When a television sitcom reaches a certain level of success, Hollywood producers often see dollar signs in milking every bit of commercial appeal by crafting a spin off series. The ones that succeed do so by crafting their own vision and style, distancing themselves from the original series. The ones that fail are either uninspired copycats of the original formula or they follow a character who can’t carry the weight of an entire series. Here are the worst television spinoffs.
Worst Television Spinoffs
That 80’s Show
That 70’s Show was a fun glimpse into the groovy lives of teenagers in the 1970’s. It’s warmhearted, earnest and legitimately funny. That 80’s Show tried to tap into the same nostalgia but misses the mark by a long shot. The show fails because the characters are too old and the 80’s centric stereotypes are cringeworthy. However, it’s worth watching the pilot to see a pre-Always Sunny in Philadelphia Glenn Howerton.
The Finder
While Bones isn’t necessarily television gold, there are some great moments between David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel. It’s spinoff series, The Finder (dumbest name ever), was completely void of anything “fun”. The past decade has seen a slew of procedural shows about crime fighters with one quirk that helps them solve every murder (Monk, Psych, White Collar). The concept for the finder is that this guy is good at finding things? Stupid premise.
Joey
No surprises here. When Friends came to and end the world yearned for more of the characters who sipped coffee and apparently never worked. The answer to this question was Joey a series that followed the lovable buffoon move to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. With no straight man to play off of Joey wore thin within the first five minutes of the pilot.
Young Americans
We got enough teen angst from Dawson’s Creek so we didn’t need this spin-off following around Pacey and Dawson’s boring childhood friend at prep school. This one barely made it out of the gates.
Law & Order: Los Angeles
Law & Order always thrived with the backdrop of New York City. When the series tried to move to Los Angeles it lost some it’s panache. Despite having a killer cast with Terrence Howard, Alfred Molina and Corey Stoll, the show failed to capture the same gritty reality.
