Reply #16: There are 3 flavors of spin offs

[CBGLuthier]

First, the lame keep the show going ones, such as AfterMash, Archie Bunkers Place, Three's a Crowd. Those always stink.

Then there is the true spinoff, where an interesting supporting character is given a show of their own. Gomer Pyle, Good Times, The Ropers, sort of Maude (Maude was in All in the Family twice, once was a straight guest shot and the next was a variation of the third type of spin off, the cheapie pilot)

The cheapie pilot spinoff. Save money developing a new idea on an existing show. The single greatest example was The Andy Griffith Show which was done as an episode of The Danny Thomas Show. It was an intentionally created character designed to test the premise without great expense. The great Sheldon Leonard came up with that idea.

So, that in mind, All of the categry one shows tend to be horrid.

Most of the second type are bad but some weren't. The Ropers or Joanie Loves Chachi would be the worst. Frazier and Good Times, before they killed James off would be examples of better ones.

The third type is kind of rare so hard to track. In a sense, Happy Days was done that way on Love American Style. Hard to judge those very well.