When TV Networks discovered the potential of sitcom and drama spinoffs, they knew they had
something huge. They were able to take the magic and popularity of a show and use it
to create an entirely new, and potentially lucrative, product. And the modern history
of TV is full of success stories of spinoffs. If you’re a fan of shows like Mork and Mindy,
The Facts of Life, The Colbert Report, Frasier, Better Call Saul, or Law & Order: SVU, then
you’re a fan of a spinoff. Because all of those shows spawned from another successful series.
Yet for every spinoff that works, there are others that don’t. Networks love throwing
money at spinoffs because there’s already a built-in fanbase for the parent shows. So
it’s theoretically easier to get a spinoff off the ground. But fans can be fickle. They don’t’
simply want regurgitated content, with a slightly different marketing campaign. For a spinoff to
work, the show itself has to be good, regardless of how much it takes from the original show. Today
we’re looking at some of the biggest failures when it comes to spinoffs. So
join us, as Facts Verse presents, TV Show Spin-Offs That Were Canceled Immediately!
Phyllis Fans of The Mary Tyler Moore Show were likely
thrilled in 1975 when they found out about this spinoff. Created by Ed Weinberger & Stan Daniels,
Phyllis starred legendary comedic actress Cloris Leachman. It also starred Henry Jones, Jane Rose,
and Lisa Gerritson, among others. The show followed Phyllis’s move to San Francisco
with her daughter, Bess, after the death of Phyllis’ husband Lars. And of course,
since it was a sitcom, Phyllis and Bess move in with their in-laws. Phyllis
begins working in a photography studio as an assistant, and the show was off and running.
What’s perhaps most interesting about this failed spinoff is that it wasn’t a failure at
all. After it began airing, it was immediately a top-ten hit. Leachman was not only nominated
for an Emmy for her work on the show, but she also won a Golden Globe for acting in
a comedy series. Phyliss was, overall, the 6th highest-rated show in 1975, and even outranked
its parent show, The Mary Tyler Moore show. So what happened? Well, the demise of Phyllis had
a lot more to do with personnel and logistics than of bad ratings. For starters, the show suffered
a traumatic blow early on, when cast member Barbara Colby was murdered. She played the
owner of the photography studio and was replaced by actress Liz Torres. So perhaps that was a sign
that the show was not destined to last long. In its second season, the plot of the show was
revamped, with Phyllis going to work for a San Francisco City Supervisor. This sudden
change made the show slightly less popular, though it still was doing okay. Then two
more cast members died – Judith Lowry and Burt Mustin. That, combined with the fact
that actress Jan Rose became severely ill, meant that the show was constantly having to
rejigger plots and storylines simply based on who was available to act. As a result,
the show lost its foothold on the excellent work (and ratings) it had enjoyed. And yet, it still
finished higher in 1976 than the other Mary Tyler Moore spin off, Rhoda, and was even tied with its
parent show that year as well. Nevertheless, it got the axe after only two seasons.
The Ropers Three’s Company was a monster
hit in the late ’70s and early ‘80s. So it was no surprise when ABC decided to create a spinoff
starring two of its characters: Stanley and Helen Roper. The two had played landlords of Jack,
Chrissy, and Janet on Three’s Company, and were fan favorites. It followed the middle aged couple,
as they sold their building (where Jack and crew lived) in order to move to a more ritzy
area of Los Angeles – Cheviot Hills. The two were immediately fish out water, with Stanley
making no attempt to try to fit in with the glamourous and stuck up neighbors, and Helen
doing everything she could to make that happen. And of course, Stanley’s lack of wanting to fit
in only made Helen more and more embarrassed. The show starred Normal Fell as Stanley,
and Audra Lindley as Helen, and despite their popularity as Three’s Company characters,
never found an audience. It aired on March 13, 1979, and was canceled by May 22, 1980. A big part
of the issue was a scheduling change. The show started out on ABC’s Tuesday night lineup, which
was a night that did very well for the network. But for some reason, they decided to move The
Ropers to Saturday night. That caused plummeting ratings for the show. It didn’t help that it was
directly opposite the monster hit, CHiPS. Fell reportedly even showed up at ABC’s corporate
HQ to ask personally for a better time slot. They denied the request. The show's inability to climb
back up in ratings after the time slot move meant that the network couldn’t keep it on the air,
and it was summarily canceled. The sad part was that Fell and Lindley weren’t even allowed to
simply return to Three’s Company. The network had already replaced them and didn’t want to go back
on that decision. Fell later said he thought the network actually waited a while before canceling
The Ropers, so they didn’t have to contractually bring Fell and Lindley back to Three’s Company.
Of course, all of the issues of the show were also due to its quality. Which is to say,
it was great. Time Magazine put it at the #2 slot in their list of "Top 10 Worst TV Spin-Offs” in
2002. And TV Guide went a step further, calling it the 49th worst TV series ever.
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Gloria Gloria was actually a spinoff
of a spinoff, which makes it less surprising that it never really found its audience. It was spun
off of Archie Bunker’s Place. That show was a continuation spinoff of the legendary sitcom,
All In The Family. Gloria started up in late 1982 and was done by early 1983.
Sally Struthers was in the titular part, continuing her role as Gloria Stivic, the
daughter of the classic character, Archie Bunker. In it, Gloria was forced to move from California
to New York, after her husband, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, left her and began living in a nudist
commune. Gloria brings her son Joey along with her and moves in with her widowed dad. Gloria takes
up a job working for two veterinarians, one of whom happens to be her landlord.
This is another case of a failed spinoff that didn’t actually suffer in the ratings. In its
first season, Gloria was rated 18th. But it appears that internal strife
in the “All in the Family” family led to it being nixed. The original pilot,
which was created by veteran producers and writers from All in the Family and Archie Bunker’s place,
was rejected by CBS. They instead aired it as a back door pilot – aka an episode of
Archie Bunker’s Place that was supposed to springboard into the new show later on. But
this rankled Archie portrayer Carroll O’Connor, who decided not to be involved with Gloria after
that. And the rest of the production staff from Archie Bunker’s Place was reportedly
kept from being involved in the new show as well. This bad blood and lack of continuity
led to CBS calling it quits on the show after one season, despite doing well in the ratings.
Tabitha ABC decided
to take the magic from its hit show, Bewitched, and try to get it to continue with its spinoff,
Tabitha. The show began on September 10th, 1977, and starred Lisa Hartman as Tabitha.
Tabitha was the daughter of Darrin and Samantha Stephens, the lead of Bewitched. Like her mother,
Tabitha is a witch, living amongst mortals. And, in a burst of creativity, the writers of the show
decided to have her work as a production assistant at a TV station in LA. Other cast members include
David Ankrum, who played Adam, her brothers, as well as Karen Morrow as her nosy aunt,
Mel Stewart as her cantankerous boss, and Robert Urich as a talk show host with a
healthy ego. His character and Tabitha’s character have a romantic interest as well.
The show was pretty much a failure from the start. While Bewitched was a huge hit,
lasting seven seasons, audiences didn’t find that same spark and appeal in its spinoff.
Tabitha didn’t even make it one full season, having been canceled after only 11 episodes.
These spinoffs were all created with high hopes, only to fail in the end. And not
solely because of bad ratings. Sometimes it’s network infighting, other times its
bad luck that causes spinoffs to fail. Now it’s time to hear from you. Did you
ever watch any of these spinoffs? Do you think spinoffs should get more of a chance to see if
they’ll get more of an audience, considering they are coming from a successful parent show?
Or should they get canceled as quickly as any other show that’s not performing? Let us know
in the comments below. And before you go, be sure to give this video a like, and subscribe to Facts
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