Well I finally seen a episode of Good Times that confirmed it was a spinoff of Maude. Now i need help from someone so I can confirm that Family Matters was a spinoff of Perfect Stranmgers. This question is only for a person who watched family matters from start to finish. During the 1989-1998 airing of Family Matters, was there ever a reference made by Harriet or Carl to Perfect Strangers? Such as Harriet's old job?

there was reference made in episode 3 in 1989 when Harriet lost her elevator job at the chronicle by a self service elevator. She got another job at the chronicle as head of security at the end of the episode. There was even a scene at the chronicle when she went to see Mr. Seegar in Personal about the new postion opening.

Even if that scene did not exist, it would still be a spinoff........LOL.;)

Originally posted by ThomasE
there was reference made in episode 3 in 1989 when Harriet lost her elevator job at the chronicle by a self service elevator. She got another job at the chronicle as head of security at the end of the episode. There was even a scene at the chronicle when she went to see Mr. Seegar in Personal about the new postion opening.

Even if that scene did not exist, it would still be a spinoff........LOL.;)


Thanks Thomas, it's confirmed now. Family Matters is a spinoff of Perfect Strangers. That's the information I have been waiting for.

Originally posted by ThomasE
there was reference made in episode 3 in 1989 when Harriet lost her elevator job at the chronicle by a self service elevator. She got another job at the chronicle as head of security at the end of the episode. There was even a scene at the chronicle when she went to see Mr. Seegar in Personal about the new postion opening.

Even if that scene did not exist, it would still be a spinoff........LOL.;)


That episode was actually the first episode that was made which made a lot of sense because it had a lot to do with Perfect Strangers. Do you know how long Harriet worked at the Chronicle once Family Matters started? I don't think I watched the first season too much. I also wanted to ask you why did you mentioned Mr. Seeger? I thought you mentioned Mr. Seeger because he was a PS character appearing in a FM episode.

I mentioned Mr. Seegar because he WAS on that episode of FM and Harriette told him off when he thought that she was not qualified for the job. SOLOMON, you have me thinking, now. Was Mr. Seegar ever on any Perfect Strangers episodes? I didn't watch too much till later seasons and any eps that had Harriette on them. Harriette continued at her new job at the chronichle until 1993 when she was laid off again. You'd think there would be some type of crossover plot every once and a while.

Originally posted by ThomasE
I mentioned Mr. Seegar because he WAS on that episode of FM and Harriette told him off when he thought that she was not qualified for the job. SOLOMON, you have me thinking, now. Was Mr. Seegar ever on any Perfect Strangers episodes? I didn't watch too much till later seasons and any eps that had Harriette on them. Harriette continued at her new job at the chronichle until 1993 when she was laid off again. You'd think there would be some type of crossover plot every once and a while.


But atleast there was a link maintained to PS through her job at the chronicle but like you said if Larry and Balki still worked there it makes you why there was never a crossover. I checked and Mr. Seeger were never on PS.

Originally posted by SOLOMON



Thanks Thomas, it's confirmed now. Family Matters is a spinoff of Perfect Strangers. That's the information I have been waiting for.

What's confirmed? Family Matters was a spinoff of Perfect Strangers. With or without a crossover being mentioned. Honestly Solomon, do you even know what a spinoff is?

Originally posted by Brian Damage


What's confirmed? Family Matters was a spinoff of Perfect Strangers. With or without a crossover being mentioned. Honestly Solomon, do you even know what a spinoff is?


Yes, a spinoff is taking one or two characters of a show and giving them their own show with some references to the parent show. And now i found out FM made reference to PS in the 3rd episode.

Originally posted by SOLOMON



Yes, a spinoff is taking one or two characters of a show and giving them their own show with some references to the parent show. And now i found out FM made reference to PS in the 3rd episode.

Oh, SOLOMON. LOL. A general Spinoff is an idea or character that is taken from a format and put into another either independently or with support. You have to realize what you are saying is just your own opinion and not necessarily factual. The crossovers are just bonuses we get. Bonuses that I prefer. The network execs will tell you the same thing. Empty Nest is a spinoff but used different character on Golden Girls and aired as a pilot on GG. Then a year and a half later, it aired. The only holdover was David Leisure who played Oliver in the pilot then renamed Charley and the Weston kitchen from the show was used in the pilot.

Originally posted by ThomasE


Oh, SOLOMON. LOL. A general Spinoff is an idea or character that is taken from a format and put into another either independently or with support. You have to realize what you are saying is just your own opinion and not necessarily factual. The crossovers are just bonuses we get. Bonuses that I prefer. The network execs will tell you the same thing. Empty Nest is a spinoff but used different character on Golden Girls and aired as a pilot on GG. Then a year and a half later, it aired. The only holdover was David Leisure who played Oliver in the pilot then renamed Charley and the Weston kitchen from the show was used in the pilot.

Exactly! A spinoff doesn't have to mention the parent show ever again to be conidered a spinoff. The cross overs are usually just a ratings ploy.(Not to confirm the show as a spinoff)

Originally posted by Brian Damage


Exactly! A spinoff doesn't have to mention the parent show ever again to be conidered a spinoff. The cross overs are usually just a ratings ploy.(Not to confirm the show as a spinoff)


Well i think aLL spinoffs should give some evidence that they are related to the parent show.

Originally posted by SOLOMON



Well i think aLL spinoffs should give some evidence that they are related to the parent show.

Hey, I'm with you on that but the producers don't want that sometimes. David Jacobs stopper Dallas/Knots Landing crossovers back in 1985 and I hated that he did that. I like crossover plots. They are fun and interesting.

Originally posted by ThomasE


Hey, I'm with you on that but the producers don't want that sometimes. David Jacobs stopper Dallas/Knots Landing crossovers back in 1985 and I hated that he did that. I like crossover plots. They are fun and interesting.


I wonder why the producers don't want that sometimes. Do u know?

Some producers want their shows to succeed or fail on their own without help from the parent show.

Originally posted by Brian Damage
Some producers want their shows to succeed or fail on their own without help from the parent show.


I really don't consider it helping the spinoff succeed, it's just maintaing a relation to the parent show.

How many times should a spinoff do a crossover? After awhile it could become ridiculous. It becomes almost laughable in that what was the sense of even having a seperate show.

Originally posted by Brian Damage
How many times should a spinoff do a crossover? After awhile it could become ridiculous. It becomes almost laughable in that what was the sense of even having a seperate show.


I would say atleast once a season. The first or last episode of a TV season.

Originally posted by SOLOMON



I would say atleast once a season. The first or last episode of a TV season.

On the other hand, TOO many crossovers could kill the spin-off's chance to find its own vibe...after all, the many times "Happy Days" crossed over with "Laverne & Shirley" almost made it a one-hour "Happy Days" marathon...L&S had to find its own groove or it would've dided had it been seperated from its parent show.

Originally posted by W.J. Griffin


On the other hand, TOO many crossovers could kill the spin-off's chance to find its own vibe...after all, the many times "Happy Days" crossed over with "Laverne & Shirley" almost made it a one-hour "Happy Days" marathon...L&S had to find its own groove or it would've dided had it been seperated from its parent show.

But I loved the crossovers. I do agree with SOLOMON to a degree. I wish that spinoff attempts would be done at least once a year. Not mandatory, but it would be nice. All crossover attempts don't necessarily ruin the spinoff. Look at Green Acres, Petticoat Junction and the Beverly Hillbillies. The Cosby Show and A Different World.(Seasons 1,2,3,5 & 6 had crossovers) Which I loved.

The reason the crossovers were stopped between "Dallas" and "Knots Landing" was due to the infamous Pam dreamed the entire season plot to bring back Bobby Ewing from the dead. KL had paid homage to Bobby by having Gary and Val name one of their babies after Gary's late brother. When it turned out to be a dream, David Jacobs said "never again" to crossovers. Although, Gary and Val appeared in the 1991 "Dallas" finale as part of the "It's a Wonderful Life" type plot.

In the case of "Six Million Dollar Man" and the "Bionic Woman," the reason those crossovers ended were due to the fact that BW moved to NBC in 1978. After the first episode of the NBC season, Steve Austin was never mentioned again and back on ABC, Jaime was never mentioned again after the episode "Kill Oscar." Richard Anderson and Martin E Brooks continued their cross networking on both series however.

One example of a series crossover that had nothing to do w/ being a spinoff was the frequent crossovers between Diff'rent Strokes and Hello, Larry. I think that Hello, Larry was in its second season (and only full season) when it was invented that Phil Drummond and Larry Adler had been old Army buddies and Phil was going out to Portland to see about buying the radio station where Larry worked. The shows appeared in consecutive timeslots on Friday nights that year (1979-1980), so one ep of Diff'rent Strokes continued into the next ep that night of Hello, Larry.
One funny sidenote to this crossover was the Mad magazine satire of Diff'rent Strokes in the June 1980 issue. I think it was called "Diff'rent Jokes". Apparently the crossovers happened enough so that McLean Stevenson as Larry crossed over into the Diff'rent Jokes show and traded insults w/ Arnold. "Arnut" asked why Larry (I forgot his joke name.) was there, and Phil's character (I can't remember his joke name either.) said that "the network thinks he'll improve your ratings". "Arnut" then says "That's like using Shelley Winters to make Cheryl Ladd look pretty.". Actually, by comparison, I think that could actually happen. :)
I have seen that two-part ep in syndication w/ Diff'rent Strokes, and the Hello, Larry ep has the titles changed to the DS titles, but it also credits the "producers from Hello, Larry" as well as the DS producers.

Originally posted by jehobden
One example of a series crossover that had nothing to do w/ being a spinoff was the frequent crossovers between Diff'rent Strokes and Hello, Larry. I think that Hello, Larry was in its second season (and only full season) when it was invented that Phil Drummond and Larry Adler had been old Army buddies and Phil was going out to Portland to see about buying the radio station where Larry worked. The shows appeared in consecutive timeslots on Friday nights that year (1979-1980), so one ep of Diff'rent Strokes continued into the next ep that night of Hello, Larry.
One funny sidenote to this crossover was the Mad magazine satire of Diff'rent Strokes in the June 1980 issue. I think it was called "Diff'rent Jokes". Apparently the crossovers happened enough so that McLean Stevenson as Larry crossed over into the Diff'rent Jokes show and traded insults w/ Arnold. "Arnut" asked why Larry (I forgot his joke name.) was there, and Phil's character (I can't remember his joke name either.) said that "the network thinks he'll improve your ratings". "Arnut" then says "That's like using Shelley Winters to make Cheryl Ladd look pretty.". Actually, by comparison, I think that could actually happen. :)
I have seen that two-part ep in syndication w/ Diff'rent Strokes, and the Hello, Larry ep has the titles changed to the DS titles, but it also credits the "producers from Hello, Larry" as well as the DS producers.



The same thing happened with Different Strokes and Silver Spoons. Silver Spoons followed DS on Friday night and they had Arnold appear on Silver Spoons to visit Ricky to get help for a school assigment in 1982

Then again there are crossovers between unrelated shows also.
I remember on the Nanny, she went to her class reunion and ran into Ray Barrone from Everybody Loves Raymond. The two shows were completely unrelated, unless I missed something somewhere.

Originally posted by gv416
Then again there are crossovers between unrelated shows also.
I remember on the Nanny, she went to her class reunion and ran into Ray Barrone from Everybody Loves Raymond. The two shows were completely unrelated, unless I missed something somewhere.


I have to look into that one. Were they both their Original Characters?

Yes, he even spoke of how bad it was living across the street from his parents. And Fran even called him by his ELR name, Ray Barrone.

The site below will probably give you all the spin-off and crossover information you could possibly want or need.

http://www.poobala.com/crossoverlist.html

Edit: It was already mentioned in this thread.

Originally posted by sickone23
The site below will probably give you all the spin-off and crossover information you could possibly want or need.

http://www.poobala.com/crossoverlist.html



That site has some errors

Originally posted by sickone23
The site below will probably give you all the spin-off and crossover information you could possibly want or need.

http://www.poobala.com/crossoverlist.html


That site received some of its info from me

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
That site received some of its info from me Really?

Originally posted by Undercover Angel
Really?


Yeah some Happy Days Info and Good Times.

Originally posted by ThomasE
Hey, I'm with you on that but the producers don't want that sometimes. David Jacobs stopper Dallas/Knots Landing crossovers back in 1985 and I hated that he did that. I like crossover plots. They are fun and interesting.

Dallas and Knots Landing had to stop crossovers in 1986 because Bobby Ewing's death turned out to be a dream of Pam Ewing's on Dallas but the character was still "dead" (although not mentioned again) on Knots Landing. By the same token everything that happened on Knots Landing from 1985 to 1993 was part of Pam Ewing from Dallas dream but since that notion is rediculous lets just say that the two shows were now in different universes making crossovers not possible. (Gary and Val Ewing from Knots Landing did appear in the last episode of Dallas, but as part of an episode where J.R. saw what the world would have been like without him, making that even another universe!)

Then again there are crossovers between unrelated shows also.
I remember on the Nanny, she went to her class reunion and ran into Ray Barrone from Everybody Loves Raymond. The two shows were completely unrelated, unless I missed something somewhere.

In the 1990s networks did theme nights, like 'Storm Night" where all the shows that night had a rainstorm or hurricane in their plot. Or 3-D night, where all the shows on ABC had a 3-D bit, or were all 3-D
[ Ellen, Drew Carey, Home Improvement, and more --on NBC, Third Rock had a 3-D dance in the snow ]
There was one night where Salem the Cat from Sabrina ate a "time ball" and appeared in all of the shows that night. I don't know if his sequences were just small "bumpers" that could be cut out later, but he appeared to promote a pirate dream ep of Family Matters, and ep of You Wish, some other show, and Sabrina
I taped the 3-D shows, then later tried to view them with 3-D glasses, and it didn't work, because of some reason. And now some fool stole or destroyed my tapes.
:crying: :crybaby:

Hello, ThomasE your post from 02-19-2003. I know. it´s 4 years too late but i have to say, that there WERE ONE CHARACTER USED IN EMPTY NEST from the original serie GOLDEN GIRLS: in the beginning seasons of EMPTY NEST was ESTELLE GETTY aka. SOPHIA PETRILLO in some episodes a special guest and in season 6 and 7 she belongs to the regular cast of EMPTY NEST.

Hello, ThomasE your post from 02-19-2003. I know. it´s 4 years too late but i have to say, that there WERE ONE CHARACTER USED IN EMPTY NEST from the original serie GOLDEN GIRLS: in the beginning seasons of EMPTY NEST was ESTELLE GETTY aka. SOPHIA PETRILLO in some episodes a special guest and in season 6 and 7 she belongs to the regular cast of EMPTY NEST.


Its all good. Welcome to the boards. I liked the fact that Estelle Getty joined the cast. I loved the crossovers to Nurses and vice versa.

It´s never too late for a good and real fact!:D Thank you for the welcome. I´m very glad to be here. :wave:

Solomon, here is the answer to your question from perfectstrangers.tv (http://perfectstrangers.tv)(via the expert Linda Kaye)

....There was an opening scene filmed for The Mama That Came to Dinner which included Balki and Larry but when the show aired this scene was left on the cutting room floor.

Solomon, here is the answer to your question from perfectstrangers.tv (http://perfectstrangers.tv)(via the expert Linda Kaye)

Did you know . . .
. . . that the show Family Matters was a spin-off from Perfect Strangers? ....There was an opening scene filmed for The Mama That Came to Dinner which included Balki and Larry but when the show aired this scene was left on the cutting room floor. As a result many people are surprised to find out that the show is a spin-off at all!

I thought the character of Harriet was originally the elevator lady or something on Perfect Strangers. I always liked Family Matters but never really liked PS.

on the following site you can see that harriet winslow belongs to the cast of perfect strangers in season 3-4 and in episode 62 of perfect strangers reginald veljohnson has a guest appearence as harriets husband as you can see on this site here too!
http://epguides.com/PerfectStrangers/guide.shtml#ep62

I just watched "The Graduate" from Perfect Strangers, in which Harriet (and I think her husband) attends Balki's Night School Graduation and Prom.

Well I finally seen a episode of Good Times that confirmed it was a spinoff of Maude.

:eek: