It seems like a foolproof formula—take a character who was well liked on a popular show and give him his own show—but when you hear the dreaded word “spin-off,” the programs that immediately come to mind are unfortunate abominations like Joey, After M*A*S*H*, Baywatch Nights, and the stomach-churning Joanie Loves Chachi.
To be fair to the TV gods, the concept has worked wonderfully before. After all, where would we be without excellent spin-offs like Frasier, Melrose Place, and The Jeffersons? But occasionally a television show comes along that seems so fresh, original, and unexpected that audiences forget that at least one of the characters had a previous incarnation on another program. In the case of these five series, it’s hard to remember that they were spin-offs in the first place.
The Simpsons
The first time America saw Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson was as interstitial cartoons on The Tracey Ullman Show, a sketch-comedy program starring English comedienne Tracey Ullman. The forty-eight one-minute sketches, created by Matt Groening, appeared on Ullman’s show for three seasons; in 1989, the Simpsons got their own show.
When The Simpsons became a colossal hit, complete with millions of dollars in profits and merchandising rights, lawyers for Ullman and her show’s producers came calling. They claimed that since the characters had been created on her show, she was entitled to a share of all future profits. Unfortunately for her, courts ruled in favor of the network, finding that she was entitled only to the profits derived from characters she herself had created, and not the Simpsons, since they were Groening’s creations. According to The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized Biography, by John Ortved, Ullman was incensed by the royalties battle, saying, “I breast-fed those little devils.”
The Andy Griffith Show
Griffith’s portrayal of a folksy and down-to-earth sheriff in Mayberry, North Carolina, is one of the most beloved performances in all of television history. The show is enough of a classic that episodes still run on TV Land, but few viewers know (or remember) that the first appearance of sheriff Andy Taylor was actually on The Danny Thomas Show.
A 1960 episode of the show, also known as Make Room for Daddy during its first seasons, featured Thomas being arrested by Sheriff Andy in Mayberry; Griffith’s own series premiered later that year. A producer for The Danny Thomas Show had actually coordinated the development of Griffith’s show in an attempt to find a suitable vehicle for the star, who was well known to film and radio audiences. The episode “Danny Meets Andy Griffith” was meticulously planned to introduce audiences to Griffith’s new character, as the producers knew full well that a separate series would follow shortly.
