There have been some very successful spin-offs over the years; this list is not a compilation of those. No, sadly, this is the other end of the spectrum. A list of spin-offs that failed to capture the public like their parent shows. Shows like Joanie Loves Chachi, AfterMASH, and others litter this list with cast-offs that usually never even made it past one season. Still, it's fun to reminisce about what could have been. Our list of TV spin-offs that bombed.
Joanie Loves Chachie
Joanie Loves Chachi is one of the most notorious spin-offs of all time. Maybe it's because the name was a little silly, or because it didn't even come close to having the same charm as its original show, Happy Days, or maybe because Happy Days had a couple of successful spin-offs: Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy. We may never know. We'll also have to keep guessing as to how much Joanie really did love Chachi, as it was canceled after just 17 episodes.
That '80s Show
Though it's not technically a direct spin-off, I'm counting That '80s Show here. It's really more a spiritual successor to That '70s Show, though using any word with "success" in it isn't really something that should be done here. The show lasted just 13 episodes in 2002. There was a more successful spin-off/legacyquel to That '70s Show, called That '90s Show, which told the story of the original show's characters as they became parents, which you can watch with a Netflix subscription.
Joey
It's kind of crazy that a show as wildly popular as Friends only attempted one spin-off. Of course, after Joey bombed, it started to make more sense. Obviously, the show is about Joey (Matt LeBlanc), who moves out west from New York to become an actor. The show was a little more successful than some of the others on this list, lasting 46 episodes over a couple of seasons. It suffered from low ratings throughout most of its run.
Three's a Crowd
It's two's company, then Three's A Crowd was one too many shows for Jack Tripper. Tripper, played by John Ritter, first came to life in Three's Company, and when that show ended in 1985. It's a sequel as much as it is a spin-off, but either way, it lasted just one season before getting the boot from ABC.
Fish
One thing that you can say about Fish is that its theme song still slaps. Other than that, though, this spin-off of Barney Miller with the late Abe Vigoda reprising his role as Det. Fish from that show didn't live up to its parent show. It did manage to get a second season, but was still axed after just 35 episodes.
Law & Order: Trial by Jury
Over the years, there have been a ton of different versions of Law & Order that have been spun off from the original show. Law & Order: SVU is one of the most successful spinoffs of all time. Law & Order: Trial by Jury is not. The show starred Bebe Neuwirth and Jerry Orbach (reprising his iconic Lenny Briscoe character from the original show), but it lasted just 13 episodes before being declared dead by NBC.
Suits LA
One thing Suits LA does have going for it is that it was slightly more successful than another Suits spin-off, Pearson. Still, without Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, holding down a role as she did in the original, the show just couldn't survive past one season.
Time Of Your Life
Jennifer Love Hewitt reprised her role from Party of Five in Time of Your Life, a spin-off of the successful Fox show. The show even co-starred Jennifer Garner and future NCIS cast member Pauley Perrette. Still, all that talent wasn't enough to get more than one season of the show on the air in the 1999-2000 TV season.
Models Inc.
Models Inc. is an interesting one, because it's a short-lived spin-off that was spun off of a very successful spin-off, Melrose Place. The latter was born from Beverly Hills, 90201 and proved wildly successful for Fox. Models Inc., which starred Carrie-Anne Moss and Linda Gray, lasted just one season before it was canceled in 1995.
Saved by the Bell: The College Years
Sometimes, you just have to let a good thing go. After the hugely successful and iconic Saved By The Bell ended, the producers attempted to reboot the story in a spin-off, creatively named Saved by the Bell: The College Years. They couldn't recreate the magic, though, and the show was canceled after one season of 19 episodes.
The Tortellis
Nick Tortelli, the ex-husband of Carla in Cheers, was one of the most popular side characters on the hit sitcom for NBC. That naturally led to a spin-off, which follows Nick and his new wife to Las Vegas. We didn't get to see much of them, though, as the show was canceled after just 13 episodes. Far fewer than Fraiser, which was, of course, a very successful spin-off of Cheers.
The Golden Palace
AS a spin-off/sequel to The Golden Girls, The Golden Palace had all the ingredients of another hit show. Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty all returned to reprise their roles; only Bea Arthur declined to be part of the show. The cast also added Don Cheadle and Cheech Marin, but it still wasn't enough to last more than one season.
AfterMASH
The hit CBS sitcom about the Korean War, MASH, is a great example of a show that ended extremely well. The spin-off AfterMASH didn't fare the same fate. The show, which starred original MASH characters Col. Potter (Harry Morgan), Klinger (Jamie Farr), and Father Mulcahy (William Christopher), was set in a fictional small town in Missouri and didn't have any of the charm or gravitas of the original. It did manage to hang on for two seasons and 31 episodes before it was canceled.
Living Dolls
Even with a cast that included Halle Berry (in her first role) and Leah Remini, Living Dolls only lasted 13 episodes on NBC. The show was a spin-off of Who's The Boss with Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano appearing in the "backdoor pilot," but it never really found its footing, and amid cast changes and other production headaches, it was seemingly doomed from the start.
Baywatch Nights
What if you took a show famous for beautiful people running on a sunny beach and set it at night? The result was taking Baywatch and creating Baywatch Nights. Mitch Buchannon (David Hasselhoff) trades his red swim rescue buoy for a gun and leaves the beach to become a private investigator. Yeah, it wasn't good, though it did make it two seasons.
CSI: Cyber
The original CSI's first couple of spin-offs, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY, were both successful and had long runs on CBS. The show's third attempt at a franchise spin-off, CSI: Cyber, wasn't. Even Ted Danson joining the cast from the original show in its second season wasn't enough to save it from cancellation after two seasons.
Tabitha
While Bewitched proved that people loved a good sitcom about a friendly witch, that didn't translate to the spin-off Tabitha. The show starred Lisa Hartman and the titular character. Tabitha was the daughter of Samantha and Darren from Bewitched, who moved out of the house and found her first job in Los Angeles. The show was nearly the hit of its parent show and lasted just 11 episodes.
Sanford Arms
This one seems to be a case of a show that had some money to spend, but had to completely change directions on a dime, and as a result, failed to find an audience. Sanford Arms was a spin-off of Sanford & Son after Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson left the original show and its planned spin-off following Wilson's character. Instead, audiences got Sanford Arms, about a boarding house next to the junkyard. Unsurprisingly, it was canceled quickly after eight episodes
Mama’s Family
This one is a little tricky. In 1982, Vicki Lawrence brought her popular character Thelma Harper, or "Mama," that she created on the Carol Burnett Show, to her own show, Mama's Family. The show originally aired on NBC and was canceled after airing for parts of two seasons, fitting it nicely on this list. However, this show had a reprieve and ended up getting brought back in syndication in the mid-80s, and ended up running four more seasons.
The Winchesters
Supernatural had a super dedicated fanbase for 15 years when it ran on The WB. The producers of the show attempted multiple spin-offs, including The Winchesters, starring Meg Donnelly. It lasted just one season, though it was the most successful of spinoffs.
Top Of The Heap
Top Of The Heap from 1991 was one of a few attempts for a Married...With Children spin-off, the Matt LeBlanc-led show that premiered as an episode of Married. It didn't work, despite a talented cast that included LeBlanc, Joseph Bologna, future Dazed and Confused cast member Joey Lauren Adams, the legendary Rita Moreno, and the late Leslie Jordan. The show was canceled after just 6 episodes, not including the pilot.
Gloria
The legendary All In The Family had a bunch of spin-offs, some, like The Jeffersons, were wildly successful. Others, like Gloria, were less so, to say the least. The show follows the Bunker's daughter as she navigates a new world as a divorced, single mom. It was canceled after one season. It should be noted that Gloria should probably be counted as a spin-off the Archie's Place, the show that continued All In The Family, as it premiered as an episode of the legacy show.
The Brady Brides
Though The Brady Brides was originally conceived as a TV movie about Jan and Marsha Brady getting married at the same time, the producers tried to turn it into a spin-off of one of the most enduring shows of all time, The Brady Bunch. The spin-off didn't quite have the legacy of the original show, ending after 10 episodes in 1981. It is notable for being the only time in the various reunions, reboots, and TV movies that all nine of the original cast members worked together after the original show ended.
Beverly Hills Buntz
Maybe you can guess by the title alone that Beverly Hills Buntz was doomed to fail. The show, a spin-off of Hill Street Blues, followed Det. Norman Buntz (Dennis Franz) out to Beverly Hills, where he became a private detective to the rich and famous. It was...a comedy, but it wasn't funny, and the tone was a radical departure from its parent show. It's no surprise that it only made it one season.
Katy Keene
Lucy Hale took on the titular role in Katy Keene, which was a spin-off of CW's Riverdale about the comic book character of the same name. Other Archie Comics characters, like Josie McCoy and her BFF Pepper Smith, were also characters on Katy Keene. CW couldn't capture the magic of Riverdale, however, and the show was canceled after just one, 13-episode season. You can watch it with an HBO Max subscription, though.
Buddies
Did you know that Dave Chappelle starred in a spin-off of Home Improvement? After he played a small part in an episode of the long-running Tim Allen show, Chapelle landed his own show, called Buddies. Sadly, it didn't last long, as it was cancelled after airing just four episodes. Luckily for all of us, Chappelle didn't fade into obscurity like this show.
Young Americans
While Dawson's Creek is still beloved today, it's short-lived spin-off, Young Americans, is mostly forgotten. It lasted just eight episodes and really isn't notable for any reason.
Sons Of Thunder
In the 1990s, Walker, Texas Ranger became an incredibly popular show, starring the legendary Chuck Norris. At the close of the decade, Norris and his brother Aaron created a spinoff called Sons of Thunder. The reason you probably haven't heard of it is that it lasted all of six episodes.
Mrs. Columbo
Let's be real - the reason Columbo was so popular is because Peter Falk was amazing as the titular detective. That isn't a shot at Kate Mulgrew, who starred as Falk's character's wife, and journalist/crime investigator, Kate, in Mrs. Columbo; she's pretty great in the 13 episodes of this spin-off, but it's impossible for anyone to live up to Falk in a similar role.
Enos
Oh boy. Where to start here? Yeah, there was a spin-off to The Dukes of Hazzard starring Sonny Shroyer as Enos, in...Enos. The fact that it made it to 18 episodes is kind of amazing.
A Man Called Hawk
Anyone who is a fan of Spenser: For Hire (of the books that the show was based on) knows just how cool the character Hawk is. Hawk, played by Avery Brooks in Spenser and its spin-off, A Man Called Hawk, is just the best. Tragically, as cool as his own show could have been, it didn't get any traction and was canceled after just half a season and 13 episodes.
Booker
Richard Grieco replaced Johnny Depp in the early Fox hit 21 Jump Street, and he managed to spin his character, Booker, into a show of the same name, but it lasted just one season in 1989 and 1990. Like all the shows on this list, it lacked the charm of the show it was spun off from and failed to find the same kind of audience.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
