Wannabe Spinoffs

[Menard]

Anyone remember the episode of The Brady Bunch that focused on a neigbor couple that adopted three boys from an oprhanage - one white, one black and one Asian? That one seemed like a backdoor pilot.

I remember that episode. You are right, it does fit.

[Snivelly]

Anyone remember the episode of The Brady Bunch that focused on a neigbor couple that adopted three boys from an oprhanage - one white, one black and one Asian? That one seemed like a backdoor pilot.

I remember that episode. You are right, it does fit.

Is that where all the celebrities racing around the world to create their own Benetton ad families got the idea?   

[trekgeezer]

The Jeffersons  and Maude were spinoffs featuring characters from All in the Family. Good Times was a spinoff of Maude.

Isn't the term for episodes of shows like this "backdoor pilot"?


The Rockford Files did this with an episode featuring Isaac Hayes and Louis Gossett Jr. I wish that one had gone forward, it was a fun episode, and those two had good chemistry doing the old "feuding partners who don't see eye to eye" thing. I think they wanted to spin off Tom Selleck's Lance White character at one time, but his appearences there did lead to Magnum PI being developed. Wasn't there an episode with Dennis Duggan as a computer whiz that seemed like a potential spinoff?

Why do I remember these things? I should have been studying foreign languaged rather than filling my head with this stuff. Or learning new job skills. Or something.

His appearances did get Selleck the part of Magnum, but Magnum wasn't made by the same production company.  Dennis Dugan did play his Rockford character in 5 episodes of Richie Brockelman Private Eye.


Beverly Hill Buntz  was a spinoff  of Hill Street Blues that featured Dennis Franz (Detective Norman Buntz) and Peter Jurasik's (Sid the snitch) characters. It was done as a 30 minute comedy and lasted 13 episodes.

[Raffine]

The Jeffersons  and Maude were spinoffs featuring characters from All in the Family

Speaking of All in the Family spinoffs, there was a very short-lived spinoff titled Gloria with Sally Struthers and lil' Joey moving in with a veterinarian played by Burgess Meredith. I remember the perky theme song ended with Struthers chirping "Don't worry, Joey! We're gonna be O.K.!"   But they weren't, of course... 

There were a couple of episodes toward the end of Sanford and Son that focused on Aunt Ester, her husband Woody, and their newly adopted teenage son set in their hardware store that definitely felt like they were testing the waters for a spinoff. I hazily remember a spinoff for Grady (I think he moved in with his daughter and her uptight husband) that lasted maybe an episode or two. Great gobblety gook!

Why do I remember these things? I should have been studying foreign languaged rather than filling my head with this stuff. Or learning new job skills. Or something.

I can remember watching Grady almost thirty years ago but I have trouble remembering my phone number. This is NOT a new thing for me: when I was in high school and missed more than a couple of days in a row I always had to go to the main office to get my locker combination again.

We are a rare breed, we are.

[nada]

They were going to make a spinoff of the Jynx character from Die Another Day. Don't know what happened with that.

[Yaddo 42]

There was an episode of Murder She Wrote featuring Bill Maher and apparently Faith Ford, one of their characters was supposed to be the nephew or niece of JB Fletcher. They were a young couple trying to solve the possible murder/disappearance of an "Uncle Charlie" (I think). Very whimsical in tone, as opposed to the blandness of the regular episodes. Angela Landsbury was only in a few minutes of the show (maybe even by phone calls scenes, it has been a while), so I'm certain this was an attempted spinoff. For some reason I used to run across this one particular episode in reruns all the time when USA used to show MSW, I rarely watched that show.

Wasn't there a Facts of Life where Tootie (and maybe Natalie) visited a cousin or relative who was a newlywed, that one seemed like a spinoff attempt also.

And I seem to recall a Cosby Show episode with Tony Orlando running a community center that was a pilot. IMDB says it was but nothing became of it.

Raffine, I can actually recall the combination to the lock I had to buy for my junior high locker. Can't recall any other locker combination I've ever had. I haven't had that lock since I gave it to my sister over ten years ago, but I could open it on the first try if you put it in my hands this minute. Completely useless, just like being able to remember show promos for ABC shows from when I was a kid. TJ Hooker? Hardcastle and McCormick? 240 Robert? I can even recall watching at least two episodes of SuperTrain when I was little, so I can recall useless memories and info, AND I had no taste as a kid.

Edited because I'm too lazy to do it right the first time.......

[StackAttack]

speaking of The Cosby Show, I know that A Different World was a spinoff of that popular show with the middle huxtable girl going to college and the show following here as she went. i think she left the show after the first season too and did Angel Heart at some point. i heard bill cosby was really unhappy with her because the spinoff show was his idea and he pulled to get it made so she could be a big name and she just turned her back on it.

[Jack]

Married With Children had several of those.  In one Kelly was dating some guy, and the spinoff was going to be about this guy and his girlfriend.  Another had the neighbors, Marcy and Steve Rhodes, working at Trulaine University.  Bud Bundy was a radio DJ there.  I think there was a third spinoff episode as well.  They all sucked really, REALLY bad.

[BTB]

As for backdoor pilots I remember in Starsky and Hutch,
the Detecctive Agency of Huggybear,

lots of Backdoors in Married with Children we had that college radio, matt leblanc with his father in two episodes

Gilmore girls, Chaz and his father

Macguyver also had some friends trying to solve crimes

And the whole last season of the Cosby show looked like it was made entirely from backdoor pilots, because the original cast only seemed to have cameos in this series inhibited by characters never before seen.

[JaseSF]

Recall a few episodes of the Cosby Show focused on Theo as a teacher,

[byanychance]

speaking of The Cosby Show, I know that A Different World was a spinoff of that popular show with the middle huxtable girl going to college and the show following here as she went. i think she left the show after the first season too and did Angel Heart at some point. i heard bill cosby was really unhappy with her because the spinoff show was his idea and he pulled to get it made so she could be a big name and she just turned her back on it.

I thought it was because she was starting to have a "bad girl" image (in lack of a better and less-corny word).

She's hot.