Famous TV spinoffs that ended up getting their own spinoffs

People joked about “Young Sheldon.” To be fair, people also joked about “The Big Bang Theory,” talking trash about it as a goofy sitcom where that one guy says “Bazinga!.” Well, it was also a huge hit, and the “Bazinga!” guy’s younger self was at the front of a sitcom that ran seven seasons and 141 episodes. “Young Sheldon” was so successful it yielded “George and Mandy’s First Marriage,” which is about Sheldon’s older brother and his wife.

People forget that “NCIS” is a spinoff. That’s because “NCIS” has been a ratings hit that has aired over 20 seasons at this point. It originated as a couple of episodes of “JAG,” another CBS military drama that ran for 227 episodes. We aren’t even talking about the “spinoffs” of “NCIS” here that are basically unconnected other than being in a different city. What we are talking about is “NCIS: Origins,” a prequel to “NCIS” focusing on a young Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon’s character).

You may know that “Happy Days” was a spinoff machine. It was used as the source for a couple “backdoor pilots,” including the inexplicable appearance of the alien Mork to pave the way for “Mork & Mindy.” There was also the more traditional spinoff “Joanie Loves Chachi.” What you may not know is that “Happy Days” was a spinoff itself. It was originally a failed pilot, but it aired as part of the anthology show “Love, American Style.” It was successful enough this time around “Happy Days” did get a chance.

Speaking of Ron Howard! When he was a young child, he played Opie, son of Andy Taylor, in “The Andy Griffith Show.” One tertiary character, Gomer Pyle, got a spinoff about his life in the military. In that classic backdoor pilot way, once on “The Danny Thomas Show” the titular Danny Thomas was in the small town of Mayberry in one episode where he was, yes, arrested by Sheriff Andy Taylor. Later that year, “The Andy Griffith Show” debuted.

“All in the Family” was a groundbreaking sitcom, and Archie Bunker became one of the iconic sitcom characters. The show often touched on race, and Archie’s questionable racial views, and the Jeffersons, George and Louise, were neighbors of the Bunkers. Well, that is until they moved on up to the East Side, where “The Jeffersons” actually ran for longer than “All in the Family.” “The Jeffersons” also got a spinoff, but this one wasn’t quite as successful. “Checking In,” about the Jeffersons’ maid Florence getting a job at a fancy hotel, only lasted four episodes.

That’s right, “All in the Family” birthed two spinoffs that got spinoffs of their own. Maude, played by Bea Arthur, was Edith’s outspoken cousin, who naturally butted heads with Archie. She then got her own show. “Good Times” is a spinoff of “Maude,” or is it? There is debate here. Florida Evans was a character on “Maude,” but the premise of “Good Times” did not keep any of that history. If you don’t want to count that, “Hanging In” is a clear-cut spinoff of “Maude,” though it only lasted four episodes as well.

“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” gave us one of the most interesting spinoffs, “Lou Grant.” Ed Asner’s Grant went back to the newspaper business, and “Lou Grant” was a serious, one-hour drama that spun off of a sitcom. Asner actually won an “Emmy” for Lou Grant, meaning he won an Emmy for comedy and for drama for playing the same character. This is about “Rhoda,” though. The show about Mary’s brassy bestie got a spinoff as well. It was an animated show called “Carlton Your Doorman” about Rhoda’s never-seen doorman. The pilot won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. It’s also the only episode that ever aired

“Happy Days” is a spinoff that birthed spinoffs. “Laverne & Shirley” is one of those spinoffs, and it also has a spinoff of its own. In fact, it was an animated spinoff. The show is called “Laverne & Shirley in the Army.” You can guess what it is about. Well, that’s what it was called in its first season. In its second season they called it “Laverne & Shirley with the Fonz” to try and coast on the popularity of the Fonz.

You could argue “Space Ghost Coast to Coast” is a spinoff, as Cartoon Network took an old Hanna-Barbera cartoon and put those characters into an absurdist talk show. On “Space Ghost Coast to Coast,” another old Hanna-Barbera character, Birdman, appeared. This paved the way for “Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law,” one of the first Adult Swim shows. In turn, “Harvey Birdman” led to “Birdgirl,” based on a character who appeared a few times later in the show’s run.

If “Happy Days” can spin off from an anthology series, so can “Beavis and Butt-Head.” It’s one of the seminal MTV shows, but Mike Judge’s show started with some segments on “Liquid Television,” a clearing house for animation. In the second season, they wanted to add a smart girl who could give the two idiots some sarcasm. Thus, we got Daria Morgendorffer, who then got her own show. Honestly, “Daria” is a better show than “Beavis and Butt-Head.”

While “The Brady Bunch” was still on the air, the child actors from that show were mined for more content. “The Brady Kids” was an animated show, and was basically the same thing but they could go on wilder adventures. Then, in its brief run, “The Brady Kids” also got a spinoff, “Mission: Magic!” It featured Rick Springfield voicing himself and, um, other than that, the plot is basically impossible to describe in any coherent way.

Jack Webb co-created “Adam-12.” He also co-created and starred in its predecessor “Dragnet,” which was mostly about Webb (through the prism of Sgt. Joe Friday) railing against hippies. “Adam-12” is another LAPD show, but it focuses on a couple of cops in a police cruiser, more on the street than on the case. Then, Webb got the idea to use “Adam-12” to spin off a show looking at a slightly different realm, but only slightly. “Emergency!” lived up to its exclamation point as it focused on firefighters and paramedics in, yes, Los Angeles. All three shows were successful and long-running, though.

Picture this: A backdoor pilot utterly flops, but then the show gets made anyway. “Empty Nest” started with a backdoor pilot on “Golden Girls.” In it, we meet the ladies’ neighbors the Corlisses, a middle-aged couple dealing with being empty nesters. It was a disaster. Rita Moreno, one half of the couple, called it one of the worst experiences of her career. So, the creators went back to the drawing board. This time around, Dr. Harry Weston and his wife are empty nesters, but then his wife dies and his adult kids move back in with him. To hammer home the spinoff and shared world of it all, the ladies from “Golden Girls” pop up repeatedly in early episodes. This time, “Empty Nest” worked, and it led to its own spinoff “Nurses,” which was about nurses who worked at the same hospital as Dr. Weston.

“All That” was a sketch show, basically “Saturday Night Live” for kids. Since “SNL” has had occasional animated sketches, it makes sense that “All That” did as well. “KaBlam!” came from “All That” and then became Nickelodeon’s answer to “Liquid Television.” Like “Liquid Television,” “KaBlam!” featured shorts that would become shows of their own. In fact, both “Action League Now!” and “Angela Anaconda” were turned into standalone cartoons.

Why do a cat and a mouse need kid versions of themselves? We don’t have an answer. We just know that “Tom & Jerry Kids” featured Tom and Jerry as toddlers for whatever reason. Even more inexplicably, “Tom & Jerry Kids” got its own spinoff. “Droopy, Master Detective” is, indeed, about Droopy Dog (and his son Dripple) as film noir-style private eyes. Well, the very fact we got a show this wonderfully dumb kind of justifies “Tom & Jerry Kids” in the end.

Thanks to the 1994 film “Star Trek Generations,” we have tangibly seen the characters from the original “Star Trek” series interact with the characters from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” That helps make the latter feel more like a true spinoff as opposed to a “shows in a shared world” situation, though that would have still counted. Many years later, “TNG” was added to this list. “Star Trek: Picard” saw Patrick Stewart return as Jean-Luc Picard in 2020, giving us a look at an older version of the character.