Sitcom Spinoffs - Did They Want to Go?

[TMC]

There have been several spin-offs from sitcoms while the original show was still playing. Most of the time, it was secondary characters who the audience loved.

Do you think the spinoff star was always willing to go? Or do you think they enjoyed being the popular secondary character and the producers pushed them off the show?

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by TMC

There have been several spin-offs from sitcoms while the original show was still playing. Most of the time, it was secondary characters who the audience loved.

Do you think the spinoff star was always willing to go? Or do you think they enjoyed being the popular secondary character and the producers pushed them off the show?

A chance to star in your own series is pretty alluring, I know Vivian Vance turned down a chance to star in a spinoff of I Love Lucy featuring the Fred and Ethel characters (she couldn't stand Bill Frawley). The big one is Norman Fell and The Ropers, he wanted it written into his contract he could return to Three's Company should The Ropers fail, but the production company was unwilling to make that commitment. Fell was an old pro and he smelled a rat, he realized he was being hosed. It would become a familiar pattern with Three's Company.

[Yong Fang]

Originally Posted by Duster76

A chance to star in your own series is pretty alluring, I know Vivian Vance turned down a chance to star in a spinoff of I Love Lucy featuring the Fred and Ethel characters (she couldn't stand Bill Frawley). The big one is Norman Fell and The Ropers, he wanted it written into his contract he could return to Three's Company should The Ropers fail, but the production company was unwilling to make that commitment. Fell was an old pro and he smelled a rat, he realized he was being hosed. It would become a familiar pattern with Three's Company.

I dont know about Norman Fell smelling rats, but their spinoff sitcom was a gamble for him and the actress who played his wife. Fell had a long acting career but this was probably by far the best money he ever made (and dare say, her also). The producers of Three's Company supposedly stated if the new show (The Ropers) was cancelled within a season, they can be brought back to the parent show. The Ropers was cancelled after one and a half seasons. I think this was an excuse, and maybe the producers of the parents show let The Ropers go more than a season so they wouldnt be obliged to bring the two actors back to Threes Company...

Threes Company got Don Knotts, and probably there was a debate to whether Knotts would fit in with that show (a "hip", sort of sexy show about young people in Southern California, with an aging actor whose most famous for Barney Fife). But Knotts fit in perfectly, and the production was down one actor instead of two getting paid.

I didnt much care for the show, it was dumb. Both of the "landlords" were hilarious in it however. That and looking at Joyce DeWitt.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Yong Fang

I dont know about Norman Fell smelling rats, but their spinoff sitcom was a gamble for him and the actress who played his wife. Fell had a long acting career but this was probably by far the best money he ever made (and dare say, her also). The producers of Three's Company supposedly stated if the new show (The Ropers) was cancelled within a season, they can be brought back to the parent show. The Ropers was cancelled after one and a half seasons. I think this was an excuse, and maybe the producers of the parents show let The Ropers go more than a season so they wouldnt be obliged to bring the two actors back to Threes Company...

Threes Company got Don Knotts, and probably there was a debate to whether Knotts would fit in with that show (a "hip", sort of sexy show about young people in Southern California, with an aging actor whose most famous for Barney Fife). But Knotts fit in perfectly, and the production was down one actor instead of two getting paid.

I didnt much care for the show, it was dumb. Both of the "landlords" were hilarious in it however. That and looking at Joyce DeWitt.

Five TV Actors Whose Careers Were Hurt By Being Given Their Own Show

Today, we look at five TV actors whose careers were negatively impacted by being taken from a hit show and given their own series.

In Drawing Crazy Patterns, I spotlight at least five things from pop culture that fit under a specific theme (basically, stuff that happens frequently enough to be worth pointing it out). Note that these lists are inherently not exhaustive. They are a list of five examples (occasionally I’ll be nice and toss in a sixth). So no instance is “missing” if it is not listed. It’s just not one of the five examples that I chose. You can always feel free to suggest ANOTHER example that fits the theme, if you’d like, but nothing is “missing” from this list.

There are often stories of actors who left hit series because they thought they might be more successful doing other things, or actors who leave because they just don’t want to do the series anymore, but an interesting group of actors are those that leave a series because they were given their own series. These are the actors where you really can’t blame them, as who would stick with a recurring role when given a lead role on a series? For instance, no one ever says, “Why did Adam Brody leave Gilmore Girls for The O.C.?” or “Why did Jared Padalecki also leave Gilmore Girls for Supernatural?” because we all get it, it just makes sense to move from a show where you’re a recurring or supporting character to a series where you’re the lead character.

However, sometimes those moves backfire. Here are five (technically six, since there is one duo) TV actors whose careers were hurt by being given their own TV series.

NORMAN FELL AND AUDRA LINDLEY



This is the most tragic one on the list, as when the bickering landlords on Three’s Company were offered their own spinoff, Norman Fell, who knew a good thing when he saw it, said no, as he didn’t want to leave a hit series. He was convinced when they explained that he could return to Three’s Company if The Ropers wasn’t renewed for a second season. He agreed and he and Audra Lindley got their own sitcom. It WAS renewed for a second season…and then quickly canceled, at which point Don Knotts had been such a success on Three’s Company that they were out of jobs period. In a similar situation, Marla Gibbs “luckily” had her own failed spinoff from The Jeffersons canceled so fast that she WAS able to return to the original series.