Spin Offs

[Tony Tony Tony]

Was musing about spin off shows the other day after reading about the number of shows spun off from Happy Days. The true spin off, i.e. where minor(ish) characters get their very own series after appearing in another show, does seem to be almost exclusively a US phenomenon. I am not including sequels in the definition such as Grace and Favour coming after Are You Being Served.

The only UK example that comes to mind is The Green Green Grass spun out of Only Fools and Horses.

Am I missing something and are there any shows with characters that CABers reckon would make passable stand alone show?

I for one would like to see the Dave Clifton back story expanded out of the Partridge universe.   

[Shit Good Nose]

Do sketch show characters count?  More instances of that in the UK.

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

Do sketch show characters count?  More instances of that in the UK.

Aye, that was my thinking; quite a few British sketch characters eventually get fleshed out in sitcoms - Partridge being an interesting example.

[Tony Tony Tony]

Do sketch show characters count?  More instances of that in the UK.

Yeah, why not.

[Shit Good Nose]

Well, Absolutely gave us the brilliant Mr Don & Mr George, and didn't McGlashan get a pilot that was very well received but went no further? 

Speaking of John Sparkes, Barry Welsh had some cross-pollination with Absolutely, as did Siadwell with some other shows.

Swiss Toni from The Fast Show.

Smashie and Nicey (sort of).

Rab C Nesbitt, of course.

Still Game.


Quite a lot of Scottish, there.

[Small Man Big Horse]

The Fast Show also gave us Grass, which I remember as being fairly decent.

I'm sure there are loads more but my mind is being evil right now.

Fake Edit: Oh yeah, that Cheers show gave us Frasier. And Happy Days led to Mork and Mindy.

Real Edit: Friends led to Joey, somewhat traumatically, and Family Guy gave us the horrendous The Cleveland Show. Pushing it a bit, but Roseanne led to The Connors, and The Big Bang Theory led to Young Sheldon.

I always wanted to see the proposed King of the Hill spin off, Monsignor Martinez, a pilot was made but it's never been leaked sadly.

Edit again: This page lists a fuck load https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_spin-offs - but some of them are dubious, ie supposedly TMWRNJ is a spin off of Fist Of Fun.

[Fried Egg Sandwich]

Tucker's Luck

[Swoz_MK]

Did I dream seeing footage of a pilot for a Chris Bell spin off from The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer?

[thraxx]

Breakfast Time had loads of spin off shows such as TV AM, Breakfast, BBC Breakfast, GMTV, Good Morning Britain, The Big Breakfast,  RI;SE, Morning Glory, Freshly Squeezed.

[bgmnts]

"Spin off! Is there any word more thrilling to the human soul?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfbsgVlzeUI

[petril]

Catterick from Bang Bang! It's Reeves and Mortimer

[RedRevolver]

Phoenix Nights/Max and Paddy.

[EOLAN]

Going Straight from Porridge

[petril]

Going Straight from Porridge

And Porridge from Seven Of One, but that might be debatable, since Seven Of One was intended as a series of pilots

actually, could say the same for Phoenix Nights from That Peter Kay Thing

[ColonelVolestrangler]

'The Brothers McGregor' was a sitcom spin-off based on characters who appeared in one or two episodes of 'Coronation Street'. Another 'Coronation Street' character, Arthur Lowe as Leonard Swindley, went on to star in two different sitcoms, 'Pardon the Expression' and 'Turn Out the Lights'.

Didn't Les from 'Vic Reeves Big Night Out' get some spin-off show or other?

[DrGreggles]

Swiss Toni from The Fast Show.

That was pretty good, I thought.
Simon Day was great in it. Obviously.

[Replies From View]

Going Straight from Porridge

I came here to say that.


What else.  Do 'Rock & Chips' and/or 'The Green Green Grass' count?

[Replies From View]

Den of Geek wrote this if you are interested (more film versions really, though):  https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/19597/the-lost-world-of-the-british-sitcom-spin-off

[Small Man Big Horse]

Didn't Les from 'Vic Reeves Big Night Out' get some spin-off show or other?

Yeah, Les Lives, which is up on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkA58g6ph5M

[Shaky]

I came here to say that.


What else.  Do 'Rock & Chips' and/or 'The Green Green Grass' count?

Green Grass definitely as it fits the OP's initial criteria, whereas Rock was technically a prequel with most of the same characters as the "main" series.

Likewise, Going Straight is a sequel rather than a spin-off I would have thought.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

M*A*S*H had two spin-offs: Trapper John M.D. (which did quite well) and the notorious flop After M*A*S*H.

[Jittlebags]

George and Mildred.
Don't drink the water
erm..

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

George and Mildred.
Don't drink the water
erm..

Robin's Nest.

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

Absolutely Fabulous.

[famethrowa]

Den of Geek wrote this if you are interested (more film versions really, though):  https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/19597/the-lost-world-of-the-british-sitcom-spin-off

"Captain Mannering"? Tow-hold?? I cannot go on

But yeah they're right about the fascinating grimness of 70s Britain, that's the best part.

[Jittlebags]

Romany Jones -> Yus My Dear
Nearest and Dearest -> Not on your Nellie (Nellie Pickersgill was Nellie Pledge in all but name)

[Bad Ambassador]

It Sticks Out Half a Mile, the largely forgotten radio sequel/spin-off from Dad's Army

Several years after the war, a retired Mainwaring is planning to renovate the pier in a town near Walmington, and ropes in Wilson, now a local bank manager, as financial partner. The pilot was recorded and the go-ahead given for a full series, but then Arthur Lowe died. The scripts were rewritten to add Hodges in Mainwaring's place, softening his character from his ARP days, and adding Pike, now a Woolworths store assistant, as foil for him and Wilson. A full series of 13 episodes was recorded and broadcast, and a second was apparently likely, but then John le Mesurier died and the whole thing was written off. It turned up again years later on Radio 4 Extra, along with the first broadcast of the pilot. It's very amiable and gentle, but very insubstantial. The overall story progresses almost nowhere across the series.

It was subsequently reworked as a standalone TV pilot, Walking the Planks, and was commissioned for a full series, High and Dry, produced by Yorkshire, airing in 1987 and starring Bernard Cribbins and Richard Wilson. A total of eight episodes, including the 1985 pilot, were produced.

[Replies From View]

M*A*S*H had two spin-offs: Trapper John M.D. (which did quite well) and the notorious flop After M*A*S*H.

I would have said this but I thought we were limited to British ones.

[A Hat Like That]

The one that made me go cross-eyed was The Army Game which begat Bootsie and Snudge which begat Foreign Affairs.

Was Alfie Bass just that popular?

[Tony Tony Tony]

Den of Geek wrote this if you are interested (more film versions really, though):  https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/19597/the-lost-world-of-the-british-sitcom-spin-off

Many thanks for this it proved fascinating reading particularly since many of the movies mentioned were filmed at Elstree studios which is actually in Borehamwood so the location filming, often close by, had an extra level of grimness.

I write as an ex-Borehamwood resident so feel well qualified to diss the place.