The 20 Greatest TV Spin-Offs Of All Time
#7: Better Call Saul. #6: Daria.
Game of Thrones will end in 2018 after its eighth season, but before we find out who will sit on the iron throne, HBO is already planning spin-offs. The shows are in development and four screenwriters have been hired to work with author, George R.R. Martin, on coming up with ideas. And why wouldn’t they? Game of Thrones is the most popular show in HBO history with season six banking an average audience of 23 million in the US alone.
No television show can last forever, even Game of Thrones, so spin-offs let TV executives give shows, characters and concepts a life beyond the original series because audiences always want more. One of the first spin-offs was The Adventures of Champion in the 1950s, which was a child of The Gene Aunty Show. The first popular spin-off was The Andy Griffith Show, which sprung from the The Danny Thomas Show, and lasted eight seasons.
Since the ‘50s, the spin-off has become a mainstay of TV with differing levels of success. Only a special few develop a life of their own away from their originator, it’s extremely rare for a spin-off to expand on the world created by the parent series and compliment the story. And there have been huge failures too. When The Golden Girls finished the spin-off The Golden Palace (where they ran a hotel with Don Cheadle) lasted one season; the Friends spin-off Joey limped through two seasons; and Party of Five gave Jennifer Love Hewitt her own show, The Time of Your Life, that got 19 episodes before it was axed.
There’s been a boom when it comes to quality spin-offs in the past few years with shows that match their predecessor eye-to-eye while carving out their own identity. More spin-offs are on the way in 2017-18 with Star Trek: Discovery adding to the legacy of the sci-fi series, Gina Tores is getting her own spin-off from Suits and there’s even a John Wick spin-off series on the way called The Continental.
So, which shows set the gold standard for succeeding on their own? Here’s a guide to the best:
20. The Flash (2014 — ongoing)
When Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) appeared on Arrow it generated excitement because the signs were looking good for the chances of The Flash showing up in future episodes. Not only did he re-appear, but he got hit by lightening, which is how the character becomes the fastest man alive. Allen’s Arrow appearance is what’s known as a ‘backdoor pilot’, a way of introducing a character to set up their own spin-off. The Flash is one of the best adaptations of a DC comic book character, which is separate from the DC movies, and making them look bad in comparison (Wonder Woman excluded).
19. Agent Carter (2015 — 2016)
This was technically a spin-off of the film Captain America, but an amazing show nonetheless. Shield agent, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), lives in the 1940s and is on the frontline for the emergence of super-powered beings. Carter kicks butt in a male-dominated world and made up for the serious lack of female driven stories in Marvel’s shared TV and film universe.
18. Family Matters (1989 — 1997)
Remember Perfect Strangers? Ah, Larry and Balki, what a team! Though Family Matters was a spin-off of this, it instead shifted focus to the Winslows, a middle-class black family. The show is best remembered for the nerdy character, Steve Urkel (Jaleel White), who would eventually consume the show until every plot revolved around him; it was both a blessing and a curse. We reached peak Urkle when he got his own action figure.
17. Angel (1999 — 2004)
In the season three finale of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel (David Boreanaz), the vampire with a soul, leaves Sunnydale to live in Los Angeles and continue atoning for the misery he caused when he was a soulless bloodsucker. Buffy creator, Joss Whedon, decided Angel had outgrown the show enough to get his own series and pitched the show as something a little edgier.
Angel managed to carve out its own edgier identity separate from Buffy by throwing its cast of supernatural creatures and demon hunters into gnarly situations with dark results. Angel is also where a bulk of influential TV and film writers got their start and honed their skills, including Steven S. De Knight (Spartacus and Daredevil), Shawn Ryan (The Shield), Marti Noxon (Mad Men and UnReal), Ben Edlund (Supernatural), Douglas Petrie (The Defenders) and Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, Cabin in the Woods, World War Z, Daredevil, The Martian).
16. Melrose Place (1992 — 1999)
Melrose Place was the must-see soap of the ‘90s; it was arguably even bigger than its predecessor, Beverly Hills 90210. It had such a big cultural impact it had an entire episode of Seinfeld dedicated to it where Jerry had to take a lie detector test after he’s suspected of lying about not watching the show. It also featured one of the longest running special guest star appearances by Heather Locklear. Iconic.
15. Xena: Warrior Princess (1995 — 2001)
Xena (Lucy Lawless) first appeared on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as a villain before she teamed up with Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) to defeat a bad guy. She was originally meant to die at the end of her story arc on the show but the producers noticed how much people loved the character so they gave her a show.
Xena was a kick-arse female warrior filling the gap in a world that couldn’t get its shit together with any female-driven shows of this type in the 90s. With her tongue-flicking battle cry, deadly frisbee (a chakram) and warrior mantra, Xena became an action hero icon.
14. Pinky and the Brain (1995 — 1998)
The genetically enhanced mice with plans to take over the world first appeared on the cartoon series Anamaniacs in 1993 and grew in popularity. The mice got their own half-hour show, Pinky and the Brain, and if you ever want to identify a fan in public, simply say, “Are you pondering what I’m pondering?”
13. The Good Fight (2017 — ongoing)
Picking up where The Good Wife finishes, The Good Fight follows Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) into retirement and back to the courtroom. The series is a continuation of The Good Wife but it reorientates the focus to Lockhart, who is dealing with a post-Trump world (the first episode opens with her watching Trump’s inauguration).
A lot of the best characters from The Good Wife live on in The Good Fight and the writing is just as sharp with storylines focusing on gender, race and sexuality. The Good Fight has already been approved for a second season and it’s coming to Australia when it launches on SBS, Wednesday, August 2.
12. Absolutely Fabulous (original series 1992 — 1996)
From the sketch comedy series French and Saunders, Absolutely Fabulous was born. The original sketch, ‘Modern Mother and Daughter’, featured the comedic duo acting out a role reversal where a mature teenager is parenting a childish adult. The idea evolved into Ab Fab, a British sitcom that has endured beyond its original five-season run. Eight revival specials aired in the 2000s and an Ab Fab film was released in 2016 but it went down like a glass of flat champers.
11. Kath and Kim (2002 — 2007)
Like Ab Fab, Kath and Kim started out as a sketch on a comedy series. Big Girls Blouse, which was created by Gina Riley, Jane Turner and Magda Szubanski. The characters they created were then developed into their own show and became a pop cultural phenomenon. The Australian bogan lifestyle was celebrated with a cast of characters we could all relate to in our own extended family circles. Kath and Kim warped the pronunciation of ‘chardonnay’ and put ‘hornbag’ and ‘foxy’ back into the Australian lexicon.