'Cheers' Had BOTH The Greatest Spin-off & Worst Spin-Off in TV History!

[kramer]

Originally Posted by Johnny be good!

Brandon Tartikoff was a great man.

Agreed he also saved Seinfeld from being cancelled after the 5 episode 1st season

[steevo]

I remember watching the first season as it aired on NBC, and I really liked the sharp, funny writing. I was really pulling for Cheers to be successful and it was eventually, which I am glad for.

I tried to get into the Tortellis, but just couldn't. It just did not interest me (similar to the way I felt about AfterMASH). Frasier was great, though.

[glickmam]

Originally Posted by yankeesrj12

Speaking of Cheers, where did the huge audience spike between season one and two come from? The show started at the bottom of the barrel, but really increased as the series progressed. Did the show suddenly get better or did it just have a better timeslot?

Better timeslot. For the show's third season, both Cheers and Family Ties were moved to Thursday nights following The Cosby Show, which, of course, was a ratings powerhouse from almost the very beginning. And since there were no such thing as remote controls back then, people decided to stick around after The Cosby Show ended, rather than have to get up off the couch to change the channel.

[Yong Fang]

I like Dan Hedaya, and he is a great character actors. I saw The Tortellis and although I was a young teen, I did not think it was a bad series, and Hedaya carried the show. Maybe some of the problem is Hedaya is usually a dark character and may I say, not a sexy man. Casey Kasum's (sic?) wife was cute in this also and I think both of them carried the show from what I distantly remember.

I have a friend from Iceland and Dan Hedaya was one of his favorite actors and he loved the Coen Brothers movie "Blood Simple". I am also a Coen Brothers fan but thought that was one of their weakest works. One of my favorite roles that he was in to me was Hill Street Blues as the corrupt cop with two families and connections to the mob (who was killed).

I like Kelsey Grammar, but never got into Frasier. It was a well crafted program, but the humor was seemingly too highbrow for me. A show for people with large houses and BMW's in the driveway. Two Frasier episodes I have watched was the one where he and Miles take over a restaurant disasterously, and when Cliff had his retirement party and Frasier and dad went to the party. I have probably watched more Tortellis in the 1980's that any Frasier up to now......

Maybe my animosity was Frasier divorcing the beautiful (if pale white) Lillith. Why couldn't Lillith (Bebe Neuwirth) be the wife of Frasier? I would have enjoyed that more, but the writers wanting him single and the show lasted like 10 years so they know better than me.

[TMC]

Ken Levine explains why he believes that The Tortellis failed:

I may have told this story before, but David and I wrote an episode of THE TORTELLIS. We met with the Charles Brothers one afternoon to break a story. We spent all day trying to come up with an episode. Nothing seemed interesting. Finally, we decided to table the discussion until the next day. I asked Glen Charles, “What number episode is this?” He said, “Four.” And I said, “Four? We can’t come up with episode four? You are in **** shape with this show.”

And in truth they were. There was no real theme or premise. It was just a collection of characters living in Las Vegas. Add to that Nick & Loretta were fairly two-dimensional (funny as hell but two-dimensional) so it was hard to build a show around them. Compare that to spinning-off a far more fleshed-out and real character like Frasier Crane.

I remember there was a married couple who were writers on THE TORTELLIS. One day they got into an argument over a script they were writing for the show and it escalated to the point where they got divorced. They may have even come to blows. Over THE TORTELLIS. That’s when you know you’ve got a show in trouble.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Yong Fang

I like Dan Hedaya, and he is a great character actors. I saw The Tortellis and although I was a young teen, I did not think it was a bad series, and Hedaya carried the show. Maybe some of the problem is Hedaya is usually a dark character and may I say, not a sexy man. Casey Kasum's (sic?) wife was cute in this also and I think both of them carried the show from what I distantly remember.

I have a friend from Iceland and Dan Hedaya was one of his favorite actors and he loved the Coen Brothers movie "Blood Simple". I am also a Coen Brothers fan but thought that was one of their weakest works. One of my favorite roles that he was in to me was Hill Street Blues as the corrupt cop with two families and connections to the mob (who was killed).

I like Kelsey Grammar, but never got into Frasier. It was a well crafted program, but the humor was seemingly too highbrow for me. A show for people with large houses and BMW's in the driveway. Two Frasier episodes I have watched was the one where he and Miles take over a restaurant disasterously, and when Cliff had his retirement party and Frasier and dad went to the party. I have probably watched more Tortellis in the 1980's that any Frasier up to now......

Maybe my animosity was Frasier divorcing the beautiful (if pale white) Lillith. Why couldn't Lillith (Bebe Neuwirth) be the wife of Frasier? I would have enjoyed that more, but the writers wanting him single and the show lasted like 10 years so they know better than me.

The Tortellis was probably one of the least surprising unsuccessful spin-offs out there. Nick was an extremely unlikable character, and Jean Kasem as a performer was like nails on a chalkboard.

[Yong Fang]

Me again, after all of these years...............

I read not long ago about the illness and death of Casey Kasem, a famous DJ, radio and TV personality and his second (and last) wife) Jean. Casey became ill and died from a condition called Lewy's Body Dysphoria, it is a terrible disease and Robin Williams also suffered with it before he died.

There was a long standing dispute between his three children and Jean. Supposedly according to the children, Jean would not allow them to see him at the hospital when he was dying (and poor Casey not being able to give consent for the children to visit) and then barred them from seeing the body. Then Jean (for some unknown reason) buried Casey in of all places......Norway, a country Casey has never visitied and has no ties. Jean claims she is Norwegian, and this is disputed, but if she is, so what?

For some reason and there might be cause, but Jean hates Casey's children, and basicaqlly screwed them out of their father's inheritance. This story is a lot more strange than goofy than I have stated here, Google the story.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Better timeslot. For the show's third season, both Cheers and Family Ties were moved to Thursday nights following The Cosby Show, which, of course, was a ratings powerhouse from almost the very beginning. And since there were no such thing as remote controls back then, people decided to stick around after The Cosby Show ended, rather than have to get up off the couch to change the channel.

This is too simplistic. Hill Street Blues had ranked solidly in the 20s at 10 pm. Cheers moved up from last to low 30s in season 2, and by the end of season 2 NBC had strung together Family Ties-Cheers-Night Court-Hill Street Blues. Putting Cosby in front of them obviously helped a lot, but a lot of work had already been done.

[Yong Fang]

Concerning Family Ties, a lot of teenagers, and especially white, suburban kids watched this show because of Michael J Fox and Justine Bateman. Family Ties is sort of forgotten about now but was a big show then of my generation and made Fox a star.