Thursday Movie Picks - TV Edition: Spin Offs
1) Better Call Saul
Breaking Bad is one of my all time favorite TV shows but when they said they were doing a spin off on shady lawyer Saul Goodman, I wasn't sure how they could make that last. I should've known to trust these writers because Better Call Saul is fantastic and this past season had one of the best episodes I've seen on TV lately.
2) Space Ghost: Coast to Coast
Growing up, we had this little TV in our kitchen that hung below one of our cabinets and my dad and I would always sit at the counter and watch shows that the rest of my family deemed too ridiculous. Space Ghost Coast to Coast was one of them. A spin off of the old Space Ghost cartoon, this one was set up in talk show form and always came on late on Cartoon Network. I loved staying up to watch this. It was hilarious.
3) Daria
A random character on Beavis and Butthead gets her own spin off and becomes a better show all together. I loved watching Daria with my older sister when I was a kid. I was a bit young to understand everything about this show, but she was the perfect age for it. We had fun.
I'm 0 for 3 this week on these. I've heard of the first and the last but I never watched their origin shows either. Hopefully next week will be a better match.
ReplyDeleteMy first originated from an All in the Family guest shot but my other two were long-time characters on their respective shows before branching off at the original’s conclusion.
Maude (1972-1978)-Topical comedy of liberal feminist Maude Findlay (Beatrice Arthur) living in Tuckahoe, NY with 4th husband Walter (Bill Macy), divorced daughter Carol (Adrienne Barbeau) and Carol’s son Phillip and the social issues that she outspokenly debates with best friend Vivien (Rue McClanahan-playing a character very close to Golden Girls Rose Nyland), housekeepers Florida Evans (Esther Rolle-who eventually was spun off onto her own show Good Times), tippling Englishwoman Mrs. Naugatuck and her prig of a neighbor Dr. Arthur Harmon (Conrad Bain). While geared to comedy this tackled serious hot button issues such as abortion, alcoholism, facelifts, nervous disorders and prescription drug addiction. Maude was introduced as Edith Bunker’s cousin and Archie Bunker’s nemesis on Norman Lear’s groundbreaking “All in the Family” and proved so popular she was spun off to her own wildly popular show.
Lou Grant (1977-1982)-Continuing his character from the iconic Mary Tyler Moore show Edward Asner takes Lou Grant from the cozy hilarity of the Minneapolis WJM-TV to the far more serious drama of the daily newsroom of the Los Angeles Tribune. Working closely with his two strongest reporters Joe Rossi and Billie Newman (Robert Walden & Linda Kelsey), managing editor Charles Hume (Mason Adams) and the paper’s publisher Margaret Pynchon (the great Nancy Marchand) they cover various stories each week. One of the very few shows to move a sitcom character to a dramatic setting successfully this became another awards magnet winning multiple Emmys including Outstanding Drama as well as for Asner who became the first performer to win the statue for the same character in both comedy and drama.
Frasier (1993-2004)-When the sitcom Cheers closed up shop in 1993 hard luck psychiatrist Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) packed up his bags and moved from Boston back home to his native Seattle and became a radio shrink for 11 eventful seasons. He deals with life with his father-retired cop Martin (John Mahoney), dad’s live-in physical therapist-the somewhat psychic Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves), his fun-loving show producer Roz (Peri Gilpin) and persnickety brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce) a psychiatrist as well. There’s also his perpetually unsuccessful love life including occasional drop-ins from his severe ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth-another Cheers alum). Full of expert writing, superior comic performers and a satellite cast of daffy, endearing and hysterical characters (brash sportscaster Bulldog Briscoe, fussy food critic Gil Chesterton, Niles never seen but wildly eccentric wife Maris, and best of all Frasier’s agent Bebe Glazer-a woman totally without shame or scruple) this was as strong when it ended as when it began because the characters evolved over the season while remaining true to their original intent.
I feel like one of about 10 people who never watched Fraiser. It just didn't interest me at all. I expected more people to pick Laverne and Shirley this week. I almost did.
DeleteDARIA!!! YES!!!!! Oh lord I loved that show. Watched it after school whenever it was on. I loved the DRY sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteWhen they announced they were doing a spin-off series about Saul Goodman, I was certain it was going to be stupid. I should have known better. I don't think it's better than Breaking Bad, but it's very nearly just as good, and that's quite a feat! Love Bob Odenkirk in the lead, but Rhea Seehorn has always stolen the show for me. She's incredible. Can't wait for it to come back!
SAME Saul was a good character but never one of my favorites and I had zero faith in it working but oh man it does. I love it.
DeleteI also picked Better Call Saul. It is probably one if not the best spin-off ever made!
ReplyDeleteI agree, and I went into that thinking there was no way they would make it work. I was so wrong.
DeleteI had no idea Daria was a spin-off! I hear they are bringing the show back
ReplyDeleteYep! She's in a few early Beavis and Butthead episodes. :)
DeleteI always liked Daria which I always thought was one of the best spin-offs out there. Never seen the other 2 though I did see a bit of Space Ghost like the time Michael Stipe was on the show and Space Ghost tried to get him to sing "Shiny Happy People" and Michael refused saying he hates that song. So do I. That's R.E.M.'s worst song.
ReplyDeleteSpace Ghost was hilarious. So was Cartoon Planet. I'm going to be youtubing clips of those later.
DeleteShe said "Butthead". Ahaha, ahaha, ahaha!
ReplyDelete;-)
damn it lol
DeleteNo, it's... huh-huh, huh-huh...
DeleteDiarrhea cha-cha-cha, Diarrhea cha-cha-cha... huh-huh-huh... cool... huh-huh-huh...
Yeah, cool.. heh-heh-heh
I'm that guy - the only one who has never seen an episode of Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul. Maybe one day.
ReplyDeleteI feel old because I'm way more familiar with the old Space Ghost show than with Coast to Coast. I did see the latter a few times and thought it was pretty good.
I really liked Daria, as well. It was definitely better than its parent show. I like Beavis & Butthead okay, but it got annoying quick. It didn't help that my younger brother and cousin were at the right age to really love that show so they walked around talking like B & B all damn day long. Ugh!
You and Keith, apparently lol.
DeleteI had a feeling you would be the one to recognize Coast to Coast. I've seen the original Space Ghost too and it was strange for me to see them all serious after watching the talk show format.
Agree on Beavis and Butthead, everyone I knew quoted it all the time. It did get old.
I've heard so much about "Saul" yet I still haven't watched an episode. Shame on me.
ReplyDeleteIt's SO good!
DeleteI haven’t seen any of these. I have heard of Daria and I know about Saul but I was not into Breaking Bad. I never heard of Coast to Coast but it sounds interesting and it looks like Batman crying in his glass which piques my interest
ReplyDeletelol Coast to Coast is hilarious. So is the other version of it, Cartoon Planet.
DeleteDaria - I think I may have seen bits of it, but I was too young to like get it. But when I see gifs of it around now, I think...this might be something I like.
ReplyDeleteIt still holds up today.
Delete