hard to say. Many actors don't want to leave the comfort of being on a hit show. There are also actors who when they leave a show, want to do a character that is completely different from the one they portrayed on the hit show. Sometimes, producers think a character is popular and give them their own show, when in fact, it was the surroundings of the original show that made them popular.

Originally posted by Brian Damage
It's hard to say. Many actors don't want to leave the comfort of being on a hit show. There are also actors who when they leave a show, want to do a character that is completely different from the one they portrayed on the hit show. Sometimes, producers think a character is popular and give them their own show, when in fact, it was the surroundings of the original show that made them popular.


i always wonder why the supporting characters can't just say no i rather stay where i am. Norman Fell from three's company was forced to do the spinoff and so was Isabel Sanford from All In the Family.

In my opinion the best time to do a spinoff is when the parent show ends. Most spinoffs don't really live up to the quality of the parent show or last as long as it. The Facts Of Life and The Jeffersons are probably the only sitcoms that lasted longer than their parent shows.

Frasier will probably surpass Cheers, but then again it started a couple of years after Cheers ended.

Originally posted by Dr. Frasier Crane
In my opinion the best time to do a spinoff is when the parent show ends. Most spinoffs don't really live up to the quality of the parent show or last as long as it. The Facts Of Life is probably the only sitcom that lasted longer than it's parent show Diff'rent Strokes.

And that was surprising because I'm still trying to figure out how the facts of life lasted 9 years. Which in my opinion was not as entrtaining as Different Strokes

Originally posted by Brian Damage
Frasier will probably surpass Cheers, but then again it started a couple of years after Cheers ended.

Actually, Frasier premiered in the fall of 1993 and Cheers ended in the spring of 1993. I do think that Frasier will surpass Cheers in years though since Jane Leeves talked about a 12th season on Graham Norton (sp?).

I think you could do a spin-off, but some spin-offs weren't very popular, or didn't get many ratings. For example, All in the Family made a spin-off that followed the Bunker's after the show, and they named it Archie Bunker's Place. It lasted only 97 episodes and All in the Family lasted nine seasons. But they used it as a tenth season, and TV Guide didn't consider it as a new series, so it wasn't a typical spin-off. It wasn't as successful, because the viewers wanted to see the Bunker's in newer situations, surrondings and plots, instead of a continuation to All in the Family. So it should have stayed seperate.

There are many examples in this situation and all spin-offs don't become a big hit as their "parent shows". I guess it depends if the spin-off is necessary, or if they viewers are asking for one, not just because it's in the top ten.

Originally posted by Impressions
I think you could do a spin-off, but some spin-offs weren't very popular, or didn't get many ratings. For example, All in the Family made a spin-off that followed the Bunker's after the show, and they named it Archie Bunker's Place. It lasted only 97 episodes and All in the Family lasted nine seasons. But they used it as a tenth season, and TV Guide didn't consider it as a new series, so it wasn't a typical spin-off. It wasn't as successful, because the viewers wanted to see the Bunker's in newer situations, surrondings and plots, instead of a continuation to All in the Family. So it should have stayed seperate.

There are many examples in this situation and all spin-offs don't become a big hit as their "parent shows". I guess it depends if the spin-off is necessary, or if they viewers are asking for one, not just because it's in the top ten.


i just think it was a shame the producers gave the ropers their own show. Now the producers knew the Ropers could not compete with Three's company. It was no way a show centered around Stanley ad Helen would hold the attention of the viewing public unless they had put it on right after three's company. I think it would have lasted that way instead of putting it on saturday night.

Some shows and characters should just stay as one. I'm going to take Barney Fife for example. Okay, Barney was a popular character on 'The Andy Griffith Show'. Don Knotts left the show to do movies after the 5th season. If they had convinced Don to stay in the TAGS family and promised him a spin off, I can't guarantee that it would be funny. Don is hilarious when teamed up with Andy Griffith, but if you sent the Barney Fife character into Raleigh and had him do a spin- off- I don't think it would've lasted. jmo

Originally posted by SOLOMON



i just think it was a shame the producers gave the ropers their own show. Now the producers knew the Ropers could not compete with Three's company. It was no way a show centered around Stanley ad Helen would hold the attention of the viewing public unless they had put it on right after three's company. I think it would have lasted that way instead of putting it on saturday night.

Well, they could've lived in some other timeslot. However they were buried in a bad Saturday timeslot against a big hit (CHiPs), which spelt instant death for the series.

When a spinoff should start varies, imo. If a show waits until the very end, it may have bad ratings since the show probably had bad ratings when it ended. However, if a spinoff is made during the middle of the run of the series the parent show may lose part of it's spark. So it depends, imo.