Time Chooses the 10 Worst Spinoffs of All Time - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 10-03-2008, 01:31 PM

1. After M*A*S*H

The Korean War had ended, but the creators of the hit show M*A*S*H, one of the most successful television shows of all time, just couldn't walk away. Like the Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice — whose second season premieres tonight — AfterMASH took a main character out of a high-pressure medical situation and placed that person into ... a significantly less vital setting. Yanked from the cauldron of war, Colonel Potter, Sergeant Klinger and Father Mulcahy end up at a veterans' hospital. Scintillating. A well-received first season was followed by a disastrous second one when AfterMASH was placed against The A-Team. Then it was canceled.

Brian Damage · 10-03-2008, 01:31 PM

The listlessness of the first 40 seconds of The Ropers' credit sequence rarely dissipated over the show's ensuing 29 minutes. Turning the concept of Three's Company (the sitcom iceberg from which The Ropers calved) on its head, the show had Jeffrey Tambor's Jeffrey P. Brookes III serve as the straight-man foil to Norman Fell's Mr. Roper. See how they did that, flipping the script? It lasted little more than a year. Then it was canceled

Brian Damage · 10-03-2008, 01:32 PM

God, you really have to love the '80s (and the early '90s, which was basically still the '80s). An ABC spin-off of Spenser for Hire, the Robert Urich series based on the Robert B. Parker character, A Man Called Hawk, lasted little more than six months. It's hard to imagine why. Look at this show! Hawk (Avery Brooks, later of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fame) is a badass. He has one name. He wears nothing but black. He wears sunglasses at night. Also, his name is Hawk. Incredibly, all those things may also explain why the show didn't last. It was grim and violent, though not without an occasional xylophone interlude (watch the opening sequence again). Then it was canceled.

Brian Damage · 10-03-2008, 01:32 PM

This is likely what network executives thought:
A) Matt LeBlanc is on Friends.
B) Friends is funny.
C) A+B means Matt LeBlanc is funny.
D) Let's give Matt LeBlanc his own show, for it will be funny.

The problem with this line of reasoning, however, is that the third proposition is false. Hence, the entire thing instantly breaks down. Taking Joey out of New York City and away from his comic foils (especially Chandler), then moving him to Los Angeles and pitting him against his 20-year-old dorky nephew and Adriana from The Sopranos removed all the cute, clueless charm that made his character so lovable in the first place.

Brian Damage · 10-03-2008, 01:33 PM

Remember Johnny Depp? Hard to forget him, especially if you caught him when he first broke out on Fox's 21 Jump Street. Remember Richard Grieco? He was on 21 Jump Street too. And his character was so apparently popular that the network gave him a spin-off, Booker. Hard to believe now, especially since Grieco has essentially disappeared from the public eye. On Booker, his title character was hired away from the police force to work for a Japanese corporation (wha?). But he's still his own man, don't you see, because he shirks corporate attire, rockin' his leather jackets and torn jeans all while working as the in-house detective for a Japanese corporation. To go from scourge of the mean streets to glorified rent-a-cop is a steep fall indeed. After giving Booker a prime 7-8 p.m. spot on Sundays, the show was later moved to the less prominent 10 p.m. slot. Then it was canceled.

Brian Damage · 10-03-2008, 01:34 PM

David Hasselhoff simultaneously starred in Baywatch and this two-year-long spin-off in which he moonlighted as a private detective. The most fascinating aspect of the series is the way it turned into a completely different show during Season 2. Nights ditched the whole crime-fighting thing and focused on the supernatural. Vampires, demons and sea creatures suddenly and inexplicably began to appear around the beach in droves, scaring away bathers — and viewers. Then it was canceled.

Brian Damage · 10-03-2008, 01:34 PM

The bad spin-off by which all subsequent bad spin-offs are measured. In this Happy Days stepchild, Chachi (Scott Baio), the Fonz's younger cousin, moves to Chicago with Joanie (Erin Moran), Richie Cunningham's younger sister, to start a band. They sang a lot, Joanie and Chachi. Not always very well, as is clear in this clip. There were stereotypically named characters — Mario, Rico, Bingo — and stereotypically cheesy songs. The main characters soon returned to Happy Days. After the show was canceled, that is.

Brian Damage · 10-03-2008, 01:35 PM

This was sort of a dry run for Jerry Orbach. Years before appearing as Law and Order's Lennie Briscoe, Orbach starred as the titular private detective in this Boston-set Murder She Wrote spin-off. He was gruff and hard-edged (but with a soft center), yet a brilliant private eye. Nothing we hadn't seen before.

The title rhymes, though.

So that's cool.

Brian Damage · 10-03-2008, 01:36 PM

This X-Files spin-off starred the trio of dweeby conspiracy theorists who helped out Mulder and Scully from time to time. Often serving as comic relief on the original series, Byers, Frohike and Langley (first names were almost never used) similarly took on a hapless, Three Stooges–esque pose on their own show, which did not last very long at all. Creepily, the series premiere, in March 2001, involved a government conspiracy to crash a passenger airliner into the World Trade Center. Four months later, the show was canceled. Adding insult to injury, the Lone Gunmen themselves were killed off almost a year later on an episode of The X-Files.

Brian Damage · 10-03-2008, 01:37 PM

The clear mistake here was the assumption that the young people who appreciated the warm, corny humor of the original Saved by the Bell would continue to appreciate the exact same humor the older the characters got. Instead of tailoring even slightly their comedic approach, the people behind SBTB: TCY stayed creatively inert.

All that philosophizing aside, it was just a dumb show. Former L.A. Raider Bob Golic as a dorm RA? Dumb. Ditching Lisa and Jesse, but keeping Kelly because Kelly was supposedly the most attractive of the three? Dumb. Because guess what? The girl who played Jesse went on to star in Showgirls. Who's hot now?

http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...845866,00.html

Wreckless · 10-03-2008, 01:38 PM

Wait, Saved By The Bell College Years was good in my mind. That shouldn't be up there, when I saw the thread, I was thinking Joanie Loves Chachi is one of them.

HuntingtonM15 · 10-03-2008, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wreckless

Wait, Saved By The Bell College Years was good in my mind. That shouldn't be up there, when I saw the thread, I was thinking Joanie Loves Chachi is one of them.

I agree. Also, Tiffani was by far the hottest of the girls.

Wreckless · 10-03-2008, 01:51 PM

Yeah, I mean, not having Lisa or Jessie was bad but the show was still pretty good. Now SBTB, the new series should be there. That was horrible.

TVFactFan · 10-03-2008, 04:11 PM

That list was Bullsh*T, Jonaie Loves chachi was much more watchable than

Flo
Phyllis
Mork and Mindy
Gloria

LOL

JulieSomoski · 10-03-2008, 04:55 PM

I thought for sure Phyllis was going to be up there, considering how bad it was after its first season.

10-03-2008, 01:31 PM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Time Chooses the 10 Worst Spinoffs of All Time 1. After MASH The Korean War had ended, but the creators of the hit show MASH, one of the most successful television shows of all time, just couldn't walk away. Like the Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice — whose second season premieres tonight — AfterMASH took a main character out of a high-pressure medical situation and placed that person into ... a significantly less vital setting. Yanked from the cauldron of war, Colonel Potter, Sergeant Klinger and Father Mulcahy end up at a veterans' hospital. Scintillating. A well-received first season was followed by a disastrous second one when AfterMASH was placed against The A-Team. Then it was canceled.
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10-03-2008, 01:31 PM	#2
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	The Ropers The listlessness of the first 40 seconds of The Ropers' credit sequence rarely dissipated over the show's ensuing 29 minutes. Turning the concept of Three's Company (the sitcom iceberg from which The Ropers calved) on its head, the show had Jeffrey Tambor's Jeffrey P. Brookes III serve as the straight-man foil to Norman Fell's Mr. Roper. See how they did that, flipping the script? It lasted little more than a year. Then it was canceled

10-03-2008, 01:32 PM	#3
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	A Man Called Hawk God, you really have to love the '80s (and the early '90s, which was basically still the '80s). An ABC spin-off of Spenser for Hire, the Robert Urich series based on the Robert B. Parker character, A Man Called Hawk, lasted little more than six months. It's hard to imagine why. Look at this show! Hawk (Avery Brooks, later of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fame) is a badass. He has one name. He wears nothing but black. He wears sunglasses at night. Also, his name is Hawk. Incredibly, all those things may also explain why the show didn't last. It was grim and violent, though not without an occasional xylophone interlude (watch the opening sequence again). Then it was canceled.

10-03-2008, 01:32 PM	#4
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Joey This is likely what network executives thought: A) Matt LeBlanc is on Friends. B) Friends is funny. C) A+B means Matt LeBlanc is funny. D) Let's give Matt LeBlanc his own show, for it will be funny. The problem with this line of reasoning, however, is that the third proposition is false. Hence, the entire thing instantly breaks down. Taking Joey out of New York City and away from his comic foils (especially Chandler), then moving him to Los Angeles and pitting him against his 20-year-old dorky nephew and Adriana from The Sopranos removed all the cute, clueless charm that made his character so lovable in the first place.

10-03-2008, 01:33 PM	#5
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Booker Remember Johnny Depp? Hard to forget him, especially if you caught him when he first broke out on Fox's 21 Jump Street. Remember Richard Grieco? He was on 21 Jump Street too. And his character was so apparently popular that the network gave him a spin-off, Booker. Hard to believe now, especially since Grieco has essentially disappeared from the public eye. On Booker, his title character was hired away from the police force to work for a Japanese corporation (wha?). But he's still his own man, don't you see, because he shirks corporate attire, rockin' his leather jackets and torn jeans all while working as the in-house detective for a Japanese corporation. To go from scourge of the mean streets to glorified rent-a-cop is a steep fall indeed. After giving Booker a prime 7-8 p.m. spot on Sundays, the show was later moved to the less prominent 10 p.m. slot. Then it was canceled.

10-03-2008, 01:34 PM	#6
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Baywatch Nights David Hasselhoff simultaneously starred in Baywatch and this two-year-long spin-off in which he moonlighted as a private detective. The most fascinating aspect of the series is the way it turned into a completely different show during Season 2. Nights ditched the whole crime-fighting thing and focused on the supernatural. Vampires, demons and sea creatures suddenly and inexplicably began to appear around the beach in droves, scaring away bathers — and viewers. Then it was canceled.

10-03-2008, 01:34 PM	#7
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Joanie Loves Chachi The bad spin-off by which all subsequent bad spin-offs are measured. In this Happy Days stepchild, Chachi (Scott Baio), the Fonz's younger cousin, moves to Chicago with Joanie (Erin Moran), Richie Cunningham's younger sister, to start a band. They sang a lot, Joanie and Chachi. Not always very well, as is clear in this clip. There were stereotypically named characters — Mario, Rico, Bingo — and stereotypically cheesy songs. The main characters soon returned to Happy Days. After the show was canceled, that is.

10-03-2008, 01:35 PM	#8
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	The Law and Harry McGraw This was sort of a dry run for Jerry Orbach. Years before appearing as Law and Order's Lennie Briscoe, Orbach starred as the titular private detective in this Boston-set Murder She Wrote spin-off. He was gruff and hard-edged (but with a soft center), yet a brilliant private eye. Nothing we hadn't seen before. The title rhymes, though. So that's cool.

10-03-2008, 01:36 PM	#9
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	The Lone Gunmen This X-Files spin-off starred the trio of dweeby conspiracy theorists who helped out Mulder and Scully from time to time. Often serving as comic relief on the original series, Byers, Frohike and Langley (first names were almost never used) similarly took on a hapless, Three Stooges–esque pose on their own show, which did not last very long at all. Creepily, the series premiere, in March 2001, involved a government conspiracy to crash a passenger airliner into the World Trade Center. Four months later, the show was canceled. Adding insult to injury, the Lone Gunmen themselves were killed off almost a year later on an episode of The X-Files.

10-03-2008, 01:37 PM	#10
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Saved by the Bell: The College Years The clear mistake here was the assumption that the young people who appreciated the warm, corny humor of the original Saved by the Bell would continue to appreciate the exact same humor the older the characters got. Instead of tailoring even slightly their comedic approach, the people behind SBTB: TCY stayed creatively inert. All that philosophizing aside, it was just a dumb show. Former L.A. Raider Bob Golic as a dorm RA? Dumb. Ditching Lisa and Jesse, but keeping Kelly because Kelly was supposedly the most attractive of the three? Dumb. Because guess what? The girl who played Jesse went on to star in Showgirls. Who's hot now? http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...845866,00.html

10-03-2008, 01:38 PM	#11
Wreckless Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Nov 04, 2007 Location: Banned Posts: 9,406	Wait, Saved By The Bell College Years was good in my mind. That shouldn't be up there, when I saw the thread, I was thinking Joanie Loves Chachi is one of them.

10-03-2008, 01:51 PM	#13
Wreckless Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Nov 04, 2007 Location: Banned Posts: 9,406	Yeah, I mean, not having Lisa or Jessie was bad but the show was still pretty good. Now SBTB, the new series should be there. That was horrible.

10-03-2008, 04:11 PM	#14
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,101	That list was Bullsh*T, Jonaie Loves chachi was much more watchable than Flo Phyllis Mork and Mindy Gloria LOL

10-03-2008, 04:55 PM	#15
JulieSomoski Roseanne Reboot - March 27! Forum Veteran Join Date: Nov 06, 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 7,558	I thought for sure Phyllis was going to be up there, considering how bad it was after its first season.
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