Are spinoffs a dying trend? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 10-02-2002, 02:10 PM

Is there anybody else out there who feels that they just don't do spinoffs like they used to? Imean I remember a time when a hit sitcom was almost guaranteed to have at least one spinoff or maybe more.

Nowadays we see hit shows come and go and nothing new comes out of them. I would of loved to see a spinoff of Seinfeld or maybe The Simpsons. Does anybody else feel the same?

jerry allen · 10-03-2002, 08:22 AM

I guess the networks feel that the public isn't a fan of the spin-off. Let's say that "Friends" would do a spin-off and concentrate on Matt LeBlanc or Jennifer Aniston's characters. Well, on one hand you have the critics who said enough of "Friends" in 1998 and here NBC comes out with another show based on it! Then you have the fans who'll watch it because of the "Friends" connection no matter if the show is good or not. It's all in the timing. One of the most unlikely spin-offs was "Family Matters" because the star of the show at first was JoMarie Payton as Harriet Winslow, an elevator operator at the newspaper where Larry and Balki worked, on the show "Perfect Strangers". The emphasis shifted from Harriet and husband, Carl, and began to center on the schemes of Steve Urkel, "straight-man" Carl, and his daughter, Laura. "Frasier" is the only spin-off series still on the air.

DJM77 · 10-03-2002, 08:36 PM

The spinoff phenomenom does appear to be over. Fraiser has been very successful but I can't think of any spinoff attempts in recent years. I agree that a Simpsons spinoff would be nice. A Seinfeld spinoff would be great too but it seems highly unlikely that it will ever happen.

IheartMoonlighting · 10-06-2002, 10:24 PM

I loved Cheers and when I first found out about a Frasier spin-off, I was like, huh? I never would have guessed it would be on the air for this long.

I think a lot of these tv actors either want to do movies or just get sick of playing the same character. For example, Jennifer Aniston would never do a spin off, she wants to do movies. In fact, the only character i can see going the spin off route is Joey's.

I can see Matt LeBlanc doing a spin off because he doesn't really have a film career.

Brian Damage · 10-09-2002, 03:59 PM

There has been talk of a Joey spinoff. I wonder if it will ever come to pass?

Will and Grace Fanatic · 10-09-2002, 05:10 PM

I think spin-offs are dying trend. Ever since the 90's there have been less and less spin-offs because they don't do very well.

thatbirdmartha · 11-19-2002, 04:13 AM

I agree with you on the comedy thing about spinoffs, but then if you look at all of the Law and Order shows and CSI, I'm starting to wonder if the trend for spinoffs is going towards the more dramatic series. And I hate to admit this, but I've never watched a L&O episode or a CSI epidose!

TJL · 11-19-2002, 07:27 AM

Aside from Friends, I can't think of any other sitcom that could be spun off. There are too many ensemble shows on nowadays. You lose one character, and the show looses an integral cast member.

Sitcomwriter · 11-23-2002, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TJL
Aside from Friends, I can't think of any other sitcom that could be spun off. There are too many ensemble shows on nowadays. You lose one character, and the show looses an integral cast member.

Well for some reason I feel a "Nina" show is going to happen (From "Just Shoot Me")

Central Perk · 11-23-2002, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sitcomwriter

Well for some reason I feel a "Nina" show is going to happen (From "Just Shoot Me")

That might be able to work but the show would have to be really good since Just Shoot Me isn't that great anymore..

Brian · 01-01-2003, 10:35 PM

I think the spinoff trend has been utterly exhausted by now. It seems like the 1970s had the most spinoffs (and most successful spinoffs) and it pretty much started to die down somewhere around the 1980s.

Will and Grace Fanatic · 01-04-2003, 02:11 PM

Now it seems as if spin-offs are only done if the show they have spun off from are out of production. Like Frazier for instance. And the rumored Joey spin-off from Friends.

owepar · 01-05-2003, 12:13 AM

There's a good reason that there aren't any spin-offs anymore... How often do shows last long enough to have spin-offs? While new shows could always quickly disappear, in the past ten years it's become a standard. More than half of the new shows that premiere each season are generally pulled while there are still unaired episodes. With that kind of death-rate, why bother making a spin-off? Yes, there is Frasier. But quite technically speaking, it's not really a spin-off. It appeared after Cheers went off the air, much like the Delta Burke "spin-off" from Designing Women, Women of the House.

The only true spin-off to come around since, geez, the Married with Children spin-off Top of the Heap (which was canceled and later came back as Vinnie and Bobbie) is probably The Parkers, which spun-off the Kim Parker character from Moesha. Even if Friends and Just Shoot Me go off the air, leaving Joey Tribianni and Nina Van Horne with their own shows, they won't be true spin-offs like the ones that existed in the 70s & 80s (The Jeffersons, Facts of Life, Just the 10 of Us, etc). Yes, that type of spin-off is a dying art.

10-02-2002, 02:10 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: 63,108	Are spinoffs a dying trend? Is there anybody else out there who feels that they just don't do spinoffs like they used to? Imean I remember a time when a hit sitcom was almost guaranteed to have at least one spinoff or maybe more. Nowadays we see hit shows come and go and nothing new comes out of them. I would of loved to see a spinoff of Seinfeld or maybe The Simpsons. Does anybody else feel the same?
	__________________ The Key to the Kingdom of Heaven: John 3:3 *Money Doesn't Buy Happiness...But I'd Rather Cry in My Private Jet*

10-03-2002, 08:36 PM	#3
DJM77 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: May 15, 2001 Location: Missouri Posts: 5,552	The spinoff phenomenom does appear to be over. Fraiser has been very successful but I can't think of any spinoff attempts in recent years. I agree that a Simpsons spinoff would be nice. A Seinfeld spinoff would be great too but it seems highly unlikely that it will ever happen.
	__________________ Marge: There are only 49 stars on that flag. Abe: I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missouri! Last edited by DJM77; 10-03-2002 at 08:41 PM.

10-09-2002, 05:10 PM	#6
Will and Grace Fanatic be happy Senior Member Join Date: Feb 15, 2002 Location: seattle, washington Posts: 2,746	I think spin-offs are dying trend. Ever since the 90's there have been less and less spin-offs because they don't do very well.
	__________________ love is love

11-19-2002, 07:27 AM	#8
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,591	Aside from Friends, I can't think of any other sitcom that could be spun off. There are too many ensemble shows on nowadays. You lose one character, and the show looses an integral cast member.
	__________________ "I think I'll stroll up to the front to see how the shooting's going..." - Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce Read my blogs! http://centralparkamisguide.com/ http://dvdcriticscorner.com Visit me on Facebook!http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=641138880 Hey, I do the tweet thing too! http://twitter.com/TomLevier My shop of handmade items! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColdGarageCreations

01-05-2003, 12:13 AM	#13
owepar Member Occasional Poster Join Date: May 15, 2001 Location: Texas Posts: 36	There's a good reason that there aren't any spin-offs anymore... How often do shows last long enough to have spin-offs? While new shows could always quickly disappear, in the past ten years it's become a standard. More than half of the new shows that premiere each season are generally pulled while there are still unaired episodes. With that kind of death-rate, why bother making a spin-off? Yes, there is Frasier. But quite technically speaking, it's not really a spin-off. It appeared after Cheers went off the air, much like the Delta Burke "spin-off" from Designing Women, Women of the House. The only true spin-off to come around since, geez, the Married with Children spin-off Top of the Heap (which was canceled and later came back as Vinnie and Bobbie) is probably The Parkers, which spun-off the Kim Parker character from Moesha. Even if Friends and Just Shoot Me go off the air, leaving Joey Tribianni and Nina Van Horne with their own shows, they won't be true spin-offs like the ones that existed in the 70s & 80s (The Jeffersons, Facts of Life, Just the 10 of Us, etc). Yes, that type of spin-off is a dying art.
	__________________ Owepar

10-03-2002, 08:22 AM	#2
jerry allen Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 01, 2002 Location: State Route 72/ Ohio Posts: 148	I guess the networks feel that the public isn't a fan of the spin-off. Let's say that "Friends" would do a spin-off and concentrate on Matt LeBlanc or Jennifer Aniston's characters. Well, on one hand you have the critics who said enough of "Friends" in 1998 and here NBC comes out with another show based on it! Then you have the fans who'll watch it because of the "Friends" connection no matter if the show is good or not. It's all in the timing. One of the most unlikely spin-offs was "Family Matters" because the star of the show at first was JoMarie Payton as Harriet Winslow, an elevator operator at the newspaper where Larry and Balki worked, on the show "Perfect Strangers". The emphasis shifted from Harriet and husband, Carl, and began to center on the schemes of Steve Urkel, "straight-man" Carl, and his daughter, Laura. "Frasier" is the only spin-off series still on the air.

10-06-2002, 10:24 PM	#4
IheartMoonlighting David & Maddie Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 01, 2002 Location: Blue Moon Detective Agency Posts: 318	I loved Cheers and when I first found out about a Frasier spin-off, I was like, huh? I never would have guessed it would be on the air for this long. I think a lot of these tv actors either want to do movies or just get sick of playing the same character. For example, Jennifer Aniston would never do a spin off, she wants to do movies. In fact, the only character i can see going the spin off route is Joey's. I can see Matt LeBlanc doing a spin off because he doesn't really have a film career.

10-09-2002, 03:59 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: 63,108	There has been talk of a Joey spinoff. I wonder if it will ever come to pass?

11-19-2002, 04:13 AM	#7
thatbirdmartha Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Nov 18, 2002 Posts: 24	I agree with you on the comedy thing about spinoffs, but then if you look at all of the Law and Order shows and CSI, I'm starting to wonder if the trend for spinoffs is going towards the more dramatic series. And I hate to admit this, but I've never watched a L&O episode or a CSI epidose!

01-01-2003, 10:35 PM	#11
Brian Member Forum Celebrity Join Date: Jun 23, 2001 Posts: 20,451	I think the spinoff trend has been utterly exhausted by now. It seems like the 1970s had the most spinoffs (and most successful spinoffs) and it pretty much started to die down somewhere around the 1980s.

01-04-2003, 02:11 PM	#12
Will and Grace Fanatic be happy Senior Member Join Date: Feb 15, 2002 Location: seattle, washington Posts: 2,746	Now it seems as if spin-offs are only done if the show they have spun off from are out of production. Like Frazier for instance. And the rumored Joey spin-off from Friends.