Top 15 Most Successful Tv Spin Offs Of All Time.
Successful spin offs are a dime a dozen. There have been so many attempts over the years but very few actually made it past the pilot (or backdoor pilot) and even fewer managed to match, if not surpass, the success of their mothership shows. Here are fifteen of the best and most successful tv spin offs that television has produced. We’re taking into consideration actual television ratings, award wins, critical acclaim, longevity of seasons and staying power. We’re also counting whole franchises. So with that all said… Hereeeee we go!
15. The Parkers.
Countess Vaughan’s Kim Parker was a breakout character in Brandy’s hit 90s sitcom Moesha, so the UPN wisely chose to spin her and comedian Monique into their own sitcom which was all about Kim and her mother Nikki’s adventures in college with their friends and Nikki’s eternal crush Professor Oglevee. The show went five seasons with over 100 episodes on UPN from 1999–2004 and developed its own fanbase and legacy independent from Moesha.
14. Mama’s Family.
With 6 full seasons and over 100 episodes, this spin off of The Carol Burnett Show is as funny and beloved by a large fanbase today as it was as it did when it ran from 1983–1984 on NBC and 1986-1989 in syndication. The lovably dysfunctional Harper family has made their mark in tv history as one of the few sitcom spin offs of a sketch comedy show. Mama Harper has become an icon to a generation that wasn’t even around when the show aired.
13. Benson.
Benson was everybody’s favorite character from the zany sitcom\soap opera Soap. Robert Gulliame even received an Emmy for his role in Soap, so naturally he would get his own spin off show and it turned out that ol’ Benson still had the charm. Benson ran for eight successful seasons from 1979–1986 and was a Friday night staple for the ABC network. Robert Gulliame went on to win another Emmy for playing Benson, and the show became famous for having the character of Benson go from the Head of Household Affairs to State Budget Director to Lieutenant Governor; That kind of character development for a television character was very rare then and even still now.
12. Laverne & Shirley.
After their iconic first appearence on Happy Days Gary Marshall spun off these two wacky roommates and gave us one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time as well as one of tv’s most beloved and memorable tv themes. The show ran eight full seasons on ABC and was the longest running Happy Days spin off.
11. Family Matters.
Jo Marie Peyton’s Harriet Winslow was a regular cast member of Perfect Strangers, and after an appearence from her cop husband Reginald VelJohnson’s Carl Winslow ABC spun off the Winslows. But the show really didn’t become the mega hit it became until Steven Q. Urkel came in and stole the hearts of millions with his classic catchphrases such as “Shhh, not while I’m pouring” and “Got any cheese” and most famously “Did I do that!?”. Reaching nine seasons and over two hundred episodes Family Matters was at that time one of the longest running tv shows with a black cast right under The Jeffersons and one year long than The Cosby Show. The show is still beloved and popular to this day.
10. Lou Grant.
Many stars of The Mary Tyler Moore Show went on to star in their own very successful tv shows: Cloris Leachman and Valerie Harper went on to do many projects, including spin offs with their character Phyliss and Rhoda, Gavin MacLeod went on to The Love Boat, Ted Knight to Too Close For Comfort, Betty White to The Golden Girls and Hot In Cleveland and Ed Asner to the comedy\drama spin off of his beloved character Lou Grant. Lou Grant was a totally unique type of attempt at the time: Taking a sitcom character and putting him as the star of a dramatic series. It hadn’t ever been done before and rarely if not never been done since. The show went on for a successful five season run with over 113 episodes and won 13 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series before being cancelled in 1982. Ed Asner claimed at the time that his very strong stand on politics may have led to the cancellation.
9. Angel.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer was a phenomenon in the 1990s, so naturally The WB wanted to spin off one of its most popular characters: Angel, the vampire with a soul who seeks redemptions for his past evil deeds in Los Angeles as a private investigator. The show’s darker tone, witty sense of humor more mature themes and strong character development won audiences and critics over with many considering it even better than Buffy. The show ran for five seasons on The WB before being cancelled.
8. Better Call Saul.
Everyone’s favorite crooked, ambulance chasing attorney proved popular enough to get out of Walter White’s shadow and recieve his own show which served as both a prequel and a sequel for Breaking Bad, as we get to see how two bit con artist Jimmy McGill became Saul Goodman aka “Better Call Saul.” The show ran for six seasons from 2015 to 2022. It received critical acclaim with many considering it a worthy successor to Breaking Bad and some even claiming it to even be superior to its predecessor. The show garnered many award nominations including two Peabody Awards, 48 Primetime and Creative Arts Emmys, 19 Writers Guld of America Awards etc. The series premiere held the record for the highest rated scripted series premiere in basic cable history.
7. The NCIS Franchise.
With being a spin off itself of JAG, NCIS has spawned a few successful spin offs such as NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS :New Orleans and most recently NCIS: Hawaii. The franchise as a whole has won CBS huge ratings and worldwide recognition. However, the only show to get close to reaching the mega success of the mothership has been NCIS: Los Angeles which just ended a triumphant fourteen year run.
6. A Different World.
The original idea was to spin off middle Huxtable child Denise on her Hillman college adventures, but after a rocky season 1 this spin off took on a life of its own. A Different World essentially became one of the most popular and successful shows of the 1980s and early 1990s. It remained in the top five ratings in its first four seasons and remaining in the top 20 in its fifth. The show became a cultural phenomenon for many black college students and helped skyrocket the enrollments at HBCUs during its run. One could say the show was at least on par with The Cosby Show in significance culturally and educationally if not even more so.
5. The Norman Learverse.
Very few television creators and producers have had the monumental success of Mr. Norman Lear. In the 1970s most of the most popular and successful shows on the air had his name attached to “developed by” or “created by” or “produced by”. What started with All In The Family became a dynasty of relevant, biting, and truly funny sitcoms that are just as beloved today as they were then.
4. Law & Order Franchise.
We all recognize that “chung chung” because most of the most popular crime shows all share that signature little sound throughout their episodes. Dick Wolf’s Law & Order franchise has been an institution for the crime procedural genre and has influenced almost every crime show that has been on the air for over thirty years. Whether you’re a fan of original recipe Law & Order or more partial to the likes of Special Victims Unit aka SVU, Criminal Intent or even the more recent Organized Crime, it’s almost unfathomable to think that there was a time when there were no Law & Order series on the air.
3. Star Trek Franchise.
There may be no bigger franchise in the history of television or film than the Star Trek franchise. What started with a quirky little 1960s sci-fi show became an institution of many television series and films throughout the decades. I may not have done the proper math, but I figure that the tv franchise alone has garned over billions of dollars in revenue for the production companies and studios for over fifty plus years. It’s true what Captains Kirk and Picard said in their opening titles: Star Trek has gone where no other tv show has gone before.
2. The Simpsons.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. The Simpsons has gone on longer than the Earth has been spinning, but we can’t forget how truly remarkable a success this little spin off from The Tracy Ullman Show has been for over thirty years. The show has become apart of not just American culture but worldwide culture. The marketing alone has been hugely profitable with toys, comic books, posters, board games, video games, clothing and apparel etc. The show has received many awards and accolades during its peak in the 1990s. All of that, plus the show has been going for almost 35 seasons, there’s no show live action or animated that can claim that.
- Frasier.
It’s funny how back in 1993 when it was announced that Frasier Crane, the lovably wacky psychiatrist from Cheers was getting his own spin off many people scoffed at the idea, even its own creators\producers. But boy were they all wrong. Frasier is television’s most honored sitcom and certainly its most honored spin off. The show ran eleven years, garnered 108 Emmy nominations and won 37 Emmys total which was a record for any tv show until Games of Thrones took the title at 38 wins. So when it comes to ratings, critical acclaim and especially accolades, no other spin off comes close to Frasier. Many tv fans consider Frasier superior to Cheers and one of the greatest tv shows ever made. The show still receives lots of love from fans and is always available to watch on streaming or nostalgic tv stations. Frasier is perhaps the best spin off to ever stand on its own completely independent from its predecessor. While there were the occasional crossover episodes with Cheers alums stopping by to visit Frasier in Seattle, for the most part one watching the show forgets that this is the same character from Cheers.
Till next time, folks!