I was never a great Happy Days fan but weren't Mork and Mindy and the one with the 2 girls spin-offs? Laverne and Shirley.
Sitcom spin-offs Page 2
Quote: Chappers @ 17th November 2019, 8:05 PMI was never a great Happy Days fan but weren't Mork and Mindy and the one with the 2 girls spin-offs?
Yes, you're right.
The original question on the other thread concerned British sitcom spin-offs that were better than the sitcom from which they spun.
So far, we've been able to come up only with George and Mildred.
Looking across the Atlantic, however, Lofthouse has come up with Frasier and I don't think he's going to get a lot of argument about that. I think almost the whole English-speaking, television watching, comedy-appreciating world in the 80s and 90s might have agreed that Cheers was really really good but, having said that, its spin-off Frasier was not only loved, it was positively revered by tens of millions. So "well done" to Lofty for that one!
All further suggestions welcome!
Wacky Races and Dastardley and Mutley. "Stop that pigeon."
And how about Pebbles and Bam Bam after the Flintstones?
Quote: Chappers @ 17th November 2019, 8:44 PMWacky Races and Dastardley and Mutley. "Stop that pigeon."
And how about Pebbles and Bam Bam after the Flintstones?
That reveals more about what you watch than anything - box sets I expect. 
Has Joey been mentioned? A show that proves lightning doesn't strike twice.
Quote: chipolata @ 18th November 2019, 6:46 AMHas Joey been mentioned? A show that proves lightning doesn't strike twice.
I think it's fair to say that Joey wasn't as successful as Friends.
However, Matt LeBlanc was paid $75,000 for each of 25 episodes in season three of Friends , $85,000 for each of 24 episodes in season four, $100,000 for each of 24 episodes in in season five, $125,000 for each of 25 episodes in in season six, $750,000 for each of 24 episodes in each of seasons seven and eight, and $1 million per episode for the 42 episodes comprising seasons nine and ten.
Maths is not my strong point (as Da Butt will tell you) but according to my calculations:
That comes to almost $88 million in addition to whatever they paid him for seasons one and two.
When we take into account that he's been earning $20 million per year from the reruns over the last 15 years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, I don't think he'll be overly concerned about the success (or lack thereof) of Joey.
Let's face it, when Friends finished, he needed a successful spin-off sitcom like JK Rowling needed another bestselling novel after "Deathly Hallows". 
Quote: Chappers @ 17th November 2019, 8:05 PMI was never a great Happy Days fan but weren't Mork and Mindy and the one with the 2 girls spin-offs? Laverne and Shirley.
There's a third!
Joanie Loves Chachi
Back in Britain, the wonderful Phoenix Nights was a spin-off from That Peter Kay Thing - a set of spoof documentaries one of which introduced us to Brian Potter, Jerry St. Clair, Max and Paddy, and the musical duo Les Alanos.
However, That Peter Kay Thing wasn't a sitcom so, having identified George and Mildred, we're still looking for another British sitcom that's a spin-off from a lesser sitcom.
Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere was a spinoff from Phoenix Nights.
I'm guessing The Legacy of Reginald Perrin is more sequel than spin off. Although am I right in thinking Fairly Secret Army was a spin-off in all but name of Reginald Perrin.
Correct on both counts. I seem to recall there may have been a copyright issue with the BBC over the characters for the latter, hence being presented as something separate.
Quote: Aaron @ 21st November 2019, 12:10 PMbeing presented as something separate.
The above expression reminds me that in the USA, sitcom producers are often faced with the expensive problem of an obligatory pay rise for sitcom actors once a certain number of episodes have been produced.
That explains why a lot of American sitcoms are cancelled only to be followed by a remarkably similar sitcom starring most or all of the lead characters, identical to the original sitcom in many respects but sufficiently different in others that it might reasonably be described as a different entity.
There are very few flies on American TV producers!
Quote: chipolata @ 21st November 2019, 6:40 AMI'm guessing The Legacy of Reginald Perrin is more sequel than spin off. Although am I right in thinking Fairly Secret Army was a spin-off in all but name of Reginald Perrin.
Quote: Aaron @ 21st November 2019, 12:10 PMCorrect on both counts. I seem to recall there may have been a copyright issue with the BBC over the characters for the latter, hence being presented as something separate.
It infuriated me at the time that Jimmy wasn't called Jimmy in FSA and I couldn't work out why, knowing it was penned by Nobbs. Disgusting that broadcasters can do this, effectively sabotaging a creative project.
Seeing this post I've googled and found something on the BBD website
It says Nobbs agreed to write this for C4 after turning down an offer to write a Manuel from FT spinoff for the Beeb. Perhaps they turned down doing his Jimmy from TFARORP in revenge for this so he went to C4 but it doesn't say. It does say that Cleese script edited S1 of FSA which I didn't know.
Is there any news of FSA having a DVD release yet?
That's suppose to be one post but your thread page has gone nuts.
As I understand it, David Nobbs didn't want FSA to be a spin-off from Reggie Perrin because he feared audiences would be watching FSA and expecting Reggie to walk through the door at any moment. It's for that reason it was put out as a different product.
I believe John Cleese owns the production company that produced FSA - and that's why he was involved.
I also believe that, although John was theoretically involved in editing in the scripts, he never actually altered one from Nobbs' original.
On that basis, I think we have to assume that David Nobbs was a fairly good comedy writer!