Frasier to end this May (1 Viewer)

[ThomasC]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3938734/

 

[MickeS]

I'm glad they end the show while it's still good, but just the same, I'm sad to see it go. I was hoping for at least one more season.

I wonder how panicked the programmers at NBC are right now, with both "Friends" and "Frasier" going off the air in May.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

With the Joey spin-off set to take Friends spot in the Thursday line-up, I bet they're more worried about replacing Frasier. The thing is, hitting on a new idea for a sitcom seems to be getting harder and harder now days.

I will miss Frasier when it is gone, but with the DVD releases I'll be able to enjoy it for years to come.

 

[ThomasC]

I'll bet they'll make the spinoff, "Niles," if David Hyde Pierce is up for it. How about the endless dating adventures of Roz? Martin, Gil, Lilith...

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I don't think they'd spin off Niles since that would almost require Daphne to come along and then if you do that its almost too much like Frasier, I think Roz is probably the best character to spin off if they were to go that way.

 

[Marty M]

I was wondering, is Frasier the longest running spin-off series?

I bet the NBC Execs are really scrambling to fill the void of Friends and Frasier. I am not sure about Joey, though. Without a decent supporting cast this show is doomed.

With the departure of those two sitcoms, that only leaves Scrubs as the only decent sitcom on NBC.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Well, you can say that about any show really, but where Joey has an advantage is like Frasier you go in with 1 well known and established character. I don't know who else will be series regulars time will tell I guess, but I think it has a real chance for success.

I'm not sure if Frasier is the longest running spin off series or not, its the longest 1 that comes to mind for me anyway, passing the Jeffersons.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, wasn't Happy Days a spin-off of Love, American Style? (Checks IMDB) It lasted 11 years, but LAS was an anthology. "Frasier" will have lasted 11, and will have spun off from the end of a series that also ran 11, with Kelsey Grammer joining two years in. That's 20 years playing the same character. Yikes. Also beats the Star Trek franchise, which has been on TV for 17 consecutive years, and Gunsmoke, which ran 20 years.

Knots Landing, on the other hand, lasted an astounding 14 years, though it was spun off from Dallas only one year into the latter's run.

Something tells me that there must be a soap running which was originally a spin-off back when it was a radio show, blowing everything out of the water, but nothing's leaping to mind.

 

[Rob P S]

Isn't The Simpsons (15 seasons and counting) considered a spinoff of The Tracy Ullman Show?

 

[Marty M]

I don't think this qualifies as a spin-off. Happy Days appeared as one of the episodes of Love, American Style. This episode/skit was picked up as a TV series several years later.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

I hope since Friends and Frasier are ending (finally) that with the money they will be saving not having to pay these High salaries that NBC pays good money to get some good decent sitcoms on the air and I dont mean of Veronicas Closet, Jessie or Coupling calibur.
I loved this show when it premiered but it's outstayed its welcome by about 5 or 6 years.

 

[Marty M]

I was defining a spin-off as taking an established character from one series and continuing that character in another series, like Maude from All In The Family; Rhoda and Phyllis from MTM.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I suspect the Cheers and Frasier DVDs will come out quicker for future seasons, I think the longer time between seasons 1 and 2 were so they could get a better idea of sales figures, this becomes less important for future sets.

I wouldn't classify the Simpsons as a spin off although I have a hard time explaining why.

Frasier is the longest running character on TV I can think of, though if the show is a success, Joey could give him a run for his money...think about it when Frasier switched series from Cheers to Frasier, he had only been around for 8 or 9 years while Joey before going to his own spin off has already been around 10 years.

I'm not saying that Joey will last as long as Frasier, I doubt Matt Lablonc wants to play the character for 11 more years, but you really never know what will catch on and what won't with an audience

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

On another subject, I've got to think that All in the Family ranks high on the list of shows that have resulted in Spin offs.

All in the Family led to Maud which led to Different Strokes which led to Facts of Life.
All in the Family led to Maud which led to Good Times.
All in the Family led to the Jeffersons.
All in the Family led to Archy's Place.
All in the Family led to Gloria.
Obviously some spin offs were more successful than others.
I've even seen Sanford and Son classified as an All in the Family Spin off.

 

[Joe McCabe]

"All in the Family led to Maud which led to Different Strokes which led to Facts of Life."

How was that?? What where the connecting characters?

"All in the Family led to Maud which led to Good Times." -Check.

"All in the Family led to the Jeffersons." - Check, and The Jeffersons led to the very short lived "Florence".

"All in the Family led to Archy's Place." - Check

"All in the Family led to Gloria." - Check

"I've even seen Sanford and Son classified as an All in the Family Spin off."

How would that be. Again, there aren't any connecting characters

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

There's a good site with information on crossovers and spinoffs here.


This site details the spinoff from AITF to Maude and it outlines Different Strokes leading to Facts of Life but nothing about any spinoff connection between Maude and Different Strokes.

However, the two do exist in the same universe. Based on the principle that the appearance of characters from one show in another show establish that the shows exist in the same universe, apparently:

• All In The Family
• Archie Bunker's Place
• Checking In
• Diff'rent Strokes
• E/R
• The Facts Of Life
• The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air
• Gloria
• Good Times
• Hello, Larry
• In The House
• The Jeffersons
• Maude
• Out All Night
• 704 Hauser
• Silver Spoons

are all part of the same TV universe.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Maud leading to Different Strokes is a different kind of spin off, since they didn't chose to spin off a character from Maud to Different Strokes, they simply took an actor from Maud and gave him his own series within as you put it the same TV Universe.

That actor:
Conrad Bain
I will however consead that the word spin off may have been misused when catagorizing the link between Maud and Different Strokes, it was something I read on the internet...and well we all know about how anyone on the internet can misclassify something.

 

[Marty M]

I read in an article about Frasier that this character will tie James Arness' Matt Dillon for the longest running TV character at 20 years.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Actually, it was originally the pilot for Happy Days...the net decided not to pick the series up, then recycled the already-shot pilot as a LAS episode. Then 'American Graffiti' was a hit, and they were reminded of the pilot...

 

[Jason Seaver]

Prime-time, maybe. I'm sure someone's been doing soaps or children's shows longer.

(Of course, Doctor Who ran longer but was played by seven different actors during that run)